The Sev

My sister informs me that people in the know call the convenience chain store 7-Eleven "The Sev." Apparently it is THE place for teens to hang out in many small towns across the U.S. where there is little else to do on a Saturday night (or a Monday or Tuesday night for that matter).

Well, The Sev has quite a presence in Sweden, with small stores located every couple of blocks or so. But these 7-Elevens don't just sell blue slushies, chips, Beer Nuts and bad hot dogs. No no! At the Swedish 7-Elevens you can:

• Wire money abroad
  
• Pick up your train tickets you ordered online
• Get a tram pass
  
• Use a computer to surf the Web or print documents
• Rent movies
• Get a passable cappuccino
• Pick up a package that the mailman couldn't deliver
• Buy stamps
• Get money (some have ATMs)
  

They're like little one-stop wonders. I wonder how long it takes to train the person (and there's only ever 1 person in a store as far as I can tell) behind the counter?

Strawberries

Yesterday at the store I saw strawberries for $12/basket. Now seriously, who on earth would spend $12 on strawberries except maybe a hormone-crazed pregnant person who, like, NEEDED those strawberries?? Anyone else was just not looking at price tags yesterday. (And I'm not knocking hormone-crazed pregnant people -- I too had cravings but could never be friends with anyone who craved anything as harmless as strawberries. I mean, when there's nacho cheese and french fries and 43 lbs to gain??!)

Speaking of weight gain, Sonja and I were noticing that there seemed to be a lot more obese people in the UK than in Sweden. Not surprising, really, because if YOU were paying $12 for strawberries and $20/lb for chicken and everything had dill in it would YOU be overweight? No, no, now I'm just being snarky (grumble grumble).

Anyway, a quick data search confirms that, among women in 2002 anyway, the percentage of obese women in the UK was 21% compared to 10% in Sweden. And just guess which ladies have the lowest incidence of obesity in Europe at 6%? Hint: they eat Brie and don't exercise.

P.S. The rate of obesity of women in the U.S. in 2002 was 38%. I think the Republicans are behind it. Call Michael Moore!!

Swedish design rocks!

Swedish design is truly cool and good design just seems to be much more pervasive here than in the U.S. We went to a department store today called Ahlens, sort of like a Macy's, and I was blown about by the coolness level at this middle-of-the-road store. Take the patterns on the fabric in these pictures. I mean, you can't even find this kind of thing at Britax in downtown SF. I'm especially loving the kids home decor and clothing -- not a Disney princess or cheesy flower pattern in site! Just bright, graphic and fun prints that adults actually might enjoy being around.

Already plotting what I'm going to bring back on the boat :)