- A confession by Sandra van den Tol, our BLOODY BELIEVER in Frankfurt -
Ever since we moved to Germany, I’ve been having these issues with our family’s meal routine. Back home, in the Netherlands, it is foremost custom to have a cold lunch, followed by a hot dinner. Preferably an altogether, sitting at the table, home cooked, family meal. Since we are all incredibly busy, dinner time is precious quality time. And with two young teens in the house, the ample opportunity to look each other in the eye, and see if there’s anything going on that might need to be addressed. And believe me, even the false look of a girlfriend, or a non-response to a new outfit, could be one of these earthshaking topics. Now you might think with being neighboring countries, how different can we be? Well believe me when I say that, after three years of German experience, we are THAT different. With loads of other stories to share, I’ll stick to my subject this time; meals.
Germans are accustomed to a hot, and rather bulky lunch. It’s incredible that they do not embrace siesta here, since they are so stuffed in the afternoon, that a slight nap might do them some good. However, dinner time here, is nothing more than a few slices of bread, butter, prosciutto, cheese and some pickles. Evening bread or ‘Abendbrot’ it is called. Most of my family members are out during the day, having their hot and extensive lunches at work and school. Leaving me, career-girl-turned-homestay-materfamilias, with a huge ‘existential’ issue. To cook? Or not to cook? While I am not very good at tackling these domestic issues, my meal schedule and grocery shopping looked like a warzone most of the time. With either double hot meals for several days, or no hot meals at all. Leaving me with some guilt because how on earth was I supposed to comply with the standard of the Department of Health, when it comes to providing nutritious meals. As the meal squad was about to bang on my door that morning, an idea was handed to me, by my in-house Amazon pixie, Alexa.
As a firm Bloody Believer, I do rely heavily on Conveniences when it comes to solving my domestic hassle. I do not want to spend an enormous amount of time, money and effort on solving my daily puzzles. Time is too precious, and I believe the world itself is a much more adventurous to-do-list than my housekeeping schedule. Some quick thinking. What if I would prepare a larger quantity of healthy food in advance, leave something for myself and give the rest to my family, preferably already heated, the next day? That would solve it! It only needs to be kept warm for a few hours.
“Alexa, open the Amazon app and find me meal containers delivered the same day, within my Amazon Prime subscription!” Alexa works her magic and an endless list appears in front of me. The solution within reach. With two teens, and an overstocked lost & found department in school, I do not want to spend too much money. On the other hand, I need a good quality product. That is where Amazon’s choice steps in. With Amazon’s choice you’ll be guaranteed a good product for a reasonable price. Three clicks later my stylish thermos food jars were on their way. Delivered to me the same day between 6.00 pm - 10.00 pm. Early in the evening, my doorbell rang, and as I opened the door I saw the familiar yellow truck parked in front of my house. I knew instantly that Amazon and DHL had again successfully teamed up to solve my problem and restore my piece of mind that same day.
I used to be one of those sinners, who always thought of brands positioned as Conveniences, as being the Plain Janes of the family. While I found brands positioned as Experiences, absolutely mesmerizing. To me they were truly sexy, glamorous and inspiring, while the other half was just, well, necessity. Now is the time for me to confess and put my false assumption to the realms of rubbish. Amazon is my ‘hottie’ for giving me my happily ever after.
This is a contribution by Sandra van den Tol. Before becoming a bubbly independent creative copywriter, I worked at KLM in several corporate roles. Three years ago, my family and I moved to Frankfurt, Germany where I became the rookie of the Expat group. After a short reflectional period, I am now running my own Communication & Storytelling agency, Speechless Society.
CREDITS FOR THE IMAGES
Header visual: Amazon shot from Abian Hurnaus (available on pexels.com)
Icon visual: Sandra's home-cooked meal in her newest Amazon's hottie (By Sandra)
Portrait: the author herself (by Sandra)
