stamp & chop:

everything has its expiry date. just flip the newspaper and you would see above it, there would be a barcode, a date that defines its existence and its worth, all neatly typed in bold.
from potent tuna cans to meaningless novelty items, all tagged with a price tag and a date of expiry.

With a quick scan at the quicky mart, you would be able to find out the price for that branded steam iron you have longed to get, or the dishwashing liquid that you might prefer to buy in bulk. There is an expiry for everything you see and touch, as well as a value, if intrinsic.

Note the comercial for credit cards. Yes, the means that have driven our society to function on credits/debts. If you cant pay it, just take out a loan to pay off your debt, and at the end of the day, all your left with is a mortgaged car, house, dog. Everything that you own is bought on a loan, that is if your wealthy enough to pay all at one go. Note, even your wife owns half of your debts, whether thats for the better of worse, just like two heads are better then one. With the wife's entry into the economy in present day as observed through the prevalence of self-proclaiming independent women, life at home was meant to be easier. Unfortunately, things hardly improve for the average family. Instead, more things are signed and bought with the snap of a finger.

Yes. Even your relationship has a price tag and expiry date attached to it. When your courting, lavish affections must be spelved both ways, to maybe purchase that He & she lovers' outfit, or to even buy those flowers that you know would die tomorrow because of a stupid day and its even stupider customs. And get this. Women dig men who are ROMANTIC. That is the fashion of the season, or rather from eternity. Was watching Oprah the other day, (yes even i watch junk tv and cartoons...er...), what struck me as a reality check. Why do couples on tight budgets have rock star weddings when they can hardly afford. The fact is, if you blow on a woman, a lobster size lavish style treatment, she is expecting it EVERYDAY. And that's where value and expiry dates come in. No matter how much she LOVES you, if you stop the gifts coming, that's if you fall in the category above... the affection, romance, love will all cease together. its like a graph. Picture it. What goes up must come down, so in short, dont raise her hopes too high, but dont make her miserable either, or she would be saying, screw that dumb jerk of a man, i'm better off being a les or by myself. Such is the power of the new age women. We have something our parents might not have relish having. Freedom of choice. With a highflying education, although practically everybody is in university as i speak, things might not seem as hard as before, although with the economic situation...you never really know.

So the next time you pick up a can of sardines and think, hey, this is a cheap buy. Think again and LOOK at the expiry labels, dont just grab the first can off and happily head for the register. You never know that you'ii be happily suffering in the toilet over sardine poisoning.