Accident Insurance and Mayonnaise
10 Nov 2008 by Annie Porthouse
I’m a member of Unison. Apart from waving a sad goodbye to some of my hard-earned cash each month, this doesn’t really mean that much to me. But the other day they wrote to me about their free life/accident insurance: if I loose a thumb and index on the same hand, I’ll get £750 (it occurs to me that if I loose a thumb and index finger on different hands, I’ll not get a penny). If I loose two limbs, I’ll get a whopping £2,500… which might just cover my first week of therapy.
As a teaching assistant my job has been fairly hazard-free to date. Nevertheless, I have duly applied for my freebie and it’s made me think more about the value we place on things. Or the value we might place on them.
The credit climate, for example, has forced me to re-examine the value I place on shopping ‘generously’. Take mayonnaise. For a few years I’ve ordered local/organic/fair trade food from a local food delivery service. It’s great – but with a £3 delivery charge, I’ve decided to give it a miss. But they’re the only people who can supply us with local mayonnaise. Our local farm shop has mayonnaise from Staffordshire… 170 miles away. It’s also very expensive, as was the local mayonnaise I was having delivered. Turns out my local Co-op do their own brand of mayonnaise, using free range eggs. And it’s cheap! So I could add mayonnaise to the short list of things I buy from Co-op most weeks. It would save money. Saving money is good. Firstly, because I don’t want to run out of it and secondly because if I have any spare I can always give it to someone who needs it more. But until now I’ve valued the fact that my mayonnaise was produced in the county I live in. So what’s more important?
Yes, I’m being pedantic – so shoot me, my family will get a payout from Unison – but I suspect the answer is to stop thinking so hard and simply opt for the handy, cheap Co-op version. Until I can find somewhere else that sells it locally. At a reasonable price. Or make my own. Recipes anyone…?
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