No, doing your own shopping is not undignified, irrespective of your station in life.

[Daphne – Yes, Maria, when you occupy a certain state role, it is undignified, not because the act of shopping itself is undignified, but because it puts you in situations where the required distance – the distance which shores up the respect required for that role – is not present. There is a word in Maltese to which I can’t quite find the English equivalent: suggizzjoni. The rest of us can do our own shopping. The Police Commissioner, as long as he fills that role, should get somebody else to do it for him or use the internet to have it delivered. The Police Commissioner should never put himself in situations where he is approached by all and sundry in the lavatory cleaner aisle, for the simple reason that the act of hauling things into a trolley in a supermarket makes him highly approachable and vulnerable to overtures, which both erode respect for the role.]

I know you have a thing for Lidl, so do I, but its because I visited the San Gwann outlet a few times and found the fact that you still need to go to the supermarket afterwards an inconvenience. They do not carry much choice. Your reasoning seems to be based on social standards you impose on yourself, but that’s beside the point.

[Daphne – No, Maria, my reasoning is based on propriety and the established practice of people in certain roles having to keep a distance from exposure to approach by individuals. A police commissioner is a police commissioner at all times, even in the supermarket aisle. It is a ROLE not a job. I do not consider doing my own shopping to be beneath me. I have done it for almost 30 years and there are times when I actually enjoy it. If it is not beneath me, then it is certainly not beneath Peter Paul Zammit. But we are not talking about Peter Paul Zammit here. We are talking about the Commissioner of Police. And no, he should not be in a supermarket aisle bumping into people who might and will approach him inappropriately. And yes, it is terribly inappropriate and undignified to put yourself in that position. The Commissioner of Police should be a remote and unapproachable person, not somebody to whom every citizen thinks he has access ghax minn taghna u narah jaghmel ix-xirja ghand il-Lidl jew lis-Scotts.]

Not everybody thinks that shopping is an “experience”. I’ve been to the farmer’s market and the only good thing about it is that the prices were not as expensive as what I pay in Gharghur. Quality was the same.

I have a very good butcher, just a stone’s throw away from your very good butcher, and thankfully I only have to wait half the time I’d have to wait if I did my meat shopping a few meters closer to the main square.

Prices are just about the same, but the look of my butcher’s shop may put you off … its not as nice and shiny as the one you like.

[Daphne – I work with food, Maria. I don’t go to butcher’s shops because they’re nice and shiny, but because they’ve got the right cuts from the right animals, stuff I happen to know about. With other things, I might not bother, but with this, I do. Most health problems in Malta are caused by bad food and too much of it. I wasn’t always so concerned, but working in the field has taught me a lot and changed my attitude completely.]

GS Superstore is quite convenient too, and thankfully I’m not a police commissioner, minister, judge or president, so its OK for me to go to this supermarket just as long as I don’t look at the special offers or any other reduced items lest I be penny-pinching.

[Daphne – Oh, I look at those. But you know what? I long ago worked out that the best way to save money is by avoiding the special offers, which only make you spend more by buying things you wouldn’t have bought anyway. The temptation to buy something just because it’s cheap is great, but wasteful.]

I agree with you on various subjects, and I dislike this bunch of political scum as much as you do, but my dislike stems from their history, their policies, their behavior in relation to what really matters (excluding shopping), and the future they will eventually ruin for most of us.

I know your dislike is more personal but you cannot impose the same social restrictions you impose on yourself on others. Your elitist approach to food is not as impressive as other subjects you’re very good arguing at.

[Daphne – I have no elitist approach to food. Unfortunately, because of my social background for which I cannot be held responsible (not that it is a crime, but apparently yes, it is some kind of criminal liability here) there are some people, and these appear to include you, who approach me well-armed and bristling with hostility and preconceived notions of ‘snobbery’. The reality, of which you appear to be entirely unaware, is that people from that kind of background are massively down-to-earth, practical and thrifty. This is the reason why so many of them shifted to Labour this time: they worked out, for practical reasons, that it’s best to be in with the new rulers, something which their families have been doing throughout Malta’s history, which is why it comes so easily to them.

Poor food includes anything that is highly processed and with ingredients far removed from their natural state. This means that the people who can least afford to do so are spending a high proportion of their meagre income on food that is bad for them, through lack of knowledge and because they don’t have basic cooking skills. The worst part of it is the perverted snobbery involved: they actually seem to believe that buying a frozen pizza which they can just pop into the oven is high status because it is more expensive and involves no work, while making your own is low status because it is cheaper and you have to work at making it. The health professionals are up against a serious problem, because the approach to food has to be tackled at the root, and that’s going to be difficult.]

Thank you for your consideration.

Catsrbest, Teresa Mannino would play havoc with their ego.

I think it is complete drivel to say that ” Police Commissioners … have to keep a certain degree of distance from the public and a bit of dignity about their persons” so they should not shop with everyone else!!! They get paid by the public and in these times most people prefer that they live like the regular man rather than in a different world. if he was buying luxuries and getting his staff to go shopping for him you would probably be the first one in exposing him and saying that he is squandering his public paid money on a public lifestyle and this is not befitting of a man who is in the public eye etc etc. Just look at how well recieved Boris Johnson is for cycling the streets of London, or Kate Middleton for wearing a £40 dress as an example.

Snobbery and self elevation may possibly appeal to you but does not tend to appeal to the everyday voter.

[Daphne – Read my responses to other comments. It has NOTHING to do with snobbery. Kate Middleton used to go to the supermarket immediately after she married. You will not see her there now. Ask yourself why.]

Some years ago while going to work at around 6.30 am in the morning, I used to see a nurse in her uniform waiting for the bus on a bus shelter in a very busy street in Qormi, the so called Telgha tal-Pepsi. Sense of hygiene? Zero.

I believe it’s also a matter of culture.

I read an article about Merkel’s private visit to Capri on an Italian magazine.

Last summer Merkel visited Capri and flew on a military flight. Her husband who accompanied her during this holiday didn’t take the same flight as his wife as he was being charged for the trip. (It seems that the state covers only Merkel’s expenses). He travelled on a low cost flight down to Italy.

E chi se ne frega?

Federal elections in Germany are quite imminent and discount stores in Germany (Lidl, Rewe, Aldi, Netto, Edeka) have excellent offers, ample parking space and usually employees with good manners.

Ms. Merkel, affectionately known as Mutti in Germany, hence has a chance to meet voters without need to pay home visits.

Daphne, I trust that my answer was adequate enough.