Lessons in a ketchup bottle

To get through some coming tough days in America, try a little patience.

Some things aren’t worth rushing — like good ketchup. (Photo by Alena Shekhovtcova from Pexels)

For everybody who begins the new year frustrated that our usual lives remain hobbled by COVID-19, for all the folks who are furious that Republicans in Congress are blocking reforms that are widely popular with Americans, for those of us heartsick that we’re still only feebly battling climate change and economic injustice, here’s a bit of advice for coping in 2022: Take heart from our experience muddling through the dark days when ketchup came only in glass bottles.

Yes, young ’uns, there was a time before squeeze bottles. Back then — by which I mean before 1983, when Heinz finally pulled its iconic octagonal glass containers  off supermarket shelves — you had to be patient if you wanted ketchup on your burger or fries. Of course, you could shake the bottle or beat on its bottom, if you wanted to risk a juicy red belch on your bib. But mostly you had to wait. Good ketchup is thick, so it move…