Butt warmers and cabbage – why big stories matter to you

We own it – we talk about a lot of big topics here at TMS. But from economic instability to global energy shortages to a looming food crisis, it can be easy to get lost in the weeds and forget why it matters. So, we wanted to talk about a couple of concrete examples of why it matters to real people.

When it comes to the fuel shortage, the Russia-Ukraine war means that it’s getting harder to buy fuel at a low price, and so it’s getting harder to buy fuel at all. So in Tokyo, government officials are asking citizens to watch a little less TV, turn off the “keep warm” function on their rice cookers and turn off the seat warmers on their toilets, all in the name of conserving energy.

And as much as it sounds like a joke to ask people to turn their butt warmers off, Japan was nearly dealing with blackouts because of power shortages last month. So energy conservation is no trivial matter there.

And when it comes to food shortages, Australia has been grappling with a lettuce shortage. So, KFCs in the country have had to get creative and are starting to put cabbage on sandwiches instead. This isn’t the first time KFC has had to deal with ingredient shortages, though. Earlier this year, the fast-food chain was dealing with a shortage of its most important ingredient, chicken.

We really hope that butt warmers and cabbage substitutions put things into perspective – the stuff happening in the headlines trickles down and affects us all.