Housekeeping  is  vastly  simplified  by  the  Com-
missary. When  there  is  but  one  place  to  shop,  and
only  one  quality  of  goods  to  select  from — namely
the  best,  for  that  is  all  the  Commissary  carries — the
shopping  tasks  of  the  housekeeper  are  reduced  to  a
minimum.  Nevertheless  they  grumble — perhaps  be-
cause women  like  to  shop,  more  probably  because
this  situation  creates  a  dull  and  monotonous  same-
ness among  the  families.     "What's  the  good  of


38o  PANAMA  AND  THE  CANAL

giving  a  dinner  party",  asked  a  hostess  plaintively,
"when  your  guests  all  know  exactly  what  everything
on  your  table  costs,  and  they  can  guess  just  what
you  are  going  to  serve?  They  say,  'I  wish  she'd
bought  lamb  at  the  Commissary,  it  costs  just  the
same  as  turkey'.  Or  'the  Commissary  had  new
asparagus  today.  Wonder  why  she  took  cauli-
flower'? They  get  the  Commissary  list  just  as  I
do  and  know  exactly  to  what  I  am  limited,  as  we
can  only  buy  at  the  Commissary.  There  is  no
chance  for  the  little  surprises  that  make  an  in-
teresting dinner  party".
That  is  perhaps  a  trifle  disquieting  to  the  adven-
turous housekeeper,  but,  except  for  the  purpose  of
entertaining,  the  Commissary  must  be  a  great  boon.
Its  selection  of  household  necessities  is  sufficiently
varied  to  meet  every  need;  the  quality  the  best  and
its  prices  are  uniformly  lower  than  in  the  United
States.
