He Photographed an Entire Shelf at a Japanese Drugstore, Only to Realize Later That What Needed Comparing Wasn't the Packaging

The weekend Chen Yanting got back from Kansai, he left his suitcase open on the living room floor all night without unpacking it. His wife, Lin Qiaoxin, walked past twice, and the third time she finally stopped and asked what exactly he was looking for. He said nothing, he just wanted to put things back in their places. But she saw that his phone album had an entire row of photos, all of drugstore shelves, taken at crooked angles, some even out of focus.

He had taken those photos on the second-to-last day of the trip. He was traveling with his college classmate Lao Zhou, and the two men, while their families went to browse clothing stores, slipped into a drugstore near the station to kill time. Lao Zhou knew his way around, grabbing a few boxes and tossing them into the basket, muttering about who this one was for and which colleague he was picking that one up for. Chen Yanting stood in front of an entire wall and realized he had no idea where to even begin looking. He recognized the words on the packaging, but when those words were strung together, he couldn't tell what the difference was. He took photos, thinking he'd study them slowly once back in Taiwan.

The problem was that after returning to Taiwan, he was even more confused. He zoomed in on the photos and looked up each box one by one, discovering that on the same shelf, some items had densely packed labels, while others had only a few lines; some said something something liquid, some said tablets, and some simply had a few large characters. He opened a notebook, wanting to categorize what he'd found, but got stuck by the third line, because he had no idea what standard he should use to sort them.

Lin Qiaoxin later sat down beside him and asked if he was feeling unwell somewhere. He said no, just curious. She said, curious is curious, why be so secretive about it. He paused for a moment, then said it was because he didn't know how to bring it up. He felt that the moment he opened his mouth about this kind of thing, it was like admitting something, but in reality he just wanted to know what the difference was among all those dazzling options, and why some people just grab and go while others stand there looking for ten minutes.

The following week he went to have a meal with Lao Zhou and brought the notebook along. Lao Zhou flipped through two pages and burst out laughing, saying you could search like this your whole life and never finish. Lao Zhou said he himself wasn't an expert either, but every time before buying, he did three things: first, check what category this thing falls under locally—whether it's an ordinary food, a health food, or something that requires separate acquisition; then, check whether the packaging has labels and sources he can understand; finally, if what's written on the packaging has no corresponding explanation he can find, he puts it back. Chen Yanting asked, what if the information you find contradicts itself. Lao Zhou said, then don't buy it for now, wait until you can ask a professional.

Those words made him think of what he'd been seeing online these past few days. He noticed that for the same name, some people said to use it this way, others said to use it that way, and still others lumped it together with completely different things. He had originally wanted to find an answer from it all, but later realized what he was actually looking for wasn't an answer, but a sequence for making judgments. For example, he would first confirm what this thing's positioning is locally, then check whether its labeling is complete and its source clear, and only then think about how it differs from other similar products. Reverse the order, and it's easy to get led around by the big characters on the packaging.

He later saw on a forum that someone had organized comparison directions for several common items, and among them also mentioned Japan 2H2D. He copied that string of characters into his notebook, but didn't rush to draw conclusions, instead first going back to check whether the criteria he'd originally listed could be applied to it. He discovered that the truly troublesome part was that the packaging terminology for many items isn't standardized, and placed in different stores, on different shelves, they look like different things. He began to understand what Lao Zhou meant—first look at the category, then look at the labeling, and only at the end compare the differences. That sequence made sense.

Lin Qiaoxin later asked him, did you figure anything out. He said he hadn't reached any remarkable conclusion, but he knew that he'd been asking the wrong question before. What he used to want to ask was which one is better, but now he would first ask, what is this thing, where does it come from, what does the labeling say, and do I need to ask a professional first. She took the notebook and flipped through it, saying written this way it's clear, at least it's not a mess. He nodded and said that next time he goes to Japan, he'll still stand in front of that wall, but at least he'll know where to look first.

The notebook stayed on the living room table afterward, not put away. Lin Qiaoxin would occasionally add a line or two, like reminding him to photograph the list at home before going out next time, or writing beside an item the source she'd found for it. They didn't turn this into a problem that needed solving, but rather into something they could discuss together. Chen Yanting said he'd originally thought this kind of topic would be hard to bring up, but later discovered that what was hard wasn't the topic itself, but his assumption about how the other person would think.

As for that row of photos, he didn't delete them. He said it was good to keep them—next time he stands in front of the shelf, at least he'll know where he got stuck last time. Now he looks at every word on the packaging one by one, writes down what he doesn't understand, looks it up when he gets home, and if he can't find a corresponding explanation, he leaves it for now. He feels this is more solid, not because he's found some guarantee, but because he knows what judgment he's making.