A few weeks ago, a reader sent an e-mail with a news story, suggesting that it would be interesting fodder for the “Is It Just Me?” column. I always enjoy these suggestions, although I must say that I was unsure at first as to what she thought I might find compelling about this particular piece.

You probably read it. The basis of it was that people are getting sick from E.coli bacteria, found in bags of cut-up lettuce.

I believe think that E.coli bacteria is probably something that I should avoid, although I honestly have no idea what it is. It does sound bad, that’s for sure.

The bacteria doesn’t seem like the biggest problem to me at all. The greater question to me is this:

Why in the world are we paying somebody to cut up lettuce and put it in a plastic bag in the first place?

Are we really so busy that we need instant salad? There must be more to it that I haven’t quite figured out, but here are the only possibilities that I could come up with:

-Cutting up lettuce is tricky business, and if you don’t get it just right you lose the flavor.

-Some people don’t have the correct carving tools for lettuce preparation.

-It takes 21.4 seconds to cut up lettuce, but only 17.8 seconds to open the bag and pour it into a bowl. This creates additional time for family bonding, and opportunities to discuss important world events, such as killer salads.

I expect that this trend will continue and soon there will be other labor-saving items in the produce section; like peeled potatoes and apples with the stems removed.

Then of course, it will lead to break through uses of technology in other areas of our life. Soon we may have such equally useful inventions as voice-activated doorbells and anti-perspirant in convenient pill form.

Is it just me, or are there other people that worry that sometimes the Almighty is punishing us for being so stinking lazy.