Grocery Stores

I hate grocery stores; a few more than others, but hate, HATE them.  We all know I don’t like food, so it isn’t a stretch that I would feel that way about supermarkets.  They are a necessary evil, I mean, how are people supposed to get their food and various sundries?  The problem with living in a smaller town is the choices of where to shop are pretty limited.  I’ve started going out of town to shop.  There is a nice grocery by my office I go to pretty often.  The other grocery is in Hartford.  I like that one, but I can’t tell my Mother I go there, she gets all upset because it is in a not so nice part of town.  But with the choices I am presented with, it makes the most sense.

Waldbaums is at the top of my places I don’t like to go to EVER.  First off, it is located by a senior community, nothing against senior citizens, but they can get pretty cranky.  The parking lot is a mess and if I were to get into an accident it would be there.  If you make it into the building, the inside is pleasant enough, but the aisles are wicked narrow. And when friends bump into each other in the aisle and start talking, it is amazing how they can completely ignore anyone trying to get by.  In one particular aisle, there is a pole right in the middle so you can’t get your cart around it.  What is up with that?  There is also a ramp that I can’t figure out.  Was someone lazy and didn’t want to make the ground level?  It’s also pretty warm in there, I’m guessing to accommodate the seniors.  One time, my husband I were in there doing a mother load(buying two weeks worth of groceries)and we went through the self check out.  Big mistake.  There were a gazillion people there and they were all at the registers.  My husband had a brilliant idea to go to the self check out.  The 12 items and under express lane!  Really?  Jeeeeeze, so here I am in my ski jacket that will keep me warm in the Arctic Circle in this HOT grocery store swiping bar codes that aren’t swiping, putting my items in the bags, my husband taking the bags off the stand, then having the computer tell me not to take off the bags causing an error to happen and the unhappy girl from behind the supervising desk to come over and put a key in the register to fix it all the while glaring at us for taking up too much time in the express lane.  At some point, I had my jacket off, sweating up a storm and my husband and I having words loudly over how to properly go through one of these self checkout lanes.  I got myself in such a twist, my husband very quietly and politely asked me to leave the store, which I did in tears.  After an extended period of avoidance, I eventually succumbed and went back.  Then there was the hummus incident.  I had a positive attitude about the store that day—I will shop here, I will be pleasant, I will enjoy this time to myself without the kids.  Well that got cut short.  In the front of the store when you walk in is the deli and produce.  I had a few things in my cart then walked away to look at the hummus.  Grabbed a big tub for my vegan son, plopped it in my cart and started off towards the meats.  All of a sudden, this very senior woman shouted, “Hey, that’s MY cart” and slapped my arm!  Ohmygosh, I am so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.  She grunted and walked away in a huff.  I didn’t do it on purpose I called after her.  No response.  I tried to shrug it off, but my arm really stung!!  L Later that afternoon, my son cracked open the hummus container.  MOM!!! He shouts, come here quick!  He thought he was eating the skin of the chick pea when in fact it was either a mealworm or a maggot.  AACCKKK! I didn’t look at it too long to figure out what exactly it was, all I knew is that it wasn’t right.  I drove back to the store to return it.  It really wasn’t about the money, more of like, this is what happened to me today, one of your patrons slapped me and I have maggots in my hummus.  I told the poor girl at the customer service counter that I would NEVER step foot in her store again.  She said she didn’t blame me. 

Then there is the grocery store on Farmington Avenue that the whole town shops at.  I can never get in and out of there without seeing at least 3 people I know.  We also have a Trader Joe’s and two Whole Foods.  TJ’s is great but not a lot of variety and Whole Foods can get pricy if you are trying to feed a family of 5.  Now that it’s just my husband and I most nights for dinner, I do shop there out of laziness.  If I want to do a big grocery load, I’ll go to the store that is on the edge of the bad side of town.  Its clean, has wide aisles, really nice looking produce and friendly staff.  And most important, they carry a whole range of Hispanic foods.  My husband can get the chorizo he likes and I can get my cheesey arapas.  Full of carbs but oh so good for a once in a while treat.  But not a good place to be in the first of the month.  That’s when peoples get their check.  The grocery stores are packed then and I stood in line for 45 minutes once just to check out! 

Now, as luck would have it, I might be banned from all grocery stores.  My wheat allergy has gotten much more severe.  When near the bread aisle or in proximity to the bakery department, I feel like I am breathing in nails, my nose and lungs just ache.  When I told my allergist that, she had a freak out.  Well I guess that answers that.  No more craziness in parking lots, no more dodging people I don’t want to talk to. No more standing in check out lines forever.  My husband will have to man up and do the shopping from now on.  I think I can live with that!