The Grocery Store

The Grocery Store. Does anyone really like to go to the grocery store? I doubt it. I had to stop there this morning for just a few things and I noticed that no one going in looks happy to be there. They either look really blasé, like “please, let’s just get this over with”, or really concentrated, like really focused, really ready to do some serious grocery shopping. No smiling and laughing. No enthusiasm. All business.

I noticed this one couple going in as I was just getting to the doors. They had 2 carts for shopping. They didn’t even hesitate; they grabbed 2 carts right away at the doors. Once they got inside, their kid got into one of them and took her shoes off. These people are getting ready for a serious shopping trip.

Which brings me to this question, why do people bring their kids to the grocery store? If they have no one to watch them, I can see it. But I think I would try hard to avoid that scene. Have you noticed these people in the stores? The kids are running up and down the aisles and one parent is chasing them. Or the kid is grabbing stuff and the parent is constantly telling them no. “Now I told you that you weren’t getting that!” Kids in the soda aisle or worse, the candy aisle are a trip. With every step they are grabbing something or asking for something and the parent is telling them no.

The worst aisle for having kids is that little tiny toy area they put in grocery stores. It’s small enough that there is just junk there, but its toys and little kids can’t be dragged away from it. They put such cheap stuff in there that even when the parent gives in, the kid has forgotten the thing within minutes of leaving the store. Or they’ve broken it and left it for dead in some corner of their room somewhere. I think the grocery store guys just add this little tiny toy area to torture the parents a little more. They probably are sitting somewhere watching and laughing about it, talking to the poor parents like, “That’ll teach you to bring your kid in here!” They’re just mean like that.

Then comes the hardest aisle for anyone to avoid, the ice cream aisle. It’s like Fantasy Land in that aisle. People of all ages get in front of those doors and stare for long periods of time, dreaming of the tasty treats inside, trying to decide which yummy thing will be theirs that day. The ones who linger longest, looking all up and down the aisle are the ones you know are doomed the worst. Those people aren’t getting away with just one thing; they are taking home a couple different ice cream treats. The longer you look, the more mesmerizing it becomes. That’s why the ice cream aisle has become a full aisle now. When I was a kid, it was a tiny little spot in the store. Now it’s huge.

At the end of the excursion, when all the exasperating shopping has been accomplished, then you have the Checkout. They have these self-checkouts now that are pretty popular. They still have someone bagging stuff and watching you, so I’m not sure of the store philosophy there. They also have the express lane where someone invariably has more items than they are supposed to. Then you have the person behind them giving them the evil eye for it. You know what they are thinking, “The sign says 15 items or less, not 16 items! Now I’ll be here forever!” The funny part is the person who goes through the entire process and stands there afterward, closely examining every item on the printout from the register. They look over the items listed, check it against what’s now in the bags, scratch their heads wondering just how they could have spent that much. “It sure doesn’t look like that much in my carts. Can this bill be right?” Yeah, it’s right. You spent too much time in that darn ice cream aisle.

The grocery store, a never-ending resource of amusement and blog material for me. Gotta love em!