so i take my grandson , he is a two... we pull up and he says "Oh no not here" we go around and harrass the place with two year old style and he is shopping up a storm. we go to the lawn dept. toys play some video games.. i have to sit every once in a while.
then we find mom and go home . it is fun with him.
well you have really set a gaol and gone for it! good for you! shopping is complex and can be quite depressing.
Funny, Socks. Most of the time I enjoy grocery shopping. I love looking at the vast variety of choices, reading the labels, comparing the prices. Imaging the new concoctions I can cook up - knowing full well one child will eat it and the other will turn his nose up in discust (and never knowing exactly which child will do which).
It is a challenge! When I leave, I feel strong, victorious, more than a conqueror. I have purchased healthy food to feed my family for a week and I have made wise choices on how I spent our money.
This week we will feast on smoked turkey breast, smoked pork roast, and a stewed roast beef that comes straight from heaven. We will eat barley and beans, rice and lentils, couscous and flax seeds. We will add parsnips and turnips, fresh snow peas and corn on the cob. Canetelope, peaches, plums. Raspberry shortcake especially for Sushi.
Oh yea, and you must never ever ever forget the garlic and onions. No dinner is complete without garlic and onions.
waysider - the childhood was as Chatling says, dee-lightful! But then, there were only a couple "stores" to get "groceries" at. Lucky's was what we had, I think - no kidding, that was the name of it. Lucky's. An odd name for a store where you buy food. Maybe that was it. The idea that picking up a dozen eggs and a carton of milk could involve luck may have planted itself in the ol' subconscious. Or associated itself with all of those old Cagney mobster flicks. Maybe it WAS owned by a local mob boss named Lucky and a front for illegal activities. It was always extremely clean I do remember that. Very clean.
Thanks pond. Glad I'm not the only one. You said it all: shopping is complex and can be quite depressing.
It seems to bring out the best and the worst in people. I hope to have some grandkids someday and take them. I'll be able to teach them the Ways of the Grocery, and hopefully save them some grief down the line.That's what we should do for the next generation, make their lives a little better. Give them Grade AAA Tips like - "park for leaving, not entering" so they know to park close to the exit doors and don't have to push a cart full of bags down 5 rows in the Parking Speedway when they're done...."NEVER buy one of a 2-for-one sale item or the actual register price will triple"....cans of peaches - avoid any brand with a picture of a fish on it....stuff like that they'll be able to use.
Abigail: This week we will feast on smoked turkey breast, smoked pork roast, and a stewed roast beef that comes straight from heaven. We will eat barley and beans, rice and lentils, couscous and flax seeds. We will add parsnips and turnips, fresh snow peas and corn on the cob. Canetelope, peaches, plums. Raspberry shortcake especially for Sushi.
Wow. And it will seem like magic to the Uninitiated, as if manna from the sky falls everyday onto the table. :)
Polar Bear, I wish I did. Now that I've got this under my belt, the total time invested in such adventures will go down, hopefully. I can see a day when I'll just..."go", and just do it. No planning, just me and my Bank Card, wind in my hair. All 7 of them.
Goerge, I can see you understand. Drain Shlop I have no problem with. Soaped up Tinker Toys, been there done that. Hair - kind of scarey if it's mine, but overall if I can find a tool for it I can fix it well enough to qualify for a licensed repair man or contractor to take over when I'm "finished'. But the Food Shopping is a land I won't go into without backup and a guide. Until now.
coolchef - WalMart's are one of the reasons I think I have such a problem with these kinds of operations. I like - I think I like the idea of Wal Mart, but I don't even know why. They're basically dangerous places, for me. Plus, they sell so much stuff. Fish food. Milk. Cologne. Gum. Ciggies. Shoes. Hair gel. Cat food. Lawn chairs. Wrenches. Sets of wrenches. Cases for the wrenches. Transmission fluid. Bikes. Balloons. Ammonia.
It is a challenge! When I leave, I feel strong, victorious, more than a conqueror. I have purchased healthy food to feed my family for a week and I have made wise choices on how I spent our money.
i don't think there are french markets in this neighborhood
No, ~Ex~, I don't mean a French market in America! Every French town and village usually twice a week, has all the fresh fish, vegetables, meats, breads, wine, cheese, flowers...it's like "still life" in a painting. It's not visiting your Walmart!
By the way...you just reached a new milage level on you posting counter!
I like markets like that Bumpy. Open-air, "Farmers' Markets". Food looks like food, or at least like the pictures I've seen of it. I enjoy fresh produce. That kind of thing isn't "shopping" to my mind. It's more like "visiting". I visit the food, and the people who grew it and take some home with me. Do you go to them, exRa?
Gilroy is about 3 hours south of us - "Garlic Capitol of the World". They definitely do have the garlic, and so do we. I keep lots of it around. Always good.
I'll be grilling some fish tonight, with a rub I make. Should be tasty. I like fish and seafood. Raw clams and oysters - no. But pretty much everything else.
The fish fillets came in vacuum packs, my wife buys them. I can see the fish inside, so I know what's going on, for the most part. It's fish, part of one anyway. Fresh stuff is always good too.
While I deeply appreciate canning technology I've found....it pays to be careful. You don't know what happened to whatever it is on the way into the can. I've found it wasn't good, in some cases. Like Canned Peaches. You definitely have to be careful with Canned Peaches, there should only be peaches in the can when opened. The same would go for String Beans, and Pineapples. Crowded is okay, good actually. But the picture on the label has to match the stuff inside.
I think that grocery shopping in America has become an excercise in social stamina...A hodge podge of neurotic people, people who are in a hurry and just plain weirdos...people who leave their carts in the middle of the aisle ...the guy who stands over the meat section and blocks your entry to the ribeyes...and he loiters as he man handles every steak in the cooler...the long lines at the checkout...mean people sneering...children screaming...
I like to go to the 24 hour grocery store at about 3am...
I have some dear friends who moved here a few years ago from another country whose major language is English also. They had been in their rented house about 15 minutes when they realized they needed asundry household items. So.....the dutiful husband, hunter and gatherer that he is, volunteered to go to the grocery store, to purchase said household goods. So he drove to the neighborhood Super Kroger, full of the kind of confidence naivete engenders. Unfortunately for him, toilet paper was on the top of the list.
Well, he navigated Kroger successfully, and eventually discovered the paper goods aisle, without a map even. Little did he realize what was waiting for him around the corner. Yes, he found the toilet paper, but .........egads! there were about 75 varieties of toilet paper. Shock and awe overcame him, and his optimistic confidence quickly drained. So after spending an hour or so, pondering which kind of toilet paper he was supposed to buy, and deciding he needed to do more research on the matter, he moved on to salad dressing.
Ooops. There was an entire aisle of salad dressing spanning the length of the store from north to south. And not one bottle of the desired dressing resembled anything he had ever seen before.
Well, instead of panicking, he did the sensible thing, and went home empty handed, and offered to babysit. Meanwhile, his beloved came to the resuce, called a friendly neighbor, and recruited her to teach her the nuances of grocery shopping in the good ole US of A.
And I must say, they are both quite the professionals nowadays. She and her beloved have since moved on to other countries, and have both confidently mastered the art and science of grocery shopping on many different continents. But they both still allege, the USA was their Everest.
I agree Groucho. I plan it after midnight and before the bars let out.
Although lately, I have resorted to online grocery shopping. What is not to like? Shopping takes all of 10 minutes and someone delivers them to your kitchen. I still have to put the stuff in the fridge, but then no system is perfect. I can do the shopping while I am still in chat. And I can order in bulk.
Unfortunately for him, toilet paper was on the top of the list.
Great story! Paper Products - ex10, now you're in my Wheelhouse, as they say. Only pointer I could have given - DON'T get Aluminum Foil by mistake. It's just not the same.
But they both still allege, the USA was their Everest. Stuff R Us, that's for sure. Salad Dressing should be fun, if anything. Somewhere between the Oil and Vinegar and the Newman's Own, there's a range of selections so vast it would make Steven Hawking swear in frustration.
Used to do that myself Groucho, long ago. I worked Graveyard shift in Data Processing, 11 pm to 7 am. The local Safeway was 24 hours then and at 3 in the morning, you've got the place to yourself. Nice.
But again, the name: "Safeway". Built into the name is cause for concern. Is that a major part of the marketing - your shopping will be safe here? A safe way to shop? If there's risk involved picking up bread, count me out. Same with Lucky's. I don't want to take chances getting pickles. Just gimme the pickles.
Paw, the Safeway's here does the Delivery thing, and we did do it a few years ago. Should probably start again, now that I think about it. That would end the madness right there. The Mom figured it out, ordered online a couple times and got mostly sale stuff and two-fers, and it wasn't much more, I think there's a fee based on your location, and it was about 15 bucks or so. Considering the time, gas and mental health saved, it was well worth it.
Chef and Dooj, the produce was pretty healthy looking. Green things were green. Red, red. It seemed to go okay as I recall.
Mr. Hammeroni, you'd appreciate the Wal Mart in town here, then. It's got a parking lot bigger than some airports.
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waysider
Hmmm, Hmmm
Uh huh,Uh huh
And what do YOU think this means, Mr. Socks?
Please, please sir.
Stop pacing the room and lie back down on the couch.
Now then, what was your childhood like?
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ChattyKathy
What a simply delightful thread. :)
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pond
Since the kids have grown up i hate shopping to.
to much money and time for just me to get fat.
so i take my grandson , he is a two... we pull up and he says "Oh no not here" we go around and harrass the place with two year old style and he is shopping up a storm. we go to the lawn dept. toys play some video games.. i have to sit every once in a while.
then we find mom and go home . it is fun with him.
well you have really set a gaol and gone for it! good for you! shopping is complex and can be quite depressing.
kudos!!!
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Abigail
Funny, Socks. Most of the time I enjoy grocery shopping. I love looking at the vast variety of choices, reading the labels, comparing the prices. Imaging the new concoctions I can cook up - knowing full well one child will eat it and the other will turn his nose up in discust (and never knowing exactly which child will do which).
It is a challenge! When I leave, I feel strong, victorious, more than a conqueror. I have purchased healthy food to feed my family for a week and I have made wise choices on how I spent our money.
This week we will feast on smoked turkey breast, smoked pork roast, and a stewed roast beef that comes straight from heaven. We will eat barley and beans, rice and lentils, couscous and flax seeds. We will add parsnips and turnips, fresh snow peas and corn on the cob. Canetelope, peaches, plums. Raspberry shortcake especially for Sushi.
Oh yea, and you must never ever ever forget the garlic and onions. No dinner is complete without garlic and onions.
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polar bear
I think you've got too much time on your hands. LOL
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George Aar
Well, I don't know about the rest of the folks, but I"M impressed Socks.
Takes a lot of courage to take on the "Quickie Mart's" big brother, and UNARMED too! (I assume?)
Now if you REALLY wanta show us what you're made of you get that glob of hair-glop out of the shower drain...
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coolchef
great job socks!!
i hate it too and there is only 1 grocery store in our town,unless you call wal mart one and i not going there
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socks
waysider - the childhood was as Chatling says, dee-lightful! But then, there were only a couple "stores" to get "groceries" at. Lucky's was what we had, I think - no kidding, that was the name of it. Lucky's. An odd name for a store where you buy food. Maybe that was it. The idea that picking up a dozen eggs and a carton of milk could involve luck may have planted itself in the ol' subconscious. Or associated itself with all of those old Cagney mobster flicks. Maybe it WAS owned by a local mob boss named Lucky and a front for illegal activities. It was always extremely clean I do remember that. Very clean.
Thanks pond. Glad I'm not the only one. You said it all: shopping is complex and can be quite depressing.
It seems to bring out the best and the worst in people. I hope to have some grandkids someday and take them. I'll be able to teach them the Ways of the Grocery, and hopefully save them some grief down the line.That's what we should do for the next generation, make their lives a little better. Give them Grade AAA Tips like - "park for leaving, not entering" so they know to park close to the exit doors and don't have to push a cart full of bags down 5 rows in the Parking Speedway when they're done...."NEVER buy one of a 2-for-one sale item or the actual register price will triple"....cans of peaches - avoid any brand with a picture of a fish on it....stuff like that they'll be able to use.
Abigail: This week we will feast on smoked turkey breast, smoked pork roast, and a stewed roast beef that comes straight from heaven. We will eat barley and beans, rice and lentils, couscous and flax seeds. We will add parsnips and turnips, fresh snow peas and corn on the cob. Canetelope, peaches, plums. Raspberry shortcake especially for Sushi.
Wow. And it will seem like magic to the Uninitiated, as if manna from the sky falls everyday onto the table. :)
Polar Bear, I wish I did. Now that I've got this under my belt, the total time invested in such adventures will go down, hopefully. I can see a day when I'll just..."go", and just do it. No planning, just me and my Bank Card, wind in my hair. All 7 of them.
Goerge, I can see you understand. Drain Shlop I have no problem with. Soaped up Tinker Toys, been there done that. Hair - kind of scarey if it's mine, but overall if I can find a tool for it I can fix it well enough to qualify for a licensed repair man or contractor to take over when I'm "finished'. But the Food Shopping is a land I won't go into without backup and a guide. Until now.
coolchef - WalMart's are one of the reasons I think I have such a problem with these kinds of operations. I like - I think I like the idea of Wal Mart, but I don't even know why. They're basically dangerous places, for me. Plus, they sell so much stuff. Fish food. Milk. Cologne. Gum. Ciggies. Shoes. Hair gel. Cat food. Lawn chairs. Wrenches. Sets of wrenches. Cases for the wrenches. Transmission fluid. Bikes. Balloons. Ammonia.
That can't be right, can it?
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dmiller
She's Super Shopper!!!
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excathedra
i hate grocery shopping
i do it once a week
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Bumpy
Try a French market! It will change your "eating habits"!!
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excathedra
i don't think there are french markets in this neighborhood
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Bumpy
No, ~Ex~, I don't mean a French market in America! Every French town and village usually twice a week, has all the fresh fish, vegetables, meats, breads, wine, cheese, flowers...it's like "still life" in a painting. It's not visiting your Walmart!
By the way...you just reached a new milage level on you posting counter!
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excathedra
sounds like heaven bumpy
oh yeah about the number of posts. BFD
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socks
I like markets like that Bumpy. Open-air, "Farmers' Markets". Food looks like food, or at least like the pictures I've seen of it. I enjoy fresh produce. That kind of thing isn't "shopping" to my mind. It's more like "visiting". I visit the food, and the people who grew it and take some home with me. Do you go to them, exRa?
Gilroy is about 3 hours south of us - "Garlic Capitol of the World". They definitely do have the garlic, and so do we. I keep lots of it around. Always good.
I'll be grilling some fish tonight, with a rub I make. Should be tasty. I like fish and seafood. Raw clams and oysters - no. But pretty much everything else.
The fish fillets came in vacuum packs, my wife buys them. I can see the fish inside, so I know what's going on, for the most part. It's fish, part of one anyway. Fresh stuff is always good too.
While I deeply appreciate canning technology I've found....it pays to be careful. You don't know what happened to whatever it is on the way into the can. I've found it wasn't good, in some cases. Like Canned Peaches. You definitely have to be careful with Canned Peaches, there should only be peaches in the can when opened. The same would go for String Beans, and Pineapples. Crowded is okay, good actually. But the picture on the label has to match the stuff inside.
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Ham
I avoid Walmart like the plague..
I think it is so large, there is a black hole in the middle of it, sucking in customers, money, carts, kids, pets..
kinda like the famed roach motel. They check in, but they don't check out..
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waysider
Psssst!
(Avoid the clam sauce if it has been marked down!!)
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GrouchoMarxJr
I think that grocery shopping in America has become an excercise in social stamina...A hodge podge of neurotic people, people who are in a hurry and just plain weirdos...people who leave their carts in the middle of the aisle
...the guy who stands over the meat section and blocks your entry to the ribeyes...and he loiters as he man handles every steak in the cooler...the long lines at the checkout...mean people sneering...children screaming...
I like to go to the 24 hour grocery store at about 3am...
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ex10
Warning: the following is a true story:
I have some dear friends who moved here a few years ago from another country whose major language is English also. They had been in their rented house about 15 minutes when they realized they needed asundry household items. So.....the dutiful husband, hunter and gatherer that he is, volunteered to go to the grocery store, to purchase said household goods. So he drove to the neighborhood Super Kroger, full of the kind of confidence naivete engenders. Unfortunately for him, toilet paper was on the top of the list.
Well, he navigated Kroger successfully, and eventually discovered the paper goods aisle, without a map even. Little did he realize what was waiting for him around the corner. Yes, he found the toilet paper, but .........egads! there were about 75 varieties of toilet paper. Shock and awe overcame him, and his optimistic confidence quickly drained. So after spending an hour or so, pondering which kind of toilet paper he was supposed to buy, and deciding he needed to do more research on the matter, he moved on to salad dressing.
Ooops. There was an entire aisle of salad dressing spanning the length of the store from north to south. And not one bottle of the desired dressing resembled anything he had ever seen before.
Well, instead of panicking, he did the sensible thing, and went home empty handed, and offered to babysit. Meanwhile, his beloved came to the resuce, called a friendly neighbor, and recruited her to teach her the nuances of grocery shopping in the good ole US of A.
And I must say, they are both quite the professionals nowadays. She and her beloved have since moved on to other countries, and have both confidently mastered the art and science of grocery shopping on many different continents. But they both still allege, the USA was their Everest.
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pawtucket
I agree Groucho. I plan it after midnight and before the bars let out.
Although lately, I have resorted to online grocery shopping. What is not to like? Shopping takes all of 10 minutes and someone delivers them to your kitchen. I still have to put the stuff in the fridge, but then no system is perfect. I can do the shopping while I am still in chat. And I can order in bulk.
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coolchef
paw my friend
you must have way too much $$$$$ or is it reasonable??
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pawtucket
It isn't very expensive. I don't have a lot of money either. I buy almost exclusively sale items
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doojable
But what about things like produce? Are they good about picking out nice fruits and veggies?
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socks
Great story! Paper Products - ex10, now you're in my Wheelhouse, as they say. Only pointer I could have given - DON'T get Aluminum Foil by mistake. It's just not the same.
But they both still allege, the USA was their Everest. Stuff R Us, that's for sure. Salad Dressing should be fun, if anything. Somewhere between the Oil and Vinegar and the Newman's Own, there's a range of selections so vast it would make Steven Hawking swear in frustration.
Used to do that myself Groucho, long ago. I worked Graveyard shift in Data Processing, 11 pm to 7 am. The local Safeway was 24 hours then and at 3 in the morning, you've got the place to yourself. Nice.
But again, the name: "Safeway". Built into the name is cause for concern. Is that a major part of the marketing - your shopping will be safe here? A safe way to shop? If there's risk involved picking up bread, count me out. Same with Lucky's. I don't want to take chances getting pickles. Just gimme the pickles.
Paw, the Safeway's here does the Delivery thing, and we did do it a few years ago. Should probably start again, now that I think about it. That would end the madness right there. The Mom figured it out, ordered online a couple times and got mostly sale stuff and two-fers, and it wasn't much more, I think there's a fee based on your location, and it was about 15 bucks or so. Considering the time, gas and mental health saved, it was well worth it.
Chef and Dooj, the produce was pretty healthy looking. Green things were green. Red, red. It seemed to go okay as I recall.
Mr. Hammeroni, you'd appreciate the Wal Mart in town here, then. It's got a parking lot bigger than some airports.
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