I hate going grocery shopping. Hate it. I just can't stand to be in the market with a bunch of other people. I end up feeling really rude because I'm in someone else's way or I get frustrated by people standing in mine. It's usually a horrible experience for me. 9 times out of 10 I'd rather pay more and go to a farmer's market where I'm outside and there aren't a bazillion carts careening in my direction.
However, if we don't go to the store we starve. So I go.
I like to go on Friday afternoons when I'm done with work. That's just the time that works out the best for me. I fortify myself with a nice cold Intajuice (so much better than Jamba, IMHO) and force myself past the annoying petitioners into the building.
This last Friday I made a similar effort. The ear doctor accompanied me for moral support. We rapidly ticked down the shopping list and found ourselves in the check out line surprisingly quickly.
I watched as our items rang up on the computer screen. I once heard somewhere that people pay on average $5 more than they should because things ring up incorrectly and they are too distracted to notice.
The checker got down to the bottom of my cart and pulled up my 2 heads of lettuce..BIBB lettuce. She stared blankly at them and then looked up at me. She asked, "what is this?"
I was a bit stunned.
There is an entire wall of lettuce in the produce section. I would have thought that almost every other customer had a random head of lettuce in their cart. I shrugged and said, "lettuce?"
"I know that....but what kind?" She responded back.
Here is where she lost me even more. Every single type of lettuce at this market is the same price. $1.49 a head. I know this because we get at least one head every single week. So for her to ask what kind, to me, seemed a silly question. Does it really matter to her?
"It's bibb, I think" I offered....even though I was 100% sure that it was bibb lettuce.
"No, it ABSOLUTELY is not BIBB LETTUCE" She responded. Our eyes locked. The tension between us was palpable. This woman was not going to back down from her non-bibb lettuce stance and I realized that this was a battle not worth fighting. I shrugged, she rang it up as bibb (it cost $1.49...like every other type of lettuce in the store) and we moved on.
And that is why my hatred of the grocery store lives on.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
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11 comments:
Yeeesh. Good for you, taking the high road & not arguing with the grocery store troll.
I feel your pain...I want to pre-emptively medicate myself for each and every grocery store excursion, ESPECIALLY if Costco is in the lineup.
WOW...but how ironic is this...that totally happened to me...SERIOUSLY...over the EXACT same lettuce. she kept insiting it was butter lettuce. I told her that it has many names, butter, bibb, boston....wow...I laughed so hard reading this.
I have stories...horror stories about grocery shopping, but like you said it must be done.
I wonder if I should look into ordering groceries online?
I think they ask because they need the info for inventory, so the computer knows how many quantities of each product to re-order. That still doesn't excuse her rudeness.
I, too, loathe grocery shopping!
As you know, you were raised in a family of grocery store haters. The only one who doesn't mind is dad, and because he will go I have quit complaining about what he gets. It is the only thing that keeps us from starving now that the milkman retired.
I must be weird....I like grocery shopping! Hubby hates going with me because I like to wander every aisle at my own, leisurely, pace.
Try taking three kids along for the ride. At least we get a free cookie from the bakery.
UNBELIEVABLE! If she didn't want you to tell her, why did she ask you what kind of lettuce it was?!?! WOW...good for you for not arguing...I guess it wasn't worth it for $1.49! Hope you enjoyed that BIBB lettuce!
Everytime I go to the grocery store here in St. Louis the checker doesn't know what one of my produce items is. Last time it was leeks. Are leeks really that odd of an item that nobody knows what they are?
Once a guy checker ask,what is this? my answer...radishes. Can anyone be that dumb or can't they find good help?
grandma jane
what a weirdo. why did she question you on it, challenge your answer but then ring it up as such anyway?
I actually enjoy grocery shopping, as long as I am by myself. I peruse the aisles, my list in hand, dreaming of all the delicious food I am going to make. And that is how heavy cream, 4 lbs of butter and imported artichoke hearts mysteriously end up in my cart.
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