FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Enjoying the enviable position of being able to grocery shop on a weekday I almost miss the consternation in the chicken coops of everyone scrambling to get their food chores done on the weekend. Sandwiched in between other necessary errands neglected during the work week. Yes, food references throughout! There is a pattern to when people shop however.  Monday store shelves are often missing popular items due to the invasions over the weekends so not a good day to go.

Though I understand it is a necessity, how many times have we tripped over both shoppers grabbing products and store personnel frantically replenishing said product at the same time? Which basically leaves aisles impassable due to shopping carts aggressively parked sideways in the aisle together with the rolling multi-layer store carts taking up the rest of the space?  Neither is willing to give up any hard fought for real estate to ease the passage of others. Although I will attribute this roadblock to inattention and not maliciousness, there are still some who believe, by golly I got here first and I will examine each brand, ingredient and price in minute detail and the heck with the rest of you. Polite "excuse me's" may or may not grant you passage but accidently on purpose ramming a cart into another usually works.

Then there are the older people who move a little slower, reach is limited and eyesight suspect. For their own safety I advocate weekday early morning shopping.  However the weekday is fraught with its own hazards.  For some reason Tuesday morning brings the march of the riding carts equipped with a small basket.  I have counted at least half a dozen blocking the lanes in the course of a couple of minutes. My theory is there is a beacon on top of the building inviting the cart riders to "come on down". You would think that would speed things up right?  Not. Just provides a more comfortable spot to contemplate the various products or the shopper's navals, whatever.

There is an interesting contrast between summer and winter weekday shopping however. When school is not in session, adults are accompanied by varying numbers of children wild with boredom who are let loose in a huge warehouse of toys and food. Wheee.  I actually noticed one harried Mother tending to the infant in the front seat ignorant of the fact that an older sibling was playfully pulling the lip up of a slightly older sibling. They were boys so I imagine they worked it out or will when the younger one grows bigger and meaner than his tormentor. Once school is back in session you see much calmer Moms and Dads practically dancing down the aisles drunk on their new-found freedom.  Of course they still block the aisles.

And of course checkout is always a contest.  Walking through the area on my way into the store I see plenty of open lanes with cashiers literally filing their nails or learning conversational French as they wait for customers. By some magic when it is time to check out however, we of the full carts eye each other warily as we realize we are now all in competition for the shortest available lane. You literally hear engines idling and sharp intakes of breath as we all frantically scan for the "best lane". I am not proud of beating out the older lady with the cane to that short lane the other day. But who knows this may have been the highlight of her day so who am I to rush the experience.

Of course there is payback when the mature folks who are ahead of me by 10 or 15 minutes, are still painstakingly removing items from their cart, chatting up the cashier and being surprised that money is to be exchanged at the end at the end of the transaction.  The purse is THEN opened and often more times than not, a little white bank envelope is pulled out stuffed with cash. Apparently the older generation still does not trust those little plastic cards and will meet their week's needs with real live money.  I worry that at the speed they move and the amount of cash they carry could make them sitting ducks for the swifter and more larcenous of the population.

Another observation is the number of people who will line up and WAIT to self-checkout.  Really? Not only are we depriving a person of a cashier job, but we are literally paying the store for the privilege of doing their work.  Unless I'm buying something embarrassing or fattening, AND there is no line, I use the humans.

Final observation - toddlers and babies.  Nothing is more enjoyable than interacting with the little people trapped in their cart seats while Mom or Dad are waiting to check out. They are bored but are thrilled to talk to any stranger who wishes to engage. A trait we have to beat out of them as they grow older. One little one was chewing on the chip bag which we cooed over until Mom snatched it away. Then she started chewing on the bottle cap of the milk jug. In horror Mom pulled it away probably seeing germs everywhere. At that the little girl just gave up and rested her weary head on the frozen peas with a sly little grin to us.