My husband and I went through the mini-trauma of major grocery shopping last night. We both dread it like the plague, given the inevitable here (we try to avoid the crowds and go in mid to late evening). No matter when you go shopping, though, it's always the same:
1. Half the fruit and veg section is devoid of fruit and veg.
2. Out of what's left, half has an expiration (expiry) date for the day you're shopping, or the next one.
3. The bread section is halfway wiped out.
4. You find bizarre things like frozen chickens next to sorbet (Tesco) or refrigerated beef next to a fertilizer display (Asda). We've also been fortunate enough to find a pair of fake leather gloves in the pizza section at Sainsbury's.
5. Suddenly, at around 10 p.m., employees come from seemingly nowhere, blocking large sections of aisles with eight-foot carts, ostensibly for the purposes of restocking, but essentially to gossip among themselves and ignore the fact that customers are standing there, hoping they'll get out of the way so they can get some milk.
We've equated these employees to roaches that come out after the lights are turned out.
5. While your spouse is busy unloading the grocery cart, and you're at the other end desparately trying to stop the four-pack of Coke and canned goods from slamming into the bread and other smashable products the cashier's already sent through and that are accumulating, while you're manically bagging groceries as fast as you can, the cashier, suddenly struck blind, not only fails to stop the belt, but has found running the bar codes over the scanner FAR too taxing to think of helping you out by bagging some groceries him- or herself.
Bill Bryson has equated going to supermarkets here with how Russians must feel about shopping for groceries. (Obviously, it's not THAT bad, although there are many similarities. I'd slightly downgrade it to the state of stores on America's northeast coast when forecasters are calling for a blizzard.
) Any comments, anyone?
