The grocery store.
My lord, there were people wall to wall.
Grabbing and reaching around you.
I prefer a decent distance between me and others. I was very uncomfortable.
Now, we plan ahead for big deals like Thanksgiving meals. But Mid-dau either changed a menu item last minute, or added something. So she needed a couple things.
Stopped by our regular spot(not Walmart…nooooooooo!) to pick these things up.
I thought Ivy and another lady were gonna come to blows over cream cheese. I saw another pile of it at another place and pointed it out. Saved the brutal beat down by mere seconds.
Then we went to the baking aisle. Mistake!
Found the graham cracker crumbs.
What?
Couldn’t we made our own?
Ivy is telling me these work better.
I’m reading the box.
I wanna argue the point but we were in the check-out and it seems a bit tense. Didn’t wanna add to that. So shut my mouth.
I went a week and a half ago. It was pretty crazy even then. Bought a pre-brined turkey breast from Wegman’s. Bought one last year, it was pretty good. It’s just three of us, maybe five, this year. I’ll probably still make way too much food.
I walked into a local groc store today at about 10am. I wanted a tube of toothpaste since I’ll run out in a few days; nothing else, just toothpaste. It’s an odd brand that only one groc store chain around here carries.
The aisles I could see looked a bit crowded compared to usual, but did not seem at all frienzied. So that was no deterrent.
But the long lines of giant full carts at every staffed checkout and the line of 15 people in the express line, each with well over the express limit of 10 items was a big deterrent. And the 10 people with just a few items each standing at the customer service counter which doubles as an emergency checkstand. Except when somebody wants to argue about a refund, or buy and scratch 27 scratch-offs. Or buy a money order with a dead ATM card and some wadded up bills. Or …
So I walked the breadth of the check stands, threading between the loaded carts, and right back out the other door and back to my car. I’ll return on Fri or Sat when normalcy has returned.
Ah, the best thing about being in Canada is not Medicare or gun laws or the Westminster system, but that Thanksgiving is not much of a big deal and it’s earlier than US Thanksgiving, so we avoid the rush.
I worked at this grocery store during the holidays one year.
That’s actually two stores: grocery on the left and pharmacy on the right with other stores and a restaurant in between. We got so busy New Year’s Eve that people were lining up for carts!
The location was redeveloped since then so now everything is in one store.
Black Friday at a grocery store? I can sure see the leftover turkeys being on super sale. But after that color me mystified.
I don’t go to grocery stores that are also big box stores. The ones I prefer don’t even have a pharmacy. Nothing fancy, just mainstream regional chain groc stores.
I always seem to get behind the person wanting to pay cash. That’s not the problem, though; it’s the checker who doesn’t have basic math skills and who struggles to come up with the correct change. I’ve been behind people in the past who didn’t have enough money to pay for their goods. On a couple of occasions, I’ve just made up the shortfall for them, as they’ve looked like they’re living some hard times.
At least up until Thursday, I do have the option of the 24-hour Winco in town (DH and I are tending nocturnal this week anyway), so that helps. I do plan to try to get groceries today and/or tomorrow as we find we need stuff, so I can avoid the crazed last-minute crowds on Wednesday as much as possible.
Most people don’t seem to plan ahead. I’ve had the annoyance of having to hit a grocery store on the day before Thanksgiving (reasons including that was when pay arrived). One has to admire the optimism of people buying frozen turkeys that day. The common sense, not so much.
Way back in high school, when I worked in a grocery store, I learned that when I’m a customer I should pick the register based on the efficiency of the checker, not the quantity of customers waiting in line.
I need to go the grocery store for last minute T-day stuff. And I need to do it today. UGH. I won’t be able to go until about 5, which means… yeah. So I plan on going to the most expensive store in town – which happens to be Albertson’s – and is rarely crowded. I’m happy to pay a premium to avoid crowds of off-brand PeopleofWalMart. Plus, Albertson’s has the best produce section.
Grocery stores will be full because people are out anyway so they stop by the grocery store.
Leftovers don’t last forever. And did you even remember bread before Thanksgiving?
And, yes ham and turkey will be on sale. Christmas is coming.
There are people who will hand the cashier a $20 fir a $14.17 total, and then hand them a quarter after the cashier has rung in the $20.00 and the register is telling them to hand the customer $5.83. Or worse, the register has dispensed 83 cents in change and the cashier only has to hand them a fiver. Hilarity ensues. Even more hilarity if multiple people start advising the cashier.
People who pay cash and actively manage their change inventory aren’t moving at the speed of chain retail.
There’s also often a two-generation gap. Customer who pines for the good old days when everyone pays cash, and cashier who may not use cash for months at a time outside their job.