Friday, May 15, 2020

Do I Miss Grocery Shopping?

I've been a big fan of Safeway's drive up and go service.  It feels safe and responsible and, after the first few weeks, it has been a timely answer to feeding ourselves.  I used to have to plan 7 days in advance to get an order, then 4 days, and now I can find a slot on the same day.
Little Cuter sent me the fixings for strawberry shortcake alongshelt with flowers and blueberries and ciabatta for Mother's Day via Whole Foods.  The supplies arrived an hour after she ordered them.

And now I'm wondering about the utility of my entering the stores at all, even when sheltering in place is not required.  I'm not impulse buying that interesting something or other.  I'm not buying a 4th bottle of ketchup because I can't remember if I remembered to resupply the pantry the last time I shopped.  (G'ma used a list; I never remember to bring mine from home.)

I do miss selecting my own produce; I know if I want green bananas because I still have 2 ripening at home.  Ordering steak is also problematic; you purchase by the pound, not by the serving.  That leaves me with one very thick piece of meat that is as problematic to divide in to two thinner slices as it is to bbq in all its stubby glory. 

Sometimes the substitutions make no sense. This:

is not the same as Haagen Dazs Vanilla.

But, on the whole, the experience is an efficient use of my time.  I can place an order between commercials, with TBG by my side to remind me about the Wheat Thins and the Cheerios.  I drive further than I would normally, since the nearest pick up store is 9 miles away, rather than around the corner and down the block, but I'm still spending less time collecting the goodies.  Someone else is walking up and down the aisles while I am at home, doing other things.

Doing other things..... doesn't that sound like fun?  I usually stopped into the store on my way home from doing those other things.



Looking into the

2 comments:

  1. We are still going to our neighborhood Safeway. Yesterday at 7:30 am there were very few customers in the store. I like selecting my own produce too, as well as meat.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I too still do my grocery shopping in person, usually once a week like I did before shelter-in-place. I go to the same stores where I've always shopped, not trekking hither and yon like some are doing to find just what they want. If my local grocer, or Whole Foods, or Target don't have what I'm seeking, then I go without or buy something else.

    I am awaiting the return of full shelves of paper products and cleaning supplies to know life has begun to right itself. Until then, it's a crazy world out there, and one must constantly remind oneself of that.

    ReplyDelete

Talk back to me! Word Verification is gone!