I really don't like to go food shopping. It's one of those things that was much simpler years ago. Now there are so many choices: low calorie, low salt, no salt, low fat, high protein, lite, 1%, 2%, mini, maxi, fresh, organic, natural, high fiber.....you get my drift. It takes so long to find the one simple thing that I've been buying for years or to sift through all of the new choices. What used to be a quick stop now seems to take an eternity.
Back in the day, I actually clipped coupons. Then I decided with the time it took to clip and organize...and then to find the item in the store ~ I finally freed myself of it all. Now I see these extreme coupon ladies and it really is amazing. I have much respect for them!
But back to shopping. I remember the days when not only was someone always there to pack up your bundles, there was actually some kid outside who would help put the bags in your car for a small tip. Now that I'm not a young whippersnapper, I wish that was still the way of the grocery world.
There was a time when I enjoyed buying food, when my daughter was a toddler. Still small enough to sit in the cart seat but old enough not to grab at pizza cutters dangling from lame plastic hooks along the frozen pizza aisle. Those were fine times, getting a free cookie at the bakery, a slice of cheese at the Deli, learning new words, opening boxes of cereals before paying for them and munching on fresh grapes. I remember one of the first times I ran to the store with out her. That was the one and only time I actually grabbed the wrong cart in the process of shopping. I guess I was so used to her as a marker for the cart and I also guess I never left the cart alone when she was in it. I'll actually never know if someone grabbed my cart or if I grabbed theirs.
Needless to say I rarely have food in my house.
