The Grocery Zone

My little laptop is acting fussy this morning. If this computer gets ill, I'm screwed; it's my one connection to the rest of the world. As a writer, the computer is my vehicle. I'm lost in the 19th century without it! My typewriter (IBM Selectric) is broken, so until I get it fixed, pen and paper are my last line of defense against insolence...I went grocery shopping yesterday. We needed sundries such as plastic bags, baking powder, and dryer sheets that are best purchased at a large chain store. Typically we try to avoid these places. Months ago I chopped up or lost my Safeway and Albertson's cards on the grounds that I'd rather spend more money than have to stuff my wallet full of "club cards." I don't want to belong to ther club. It's just a sneaky way of getting our personal information so they can sell it to solicitors and make money. So, as a matter of princilple, I spend the extra money and ignore the club card savings...Yesterday I chose to go to Safeway, because our local branch is smaller than the behemouth Albertson's, and therefore easier to shop in. The parking lot was full, but the store wasn't as jamming as I'd expected. I grabbed a cart--the only cart in the cart rack--and got to it...This annoying lovey couple was there. They were too lovey to be married. The girl of the couple had a cute little daughter with her, probably about five years old, that she gleefully ignored in favor of her too=loud boyfriend. The whole trio, with the exception of the little girl, were loud and cutesy and very annoying. I sped up my shopping toget away from the produce aisle and therefore them...Everyone else in the store had an uncanny skill of stepping directly in my way. At the grocery store, I try to park my cart in an out-of-the-way place and run to and fro until I move to another station. Most people just slowly push their carts in the middle of the aisle and then stop...in the middle of the aisle. I think my way is the more courteous of the two. But the same seven people--including the annoying couple--kept on getting in my way all throughout the store! Was this a conspiracy! To compound this, the task of selecting non-club card items was time consuming. I hope not to go to Safeway again. At I can get to Albertson's on foot easily...Then I went to Trader Joe's, which is always hopping. It's like a war zone in there, but I like how it's more hectic and therefore the confusion in shopper traffic is more justifed. I always try to shop with a basket so I take up less space and am therefore more moblie. Trader Joe's shopping carts are of moderate size, but have you noticed that larger chain stores disposed of traditional metal shopping carts in favor of monsterous plastic ones? Who, outside of families of seventeen, needs so much cart space? I think iot's a dirty grocery store industry trick to get us to buy more. Losers. I'll stick to the basket so I can work on my trim figure, thanks.