Enough......does everything in public have to be so difficult, or is it me?
Wanda and I discovered the pleasures of vacation cruises eight years ago. I have a standard answer when people ask me about sailing to Alaska, which we have done several times. Here it is: A cruise to somewhere like the Caribbean is a vacation while a cruise to Alaska is an adventure.
Going to the f'ing store is starting to feel like a cruise to Alaska. Without the majesty and fun. Going to the f'ing store is becoming an adventure.
Safeway is our local grocery store. I have written about it enough now so I probably don't need to mention that, I know. They (Safeway) have a deal called "Just 4 U." You go on line weekly and peruse the deals. You pick what you like and those items go into your personal file. When you shop those items have special prices. Sometimes it even works.
I was thinking about going to the store yesterday but didn't. Last night Wanda went on line for the Safeway special items. I told her I would go this morning. If she asked me once she asked me six times if I was OK going alone, I said I was.
There is a probiotic drink called Good Belly. It's a great product, I use it, I like it, and Safeway has it. Or, they did, for a couple of weeks. The last time I was in the store Good Belly was on the shelf, today it was not. I have special pricing, I have coupons for money off, I even have a "free" quart coming. All this is worth nothing if they don't carry the stuff.
No Good Belly, what's next? Smoked salmon on sale, two 4oz. packages, two bucks each. I grew up eating smoked salmon except we called it lox. I was expecting to see a package of lox. What I saw was a pretty empty display case. Unlike dairy, the seafood section actually has someone working in it. I approached the seafood lady.
"Excuse me, sorry to bother you but I'm looking for a couple of items, I say. Can you tell me where I can find this frozen shrimp?" Then I took out the ad (yes, I know I was writing about lox but I'll get back to that) and showed it to her. The fish lady walked over to a stack of boxes, sorted through them and took out the shrimp. It was cooked and breaded and I didn't want it.
"How about this 4oz smoked salmon. Can you find that for me, please?" She told me it was in back and left to go through who knows what for my four bucks worth of lox, except it wasn't, lox. It was smoked salmon. It was a four ounce piece of sockeye salmon, smoked. I really didn't want it.
I wish I was more assertive. The woman stopped what she was doing, twice. She had to go in the back, find a case, open it, label the packages and I didn't want it. But, it was only four bucks, a great price, and I figured we could use it on salads. I took the salmon, placed it in my cart, and finished my shopping.
I can not follow the prices when the checkers are totalling up the goods. I always try to check everything before I leave the store. Last week I had the $2.58 avocados. I finished my check out and found the store manager to talk about the Good Belly.
While he and I were trading information a rather irate woman walked up to us. "Here, she sort of yelled, take this down and she thrust a sign at him, and the other one too, because you DON'T have free Wi-fi." I guess she didn't see me talking to the fellow. "I've been up here three times now, for nothing. Why don't you get this fixed?"
She didn't have a Starbucks, which is the area the non Wi-fi is located. She didn't have a grocery cart. What she had was a smart phone and no free wireless. When she was finished interrupting I continued talking with the store manager. He is going to "look into the Good Belly" and get back to me, I'll let you know when Hell freezes over.
I skimmed my receipt, it looked OK, and I left the store. I was in the car the grocery bags in the back seat when I thought to take another look at the bill. The four dollars worth of smoked salmon, the smoked salmon I didn't want but took, it was eleven dollars and ninety eight cents.
I took it back in and got a refund.
It's getting easier to understand why people become hermits. Going to the grocery store should not be an adventure.
PS: Someone has been leaving complementary notes about the older posts. I am notified via e mail. I don't know how to respond to them directly and I thank you.
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