Pass The Grey Poupon
I hit the grandame of mega, bulk container shopping yesterday – my once every other month shopping torture at Costco. This is always an interesting cultural peek at the other side for me. I remember once I went with my cousin who now has three children. We could hardly push the shopping cart (did you know they call them buggies in Canada?) together as we approached check-out.
Strategically, I wanted to get there before school let out, because I figured that mega-shopping Moms would be absent. My cousin is always home to greet or shuttle her multiple-sport kids somewhere at that time. It proved to be a good strategy.
So you can imagine my surprise, after being in the store 5 minutes when I thought I heard a clerk say to me,“Hey, you’re missing a child.”
The little voice in my head sounded an alarm, “What - do I have it stamped on my forehead now?” I had to laugh at myself as I turned around only to see that he was actually speaking to a parent pushing an empty stroller. Am I paranoid or what? I would hate for that to be integral to my definition of Purple.
Shopping ensues. As I was reflecting on how difficult it would be to navigate this busy store, though it was not at the time, with kids in tow, I placed the first must have item in it: my favorite scotch, a bargain at $50 for the 1.75 litre bottle. I fought the urge to immediately put some Clorox handi-wipes in my basket, just to make it appear more wholesome. I didn’t really need them, so I quickly moved on.
The giant sizes mostly intimidate me, and there are some things that just never seem to hit my shelf, or if they do, they last a very, very long time. Take Peanut Butter for example. I simply do not need three shrink-wrapped 40 oz. jars of the stuff. What in the world would childfree me do with 8 plus pounds of nut butter? Don’t even go there. Ditto for the gargantuan Cheez-it® boxes (though I admit I love the white cheddar flavor my cousin stocks as snacks for her kids when I go to visit them).
Thumbs up for the 36 oz. container of Dijon mustard, great in recipes, my husband swears by the stuff, low cal and high on flavor. And, everybody knows Costco has the best bathroom tissue. The rest, I will leave a mystery for fear of boring you with too long of a post.
Technorati Tag: Childfree
2 comments:
I love CostCo...it was orginally for restaurants, etc.(Hence the huge quantities), but the public can cash in on it, too.
I'm a mom to two pets: I get the jumbo-packs of paper towels, kitty litter, cat food, contact lens stuff for myself, and whatever else I need for either the fuzzbeasts or myself.
I feel sorry for the women with kids in tow; I can blaze thru the aisles, get what I need, and get out of there without having to take roll call to make sure offspring are present and accounted for. I would also lose patience riding herd over kids running all over and having to keep track of them. I shop like a guy; I see, I conquer, and I leave. =)
I absolutely LOVE shopping at Costco and BJ's, which is another warehouse-style wholesaler in my area. Being able to stroll down the aisles at my leisure and eat the samples I want without have to share with anybody, is something my friends can only DREAM about, at this point. LOL!!
My house has a fairly large basement, so buying dog and cat food, household cleaning products and those feminine products I just *gotta* have, in bulk without storage issues is a plus.
However, the reason why I bought a CASE of green beans escapes me at the moment. The local food bank will getting it today. :D
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