Part of the cooking world is preparation.  A big part of that is going to the supermarket(s) and shopping for items you are going to need not only in day to day living, but even for those new recipes your working with.

Since I primarily work from the home office, I usually get stuck with this duty.  Heck, I do most of the cooking I kind of enjoy it since I know what I need to get the job done.

Almost every other time I go to the grocery store, I end up behind a certain type of woman.  I haven’t seen a man act like this, so just using my experience, I will concentrate on the guilty women! 🙂

What kind of woman am I talking about?  The one in line, in front of you, who has a shopping cart full of stuff. As her little items zoom by on the belt; they arrive to the cashier who “beeps” them along and they begin to pile up at the end of the counter.  Standing there with the look of disgust on her face like she just stepped barefoot into the dogs business, she waits until her last item is processed.  She pays for her groceries and just stands there watching the cashier bag all of her stuff.

Meanwhile, you, and now a growing line of others, are staring at this woman with only one wish.  “God, please don’t send me to Hell if I say this out loud: ‘Um, hey your holiness, how about joining the commoners down here and helping bag your groceries?'”

I mean, is this socially unacceptable that you cannot stoop so low as to bag your own merchandise?  I would think the shame of actually doing your own grocery shopping would be on the same level as bagging, so why are you even here?  Why not get a servant to do this instead?

These are just a few of the things I am shouting silently in my mind when I come across this.  Honestly, if you are too good to bag your groceries, then get a serf to do it so the rest of us can get out of there without waiting for your majesty.

These are the same women you run into in the aisles.  The width allows about two carts to go through side by side, but this woman is in the middle lowering her nose long enough to find what she wants.  Meanwhile, the rest of the world must stop and wait while the princess finally finds what she is after.  This is usually too much for me and I just say as loudly and legally intimidating as I can “Excuse me”.

Myself, I always put my cart to one side so people can get by.  I don’t expect everyone else to have to wait around for me.

That being said about the women I have met shopping, I will say this about some things I have seen men do:

On my way into the supermarket, I usually start outside trying to get a cart.  You know, that area where they pack them all together?  Now if I am heading in and an elderly woman (or man) is behind me trying to get a cart, I stop, roll her the cart I was going to use and pick another for myself.  I have seen men practically knock old ladies down to get a cart first.  Excuse me, but it isn’t like the food is going to run away from you before you get inside.  There is no need to drop any sense of chivalry you may have to get inside first.

All of this, the woman story and the man, both happened to me today and I griped about it to myself the whole way home.  Finally I thought, this would be a good article on the site! 🙂

I guess the conclusion here is, you really get to see the worst of people when you go grocery shopping.  It is a short lesson on how self centered many people in this world are.