If you asked me a few weeks ago whether or not I missed shopping at the grocery store in the US, I would have said yes. Fo-shore. But after 1.2 seconds at my local grocery store in Brentwood, TN, looking for franks and a can of Bush's vegetarian baked beans to stage a mid-week picnic, I was on the verge of running screaming through the aisles, shouting 'Just show me the beans, dammit!'
I
This seen of abundance is customary to all American shoppers, but after shopping at my local village Migro or Spar, scenes like this make my head spin. Why does one need 1421 types of beans? It is not normal.
Another of my favorite guilty pleasure of past was shopping at Sam's club - but alas... it is ruined. I can no longer gleefully buy 87 rolls of toilet paper or 33 mangos or 100 lb. boxes of Tide and wonder at the savings in store. Instead, I feel dirty. I feel a bit wasteful. I feel... too American. Like all the excess is sufficating me. It is an awful feeling really. I wanted to buy those 33 mangos, but I knew I did not need them, nor could I eat them all (in 2 days nonetheless - but the older Jessica, the Sam's Club card toting member... she would have at least tried... I have become so pathetic...)
Oh Switzerland... you tiny, tiny country and your conservative mindful ways... how else have your ruined me forever?! Time will only tell.
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10 comments:
this is hysterical ! i love it ! and ah yes, the good ole days of 20 foot wide aisles and buying products in massive bulk ! but where would you put all that stuff ?! zoom in on small city apartments! and oh, the size of the freezers here, ouch ! :)
as for that box of Tide, hello overweight luggage ! ;)
As a European, I have always found American supermarkets a little scary. I thought I knew what buying 'bulk' and 'overstocking' meant, for my mother had no less than three freezers, and a special pantry ROOM stocked at all times... but my trips to the US have since taught my otherwise. ;)
I am pretty sure we still miss American supermarkets. The most important reason: the aisles are LABELLED in the US. This problem can't be uniquely mine. Every time I go to a new Migros or Coop here, its layout is completely different and I spend forever wandering around searching. Also, I miss the bulk grains section a lot.
My first day of college in the States, I went to the store to buy necessities like shampoo, soap, etc. I stood google-eyed in front of the overwhelming display of toothpaste for about 15 minutes, trying to figure out where to even begin to find a suitable toothpaste for the next four years. My roommate thought I was nuts when I came home ranting about too much choice...
ohhh....i'm looking forward to go to these big supermarkets and buy everything that i did'nt know before and that looks tasty :-)
Hahaha, I just posted about the same thing!!! The amount of selection for powdered drink mixes sent me into shock yesterday.
I hadn't thought about the reverse - when I return to the big supermarkets. But I was enjoying knowing my way around Migros today. And not having too many options. Cheers to having to the choice made for you eh?
I couldn't agree with you more on this! I still miss having choices here, but then when I'm presented with too many choices, I can't take it either! Where in the world is the perfect sized store?
I'll never not love the choices. Something about buying in bulk and picking the exact flavor of something makes me warm and fuzzy inside. When I visited Costco back home, I couldn't believe how big some items are! A gallon of hummus was very tempting!
Did you bring any bulk items back?
Tina - actually I did buy a back of listerine strips, with 12 packs in the box, for Jace. He loves those. And I bought bulk medicines like Clartin and Advil Cold and Flu. I was looking for bulk Cold Brew Iced Tea and Diet Lemonade powder but no luck... oh and no luck with finding packets of ranch dressing mix in bulk - so I bought excess of the normal size in the grocery store instead! :)
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