I enjoy going grocery shopping. I like to poke around and see what looks good, what motivates me to cook a particular dish and I especially like to run across good deals.
But recently, my trips to the grocery store have stimulated more than a few “Grrrs”. They are starting to tick me off.
One of the biggest gripes I now have is that with all the people calling in their orders, the aisles have become cluttered with these huge carts which the grocery store people use to fill call-in orders. The big carts take up at least a half aisle in space and if there are two of those carts on the same aisle, forget it. The store shoppers care less about the shoppers already in the store than they do about the ones who will soon be pulling up in their cars.
It is really aggravating. I suppose it does save time for busy families or for those who don’t like grocery shopping, but I would never let some store employee pick out my steaks or produce and how will they know if there are special deals in the store?
The second thing that really annoys me are those plastic bags on the racks that the self-service customers use at check out. Somebody seemingly glues the tops together and it can be almost impossible to get the little devils open, holding a recently scanned item in one hand and clawing at the glued bag tops with the other. If you lay your item down and try to use two hands, it can trigger security. Occasionally, some good-hearted store employee will go around and open all the bags, but not often enough.
The third thing that gets to me is the bags themselves. If you put bread in a plastic bag it will get squashed. Trust me. And cans fit nicely when the bag is on the rack, but put them in your back seat and they go in all directions, as do apples, oranges and anything else that is round. Plus, look along the side of any highway and there will be tan, blue and white plastic bags that have blown there. And on large bodies of water, bags are washed up on the banks, get tangled up with wildlife and manage to get wrapped around boat motor props.
They have banned plastic bags in Nags Head because of the litter factor. I wish they would ban them here as well. I would be happy to pay extra for a recyclable paper bag or bring my own bags along if I had to.
Plastic bags are a nuisance and those big carts in the aisles have got to go!