Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Went into a grocery store tonight

I know how busy grocery stores can get on the eve of Thanksgiving, and I don't know why I bothered because I was not sure if I really needed anything.  I guess I just wanted to see.  

Earlier today after getting off work, I went over to Walmart to get face wash and found myself in a long line and noticed other long lines as well.  I then wondered what it would be like at Safeway.  Well, later in the day, hours after doing laundry, I drove to Safeway and could not even find a parking space.  It was silly of me to even think of trying to get into Safeway tonight. Everyone seems to go to Safeway.  Behind Safeway is Nob Hill, But I hardly ever go to that store. I wasn't going to bother with them, as I was sure they'd be busy and the parking lot would be crowded.  Savemart, across town, is hardly ever busy, even on the day before a major holiday.  I went over to that store and it was as unbusy as usual.  I took a cart  and went in, but ended up not buying anything. Since I won't be making a big dinner I really didn't need anything as far as I knew and guess I just wanted  to see how many people were actually at this store.  One year, I needed groceries during Memorial Day weekend and had passed by Safeway, noticing that the parking lot was full. So, I said "I'm going to Albertson's" (as Savemart was known then).  No  crowds there.    Tonight, despite not may customers, the parking lot at Savemart was a little full, as part of it was sectioned off with fences, supposedly for displaying an upcoming Christmas tree sale.

Another option is a local independent grocery store, two of which exist in my town. One of those two stores is across the street from where I live, making  it easy to walk to. I tend to only use this option when I need only a few things such as milk or ground beef. Otherwise it's across town to Safeway or Savemart.  I used this store across the street to get milk on Sunday, so I won't be running out tomorrow.  This is one of those things I worry might happen on the eve of a major holiday thus needing to get to the store.  I plan to make sure I have all my necessary stuff by Christmas Eve so I won't be in a grocery store madhouse that day. 

It seems that people who are at grocery stores on the eve of a major holiday are one of the following:
  1. Slackers: Those who put off getting important stuff until the night before the holiday.
  2. Unfortunates: Those who either forgot something important on their last trip to the store, or who unfortunately run out of milk or toilet paper or something on that morning. 
I always try not to be one of the slackers, but am always afraid of being one of the unfortunates.  But seeing that I have plenty of milk for a few days, I managed to avoid it on this holiday and plan to do the same of the next big holiday.  

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