Saturday, August 15, 2020

Grocery Store Craziness

How do you feel about grocery shopping these days?  I don't like shopping in general, but I used to like grocery shopping in Japan.  Now it is just creepy.


Before, I could practice my basic Japanese in the store, asking where something is located in the store, or what is this, or how much is it, or talking to the lady giving out the samples of juice or yogurt. I could tell the cashier that I don't have a point card and I don't need a bag or dry ice.  You get the idea.  Everyone was friendly and patient with me.


I could pick up and examine packages, looking for kanji I knew, like  (meat) that I wanted to avoid. Or try to figure out what something was and if I couldn't, I would ask.


Now, I just want to shop quickly and get out of the store. I don't talk with anyone because they can't understand me behind my mask and I can't understand them behind their masks and the plastic curtains.  There are no Sample Ladies any more. I only buy the things I know and don't pick up anything else. I used to shop two or three times a week.  Now, I try to shop only once a week when I think it will be less crowded.  Since I walk to the grocery and carry my purchases, I sometimes have to make decisions based on weight and forgo some things I want. 


I've heard from friends in the US about ordering online and driving to the store to pick up the order. Do you have that service where you live? Are you shopping differently now than six months ago? Is it going to be this way forever?



9 comments:

Jen L said...

I live in New York City and so I have to carry my purchases home as well. I also try to shop just once a week, but my main grocery store has terrible produce. That means that I usually have to go to a produce shop as well. In the grocery store I use the auto checkouts, which I used to avoid pre-pandemic. The produce shop is small and so the clerks recognize me despite the mask. I don’t linger though, especially in the small shops, and get out ASAP. It has been like this since March here and I expect it to stay like this until there is a solution. My biggest shopping concern are aggressive customers, only a few here fortunately, and persons who don’t wear masks properly. The nose is connected to the lungs after all!

jacaranda said...

Stage 4 lockdown Melbourne. There is online supermarket shopping with truck deliveries. One of the rules is only one person can supermarket shop, to be done within 1 hour. Noticed at the fruit/veggie market, couples are shopping together. When questioned by security one said this is not a supermarket!!! I have no trouble buying what I need. Stay safe.

kiwikid said...

Mynhubbyngoes to the local supermarket buying just what is on the list, if I forget something we go without for theweek!! 😁 I an now making a list as we run out during the week. Hubby goes early in the morning when it is quiet. We can get everything we want. No language barrier here. If I do have to go anywhere I get in and out as quickly as I can. I am surprised to see people not wearing masks when we have all been told to wear them.

Vireya said...

We are using the "pick up" service. We place the order online and choose a time window to collect it. When the order is ready we get a text message and email. You message back when you arrive in the pick-up area, and a staff member brings the trolley out to your car.

I do miss wandering around inside the supermarket, looking at what is on special, and buying stuff on impulse! There is none of that now. And I don't know when I will feel safe inside a shop again.

Gayle M P said...

In NZ have not been in a supermarket since February. My immune system is compromised so I take extra precautions. Initially, we ordered online and a relative collected and delivered it to our doorstep. Then when we went to level 1 we ordered online and my husband collected through contactless collection point. Recently, he has ventured into the supermarket late in the evening for 1 or 2 things missed on the list. I have been to small fabric shops and the local produce shop. Now we are in level 2 again we will continue to order online and collect, however it does look like they may now deliver to our home which is rural but only 11.5kms from a supermarket. During the 100 days of no cases of COVID in the community we bought a freezer, previously we only had a small 1 attached to the fridge and shopped several times a week. We should now be able to manage several weeks without shopping.

Lin said...

I shopped once a week all through lockdown. A few of us wore masks but not the majority. It was eerie as being only one person per household in a car it meant no couples in the supermarket and therefore no chatter. Now masks are compulsory which is much better but people seem to think that because they are wearing a mask they dont have to distance. Lots of tourists around at the moment although thankfully the Brits all rushed back to UK yesterday to avoid quarantine. We do have 'click and collect' shopping here although I have not tried it. The cost of food has risen but there dont seem to be any shortages. Rubber washing up gloves are nowhere to be found though?!!

Jeanie said...

I hadn't thought about the complication of shopping in a country where language is an issue and you may or may not know quite what you are getting. That's tricky and I can see how it would really affect your experience.

I don't shop. I'd love to -- there's something fun about picking out your own produce or seeing something you hadn't thought about when you made your list. But it feels too dangerous and risky to me. Rick goes, masked. Staff are masked too and most people in the store are, so that's a plus. When he can't get what I want, I have been having a grocery delivery service. It usually adds about $15 to the order, by the time you tip the shopper and for the shopping and delivery fees. I may try the pick-up from the store when I go back north if Rick doesn't go or goes on a long bike hike.

I've changed how I shop, too, in what I buy. BC -- Before Covid -- I would go to the shop several times a week -- one bigger shop, then back for fresh things or things I may have forgotten. The store is only a few blocks away so it's easy. Now I am trying to buy what I need for two weeks, although that's tough with fruit and veggies.

Unknown said...

Outside Philly, I used to shop weekly sometimes popping on my way home from work for this or that. Now I order online and pick up every two weeks. If I don't get something (they're out of stock and don't substitute) I make do or do without. (We're also better at using up these days.) I've only been in the store once--before 4th of July. I was making burgers and they didn't give me the buns I ordered. How could we have burgers without buns? So I went in and picked up three things they hadn't substituted. --Anna annavsxs@gmail.com

Leonore Winterer said...

I usually enjoy shopping, especially grocery shopping. I like to see what is new, and find things to try. Not so much right now. I try to be in and out as quickly as possible. Also, since the beginning of the pandemic, we've been shopping for four households (my grandma, her brother in law, and our landlady, on top of our own), so it's been a little exhausting. I hope things will be to normal soon, but don't expect them to be this year.