A Store Story

Costco & me - it's a like-dislike relationship. Location, prices, products are all likes. Glances, looks, and random comments from other shoppers fall into the other category.

Typically we are feeding a family of eight, most with healthy appetites and a bent toward growth spurts. We're finding that the rumors of how teenage boys eat are actually true! To make the most of the paycheck that Stan works very hard to bring home, we shop where the deals are: Aldi, Bottom Dollar, Redners and then with coupons and sales circulars at the major food stores. Costco is on our monthly rotation for things like meats, cheeses, produce and other staples.

Since I only frequent there once a month, less often if we can swing it, my cart does get quite full; if the total comes to less than $400 it's a good day. So, fellow shoppers I apologize for: pulling over every now and then to reorganize my cart so that the bagels don't get smashed by the spaghetti sauce, digging around in the meat coolers to find the largest package of pork chops, taking twice as long at the freezer section to load up on twice as much orange juice, pausing by the socks and underwear section to try to remember which kid of which size needs what essentials, causing a commotion and confusion at the check-out lanes because no one wants to get in line behind 'that' cart.

One woman line-hopped from behind me into the lane next-door, but then hopped on back over when she saw how expertly I unloaded my behemoth pile onto the conveyor. Meat all stacked together with sliced cheese, cream cheese, and shredded cheese all balanced and held in place with cereal and cracker boxes behind to keep it all from toppling over as the belt lurched forward. It was a proud moment; I tried to remain humble and smiled sweetly over my accomplishment.

You know how you fall into a pattern of passing the same shoppers coming from the opposite direction as you go back and forth through the aisles? It was amusing to 'overhear' the remarks that one mother-daughter duo made as they and I perused the shelves as we passed. It might have put their minds at ease to just come out and ask how many people I was feeding or why I needed so much pasta. Being able to tell people about my amazing kids and husband is a joy for me - so just ask next time.

Unfortunately, today's total bill did not make it a 'good' day; however, the adventure and entertainment that I provided for the other shoppers most definitely made it worthwhile.