I can’t go to the grocery store with my wife. This is for two reasons: 1. If I let her go, we end up spending twice as much as we would spend if I go by myself. 2. We have fundamentally different methodologies of grocery shopping. Truth be told, I actually do the grocery shopping in our family. I refuse to let her go.
I have to go down every aisle. Even if it is all diapers and Gerber’s (we have no children), I still must go down the aisle. I must methodically cover the entire store, it is ritual. I enjoy it immensely. The activity, the abundance, the beautiful candy racks full of Red Hots and Sweet Tarts. I will generally begin on the far right of the store and go up and down each aisle, making my way to the left end of the store. The only deviation is I will skip the ice cream and grab that last, because I do not want it to melt. My wife, on the other hand, will grab it early and is oblivious to the imminent crisis of the ice cream melting as she wastes precious minutes at the deli counter. And I must say that the HEB stores here in San Antonio play some great music. Really. The other day while I was weighing the pros and cons of Fruit Loops vs. Fruity Pebbles (I went with the Pebbles), I heard a tune from one of Colin Hay’s solo records. I also heard “C’Mon and Love Me” by Kiss on the same trip.
Now, in contrast to my logical and complete coverage of the store, my wife goes willy-nilly, to and fro to grab what she has in mind. She may start in the center of the store, then go to the back, then go to the right, then go to the front, then go to the back again. When we go together, it is never a pleasant experience, because each method drives the other crazy. Some things we are meant to do without our partners, no matter how much we love them. Grocery shopping is one of those things.
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8 comments:
I tend to start at one end and work my way to the other. I do skip isles , though. No pet food or baby food/diapers, paper products and toiletries are usually needed.
Since marriage, though, now there's a list. I'll admit, it does speed things up.
We like quicker trips. The less time you're in the grocery store, the more time to eat.
Marriage builds resilience, a mutual tolerance of insanity. Angela and I have lived together 11 years (5 before marriage, 6 since), but I have noticed the little things, the peccadillos, to have a much longer half-life than more serious matters. Angela and I shop together very well; in this and many other ways, we are a formidable team (try knocking at our door and trying to bear witness to us about your religious persuasion sometime).
But I can't tell a story with Angela in the room, not if she has any knowledge or memory of the event(s) in question. If I try, I am constantly corrected and all listeners are informed I am wrong in nearly every detail, especially the trivial ones.
I have a tendency to leave mugs of coffee in the microwave and forget them. This habit drives Angela slightly crazier each time she discovers such a mug.
Few of our friends understand how our relationship works, to say nothing of why. I can only point to the longevity of our partnership and shrug.
It's funny how those things work out. Each relationship has those little quirks. My wife and I do many things well together, but the grocery store is just off limits as a joint enterprise. She doesn't really mind, though, because she views it as a chore and I actually really enjoy grocery shopping. So there you go. We've got a list on the fridge, she adds whatever she wants outside of the staples, and I'll grab it. The system works.
11 years ago, during our second year of marriage and 2 years before we met you, Ray, Lisa complained disproportionately about my forgetting an item on a grocery list. The scores of trips I have made to the store since with a list in hand prepared by my better half have each resulted in one forgotten item. Funny how that works. Yes, I'm an arse.
Richie
At first, my wife thought it was romantic for us to grocery shop together, especially if we were picking out what we wanted to make for dinner. Now she is less excited about me tagging along because I just follow her around and appear disinterested, so more often than not she goes without me. If I do go, however, my main job is picking out my frozen dinners, because that's what I eat at least half the time and she never remembers what I like. I finally made a list for her, but I still prefer to pick out my frozen dinners based on what I feel like. I often find new things I want to try, as well. I'm just amazed at all the great choices these days. I can spend 30 minutes just picking out my frozen dinners.
Frozen dinners are God's gift to Mankind.
I was curious about what comments could possibly have been left here for this entry. I am amazed at the true lack of concern for wasted time. Why does anyone need or want to know which side of a grocery store either of you begins with? I will continue to monitor these postings for possible inclusion in 2008's Most Careless Use of Blogosphere award.
Yet you took the time to comment.
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