Express Grocery Shopping
O.K.., so I get home from work tonight at around 5:30, expecting to begin dinner. Cheryl was on the computer busy doing something for home school, and the children were running around the house like a bunch of banshees.
I think this cold weather has had a strange effect on them; or they are freezing and just trying to keep warm by way of movement.
I chilled out a little, and made my way into the kitchen. Cheryl had been busy with some house projects, and wanted to show them to me; and Mike was cleaning up all of the tools we had in the house from all of our re-modeling last week—more on that later.
By the time we got done loading the tools into my van, it had gotten to be around 6:45 p.m. Cheryl came into the kitchen and was all like, “Hey baby, you want to go to Bell’s Grocery and Aldi’s in Covington!” She continued by letting me know that Bell’s closed at 8:00 and Aldi’s closed at 9:00; and that if I really hurried, I could get to both! (Have you ever had someone ask you a question and you knew that it was more of an expectation than a request?)
Look people, it was cold last night and I was tired from my day.
Cheryl would have sent me to our new R & R discount grocer here in town, but they were closed by this point. Believe me…I would much rather shop here in town!
I knew I could not possibly make it to both places, and I hate driving to Covington; so I recruited Mike and Julieann, and went with a happy heart. Evidently having food in the house is an important thing around here!
We arrived at Bell’s Grocery with ten minutes to spare…and bum rushed that place. Cereal and canned goods were our prey and every shot counted. Steady…aim…fire! We were in and out within 12 minutes, and got everything we needed. Let’s see, check the clock, 8:10 (after loading the bags), yeah…we can make it across town in time if we hurry. So we head out to Aldi’s.
When we got to Aldi’s it was 8:20 p.m., and the place was shut down. Evidently the cold weather was a direct threat to all the stuff inside. Well, I was not about to drive all the way to Covington just to run through Bell’s, so I made an executive decision that goes completely against my character.
I decided that we would bargain shop the Super…here it comes…Wal-Mart. Those of who have read me for any amount of time know that I just despise Wal-mart. First, because I always get into trouble when I am there, and second, because the place reeks of China!
Having said that, I decided to go there because I was sure that it was cheaper that Kroger, and second because it was directly across the street. So in we went!
The experience was ok, not stellar, but without incident, nonetheless. We ran into a few old friends, who were looking at me like, “Dude, Jason, what are you doing in Wal-mart, didn’t you get kicked out of here once?” (Story for another time but I promise to tell it soon) It was good to see them so we visited for a minute and then went on about our business.
I realized that there were some items that were higher in price than at Ingles, so we checked the clock and chose to rush the check-out, cut line in front of the innocent people who had been waiting for at least 15 minutes to be served, remove all of the items off the conveyor belt that belonged to the customer who was being rang up at the time. Dare her and her two little kids to say a word, while we glared at the protesting customers with threatening stares that suggested danger, throw our money at the cashier, and run out without any concern for our fellow man because we had to get to Ingles before ten.
C’mon guys…we didn’t really do it, that would be so anti-“jingle bells”, “fa-la-la-la-la” and stuff! We did make it through the check out line quickly though, after they opened up a new line and everyone in front of us left to go to it, (they must have sensed the impending danger that lurked behind them!) We made it to Ingles with five minutes remaining to shop, got our stuff, and stood at the check out, being rung up, while the lady manager stood right in front of us and glared at us with a stare that seemed to suggest dangerous protest.
Well fans, we made it home without freezing to death. Our sleigh was full of the bounty from the discount grocery. My little elves were sure to have their bellies fed for the next month; and Mama was happy—mission accomplished.
Just in case you missed the reference earlier, we have a new gift to this community and I would like to give it a strong reference. R&R Discount Grocery; they are like our own Bell’s here at home! R&R has been open for a few months, and they are great! If you are a family who likes to take advantage of great prices…you need to check them out.
They are located past Ingles in the building where Deptulas Restaurant used to be, on Venture Court. Shop there! They are friendly, convenient, here in town, and they make feeding a family easy!
Next up…Christmas shopping…God help us all!
Jason, Father of six