When it comes time for “making groceries” as the old timers would have said before we became the old timers, not many of us find that a fun part of our day, week, month, etc., etc., etc. Actually, I can pretty much say I dread it, especially around the holidays when the aisles are crowded and the stores are usually out of the one ingredient that you just can’t substitute with something else. Making groceries, for those not versed in said terminology, and grocery shopping are one in the same.
Last weekend, not Christmas weekend, but the one before, we had the pleasure of making groceries with our daughter, Rachel-Johanna in tow. She is 30, going on 31, lives in Jackson, and either utilizes grocery delivery or curbside pickup, so, it seems, she is not very familiar with the inside of a grocery store.
“This was fun,” she said as we loaded our bounty into the truck. “I haven’t been inside a grocery store in years.”
Years?
Really?
Really!
I think I go every other day if not more!
Times, they have changed.
Being one that grew up in the A&P — literally, since my first crib was an apple box from the Newton store where my dad worked, and we, my brothers and I, as children were in and out of there pretty much every day because my mom worked there too, and to take it full circle, my first on-the-clock job was also in that same A&P Grocery Store where I continued to work until finishing college and going into the newspaper business — I know a lot about “making groceries!”
As I said, I don’t care to make groceries, but all those years that I was checking out the people of Newton and the surrounding area at the cash register, I enjoyed helping them make theirs. People were really friendly back then and actually at times the folks from out in the country got dressed up to come to town and take care of business, make groceries, and socialize at the same time.
We had paper sacks that would hold a ton and I was an expert bagger. Too good, in fact, for a couple of cranky old ladies that always said I packed theirs too full. “How do you expect me to get that out of the car when I get home,” they would ask.
Of course back then bag boys took the groceries to the car for the shoppers, unlike some stores these days, especially in the city where we were last weekend, where the bag girls or bag boys toss one item in each cheap plastic bag and send you on your way with a cart full of bags. Don’t even think about loading a paper sack, if they have one, like I used too, because when you pick it up the sides are going to fall off and your groceries are going to hit the floor.
That bagging ability, though, and my quick scan hands, does make me one of those folks that likes a self- check lane even if I’m not getting paid for checking out and bagging my own goods, and the store didn’t remember to invite me to the employee Christmas party!
In addition, I don’t like standing in line, although the self-check lines at Walmart can be longer than the full check experience, and that can be a long wait just to get some light bulbs or deodorant. Really long, I bet, if you are out of toilet paper at home!!!
I do have to add that I despise some of the folks hogging the aisles with those big ole carts making groceries for the folks, like my daughter, that have not been inside a store in years. It seems to me that one of them is always anchored right in front of that one item, again, that I can’t substitute something else for.
But, in their defense, they have a job, they are getting a paycheck, and apparently, from what I’ve witnessed, they show up pretty much every day on time and ready to get to work. Can’t say the same about a whole bunch of folks in this town, county, state, and country anymore.
So, in the new year let’s get out of the house more, perhaps even get out of the car more, and go inside, do a little old fashioned socializing and say hello to our neighbors, and make a few groceries on our own. Getting dressed up to do so, though, might be asking a bit much in 2024!
