What your shopping list reveals

[terribleturnip]

In my former life as a personal chef, I was in the grocery store at least once daily, if not more often. And I do like to indulge in a little bit of the nosy and inspect the carts of my fellow shoppers -- imagining how what's in their cart reflects on what their life might be like. I will always remember stopping off at the store one Friday night to pick up a few things and the woman ahead of me was buying some cans of cat food, cat litter, feminine hygiene products, a DVD and a half gallon of ice cream. You'll be proud of me. I did NOT say "Hey, looks like you're prepping for a rocking Friday night." But I wanted to.

Sometimes I'd find someone's shopping list and I find those fascinating -- what was going on here? What recipe were they shooting for, just how many people live in their house, what the hell would you buy THAT for?

Except that I just ran across one of my own: Pickles, trash liners, gatorade, duct tape, new heel cups, toothpaste, large sharpies, mead cups, naproxen, blueberries, Strongbow, Dew.

Would someone else pick that list up and say "Oh, hey, you must manage a Renaissance Faire"?

Comments

[russell-moore.livejournal.com]

I sometimes play a game with one of the regular cashiers at my local Giant ... I load my stuff on the belt and ask her if she can pick out the impulse purchase item, which is sometimes hard to do when I have a belt loaded as I did the other night:

beer, cat litter, trash bags, bird seed, bottle of motor oil, milk, packaging tape, cheddar cheese, bread, pudding

(I only know this as the exact list because I just noticed it is still clipped to my notepad that is always in my pocket)

so go ahead ... try it yourself ... which was the impulse item? (the cashier got it wrong)

[pyratelady.livejournal.com]

The pudding

[russell-moore.livejournal.com]

nope

[sestree.livejournal.com]

Motor Oil

[russell-moore.livejournal.com]

nope

[terribleturnip.livejournal.com]

Cheddar Cheese.

Even if I don't get it right, I'm still right. Because today I hit Whole Foods and got snagged by the tiny bits of cheese box. Whiskey Cheddar counts, right?

[russell-moore.livejournal.com]

nope

[thatliardiego.livejournal.com]

packaging tape

[russell-moore.livejournal.com]

nope

[russell-moore.livejournal.com]

the impulse item was ...
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beer

it was not on my list but when I walked past that part of the store, one of my favorite flavors was on sale so some of it immediately went into my cart ... because I don't care if I know I have beer at home ... when one of my preferences is on sale, it comes with me

[pyratelady.livejournal.com]

diet coke, coke, crackers, cheese, grapes, bananas, popsicles, bread, lunchmeat, sliced cheese, oranges in little cups, prepackaged cheese & crackers, hot dogs

There's at least one child in the house, we don't get out much, somebody brown bags their lunch, and we aren't very ambitious in the kitchen.

I was amused at us, though, when we made a booze run at the Shopper's Food Warehouse just before the MD tax rate went up. Beth was riding in a cart full of bottles of wine, beer, and hard cider. I should have taken a picture.

[russell-moore.livejournal.com]

what, no Cheerios?

[pyratelady.livejournal.com]

I know right? She liked them for awhile, but she prefers the Honey Bunches of Oats and Frosted Shredded Wheat that we eat.

I hate Cheerios, so we have no reason to buy them.

[russell-moore.livejournal.com]

my daughter could eat her weight in Cheerios, especially on a car trip

[sestree.livejournal.com]

My favorite was the CVS lady that had candy bars, OTC prenatal vitamins, tampons, deodorant and condoms.

All I could think was either she's planning ahead just in case or there are two of her there.

ETA - she didn't look pregnant and had a few other things - those just caught my eye.

[pyratelady.livejournal.com]

She could have been taking the prenatal vitamins to make her hair and nails look better. I know at least one person who does that.

[sestree.livejournal.com]

I hadn't thought about that. It just struck my funny bone the combo she had.

Mine would read coffee, coffee mate, green tea, skinny cow icecream bars, beer, hamburger....

Can we all say *redneck*?

Honestly, I don't make a shopping list. I plan what we're going to have for the week after I see the meat department specials.

[pyratelady.livejournal.com]

Oh, it IS a funny combo all right.

I plan what we're going to have for the week after I see the meat department specials.

That right there says "redneck" to me. Or, my family.

[terribleturnip.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have to admit I don't see "redneck" there. Someone with a fondness for beverages...

I don't have "meal stuff" on the list. I just HAVE to have a list for the things I HAVE to have, otherwise, I get home and say "Christ on a crocheted toilet roll cover! I forgot the sugar, which was actually the thing I went for!"

[sestree.livejournal.com]

The coffee/coffee creamer bit. 110 degrees in the shade and us Okies will still drink hot coffee dawn to dusk...when we're not drinking beer that is.

[terribleturnip.livejournal.com]

You would not be noticed in New England. Coffee has no season there. Oh, it might get icecubes in August....

[ferlonda.livejournal.com]

If I don't have a list I end up with pretty near all impulse buys, a few of the things we actually needed and usually minus the main thing we needed. Dadgaderie does most of the food shopping, luckily.