Thought for the day - grocery store fun

Yesterday i went to Harris Teeter.  i don't normally shop there because i prefer Food Lion's prices and it's closer to the house.  Or, if i feel like driving a bit, i will go to Aldi.  i use to shop at HT all of the time.  i remember when we got one in Monroe.  It was right beside the Monroe Mall.  But, the older i get the less i shop there.  It has grown a lot and the more it grows, the more upscale it becomes and that's just not the grocery experience i want.  i just want groceries....at a good price.  i'm not there for an experience.

Anyway, i happened to be near a HT yesterday because i was dropping off some things at Goodwill, which is in the same shopping center.  So, i figured that i might as well go there since it was so convenient to my circumstances.  i've been to this particular HT many times.  It does not get the upkeep and attention it needs because it is not in the best section of town...surprise.  Only one of the automatic doors was working yesterday...the other one kept getting stuck so they locked it shut.  When i walked in, and mind you this was 10 a.m., the shopping carts were all askew in every direction.  It was just different from what i was use to in a HT.  It didn't bother me really because everyone has off days...including grocery stores.

The shopping itself was fine once i figured out where everything was that i needed.  My problem was in the checkout.  There were no lanes open.  Well, that's not exactly true.  There was one lane "open" with 2 elderly customers each with a cart full.  And behind the 2nd one in line, the chain was up and the sign saying "please use next register".  Of course, the next register had the same chain and sign up.  And the next and the next until i ended up back in the frozen foods.  So, i had to do the self check out.  i hate those!  Every item i scanned the machine told me to wait for the attendant.  The attendant never came and eventually the machine would let me continue.  Several times it told me to take the item back out of the bag and re scan it, even though it scanned through the first time.  And those plastic bags are very hard to get out of their dispenser.  Almost all of my bags ended up with holes in them from just trying to get them off of the rack.

Now, like i said, this may have been an off day there.  Normally, the staff is very friendly and cordial but no one seemed invested yesterday.  i get that.  i also understand that management often has to stretch people due to budgets.  i get that.  And even though they don't yell at you when you come through the door like at Cold Stone Creamery or Moe's, a few pleasentries would've been nice.  i won't say that i'm not going back there, but i'll take my Food Lion peeps any day first.  Bottom line...i enjoy working....but not when i'm shopping