Pet Peeves. Or more accurately, a rant.
I despise going to the grocery store. It’s one of my most hated errands and it seems really unfair that I have to do it EVERY week. I know there are people who only go every two weeks or once a month and just stock up, but this just won’t work for us. We need to go every week in order to get all of the fresh stuff that goes bad after longer than a week.
The ironic thing is that I used to love going to the grocery store. I think that phase ended in college. Oddly enough, that corresponds exactly with the time in my life when I had to start paying for my own groceries. Coincidence?
I think one of the biggest reasons I hate going to the grocery store is because it’s home to some of my biggest pet peeves, so I consistently find myself annoyed whenever I venture there. The first pet peeve is people who don’t return their carts. The other day I was at the store and this is what I was faced with:
Except of course there were about 100 more cars in the lot. I was just too lazy to draw that many. Anyway, you can see that a cart had been left a mere few FEET from the designated cart return. What the hell, people?! I’m just about the laziest person I know and yet I always return my cart. Even when there is no cart return and I have to walk all the way back to the entrance of the store. It’s just common courtesy, am I right?
And when one person leaves their cart in an empty spot, somehow the rest of the crowd also decides this is a good idea and follows suit. I was once so frustrated by it that I moved about five carts from one spot (a front row spot) so that someone could park there….mainly because I was pissed that I couldn’t park there. After I had done my shopping and loaded my groceries, I started to return my cart. Then a nice gentleman walked up and said “I’ll take that for you.” That’s what I call karma!
My next grocery store pet peeve is regarding bagging. I recently learned that having a bagger at all is a regional thing, so perhaps I should just be glad that someone is bagging my stuff at all. But here’s the thing. We take our re-usable bags to the store every time. We have about seven of them which allows more than enough space for all of our stuff and then some. Yet without fail, the baggers insist on using a maximum of two, maybe three of our bags. Which makes each bag about, oh let’s say 50 pounds! Why do they do this? I’ve wracked my brain trying to figure this one out and I can’t. They’re RE-USABLE bags! There are no bonus points for using fewer. Why must they smash my grapes and tomatoes by putting all of the produce in one bag, with the cantaloupe on top? I’d really rather bag my own stuff, but I don’t want to insult them as I know they’re just doing their jobs and being helpful.
So there you have it. If I ever get really rich, one of the first things I’ll do is hire someone to do my grocery shopping. I know that’s not quite as noble as donating it to charity, but that’s how much I detest grocery shopping. What’s your most hated errand or biggest pet peeve?
I have the same pet peeves. But, now I am one of those awful, awful people who don’t always return their cart. This is strictly due to having an infant.. Because I tend to buy groceries every couple of weeks (I go to farmer’s markets for the fresh stuff), she has to be loaded first… then the groceries go around her.
My only solution is to park next to a return cart… otherwise, I can’t leave her to put it away. I’m a horrible person for this, I know…
I find that going in the middle of the week is much easier than on the weekend… granted, I know that’s hard for a lot of people.
My most hated errand is going to Sam’s Club. Because everything we get there is so bulky and heavy. I typically have to go alone, which with an infant, sucks. Brian has been asking for weeks when I’m going next… I’m putting it off as long as I can.. maybe he’ll go for me :p
Ok, well that actually makes a lot of sense. I hadn’t thought about the baby in the car scenario, so now I feel kind of bad generalizing and calling people lazy. Oops! We always go to the store together on Sundays. I’m thinking when the baby comes though that will change and just one of us will go. But I’m sure it will still be on the weekends because we can never manage to do that sort of thing on week nights!
Nooo don’t feel bad! I thought the same thing! And even now, I feel awful when I do it. I just can’t leave her with the temps being 100+… I try to get the car started asap. If ya’ll can go together, even with the baby, it’s a TON easier.
The reason I say this is because it never failed when Kaylee was younger.. I would get my list all gathered and get in line – she’d pitch a fit. With an extra set of hands, I could simply tell Brian to take her to the car and comfort her. So, yea.. always have help if ya can.. it’s just easier. If you can go by yourself, then do that… but I kind of like going with Brian. It’s hilarious seeing him shop…
1st of all I have to say how much I love your drawing
—2nd of all, I will admit…that 95% of the time I DO RETURN my cart…however…sometimes, when I am lazy, grumpy and I notice that there is a nice little tree that I can park my cart next to…I will do it. I won’t walk the extra 20 yards to put away the cart….HOWEVER…when it is hot…like it has been…I always return the cart because there is probably some over worked, under paid old (at least at our HEB) person that has to gather up all the carts and I feel bad for them/guilty of me wanting to be so lazy. Most of all though, your drawing made my day at then end of a very long 14 hour day at the office. The end 
I always knew I was an artist at heart; just a talentless one:)
I think it sounds like you pass my cart returner test. 95% of the time is pretty good! Pat on the back for you!
I return my cart! I even grab a stray cart or one from the cart return area to bring inside for my shopping … I figure it’s at least one less that someone has to haul inside. And especially when you have kids, it makes sense to just grab a cart near the car and get him situated inside it instead of yelling at him to stay next to you/hold your hand/cars are coming/pay attention because this is a parking lot!! The grocery store has lost its charm for me as well … it’s expensive, takes a lot of time, and … well, that’s enough of a reason. I do, on the other hand, love to do laundry :^).
P.S. I like your drawing, as well!
Excellent! I’ll be sending my laundry right over!
Actually I don’t mind the laundry so much myself. And I really don’t mind dishes at all, though I know some people loathe doing the dishes. I’m not so much a fan of unloading the dishwasher though; I’d rather load it any day. Is that backwards sounding?
I get so pissed off at the baggers every week that I have started requesting to bag my own groceries. I do not appreciate that every week, the baggers fill my insulated reusable bags, designed to keep my cold items cold, with cans of soup, vegetables, etc. I also do not appreciate, like you, when they put my strawberries, tomatoes, etc. at the bottom of a bag and then proceed to place watermelon, cantaloupe, and bricks on top them. Oh, and let’s thrown a carton or 2 of yogurt in with a bag full of non-cold items, so that after I get home and put away all my bags of cold stuff, decide to take a break from grocery unloading for a few minutes (yes, it takes me so long every week that I have to take breaks), I eventually discover that my yogurt has been sitting out unrefrigerated ever since I took it off the shelf an hour ago!
I despise you, baggers.
Insulated re-usable bags?! Tell me more. We just have the regular old green ones. I don’t know why I was so resistant to them for the longest time because now I love them! I just hate that they feel the need to put everything in one bag!! And I intentionally place all of my items by “category” on the conveyor belt, so that they will be bagged together (i.e. produce together, cold stuff together, etc), but I often end up like you with the random yogurt in a bag of boxed stuff. I’m sure that will bother me more when I have a baby to distract me from my unloading.
My favorite is when they put the gallon of milk, the gallon of OJ and then random canned goods into ONE bag! Um hello, pregnant lady with flabby arms here! Save that bagging technique for the in shape people!
hilarious! I loved reading about this (and your drawing) – you are so funny! I have to tell you that i actually really like the grocery store. It’s one of my favorite places. When I’m bored lonely and/or depressed, it’s my go-to entertainment!
Haha, is that lame or what? I’m not sure why. I think it has to do with food, which is ususally not good, but there you have it. Anyways, I’ll be sure to watch out for those non-cart-returners for you! 
Bummer! If only you lived closer, you could be my personal shopper, and we could both benefit:) And I don’t think it’s lame. I know of lots of people who like going to the store! And like I said, I used to LOVE it. I think I’m just too easily irritated these days. I need to take a chill pill.
I’ve never been to a grocery in the US that didn’t have designated baggers. In England you ALWAYS bag your stuff yourself, which I hate because I’m frantically trying to bag a whole week’s worth of food while the people are waiting for me to finish so they can start checking out. I get so angry.
I finally just stopped bothering because I don’t have a car so I had to lug all that suff back on the bus. Now I get my groceries delivered and I’ve never looked back. I can shop from the safety of my couch … or work desk
It only cost me about $20, and I get free delivery during the week for the next 6 months. Excellent deal. I’ll be very depressed if I go back to the US and I can’t have my groceries delivered anymore.
Having my groceries delivered sounds like a dream come true! Our grocery store doesn’t offer that though and the ones that do probably charge an arm and a leg around here. So until we win the lottery (which by Nathan’s estimation should be tomorrow night), I’ll have to suck it up and do my own shopping:(
I am exactly the person you despise. First reason being, I am a frequent cart abandoning offender. BUT the reason being is quite the dilemma. Three kids sitting in a hot car waiting on my treck to return the cart, running car with my three children in it, six year old wandering in parking lot to return the car, or parking my cart as best as possible next to the light post. Secondly, while I do own a few reusable bags, they are rarely used for grocery shopping and more often than not the evil vehicle that allows children to empty their closets of toys and scatter them abroad. But I will say, the baggers do not discriminate against your green efforts, they do it with the plastic ones too. Ultimately leading to milk all over the driveway or soup cans smashing your toe.
I could never despise you, little sister:)
Clearly the only logical solution is to have Lilly return the cart for you. She’s learning to walk, so pushing the cart will be great practice!
Carts rolling loose in the lot irritate me to no end but a huge pet peeve of mine is people parking in the fire zone – or, even worse, half in the fire zone and half in the lane, or even right in the driving lane!-in parking lots and not just stopping to drop someone off but full out parking there or dropping someone off and hanging out there until that person comes back out. Take a flipping parking space and keep an eye out for love of Pete! Lot traffic should not have to bottle-neck or come to a full-out stop because someone is too ‘special’ to take a space.