'Til ya drop from muscle fatigue

I got my exercise today by pushing 250 pounds (114kg) of groceries around Costco for over an hour.  For those unfamiliar with this wholesale retailer, it's a quantity-not-quality store (think IKEA for food and sundries).  Need a gallon of Mayonnaise or a 50 pound (23Kg) bag of rice?  Costco is the place to go.

I pushed the cart at Costco today, because my paramour cringes when she looks at the receipt after I shop.  If I buy groceries, (and I never go to Costco) I select items based on:  my personal tastes and item-quality (which I admit, I can't always clearly explain).

For example, I buy only organic milk even though it costs almost double.  Why? She asks.  Because I refuse to drink milk from a container bearing the disclaimer: The FDA has determined there is no significant difference between milk derived from hormone-treated and non-hormone-treated cows.  If they need a disclaimer, I don't want to consume it on a daily basis.

I prefer brown free-range eggs.  Yes, they taste exactly the same as the white ones that drop through the bars of a cage; but my brain says they look and sound better no matter what my stomach says.

European butter, imported from Ireland or some-such far-away land, is the only butter I'll buy.  My tongue can definitely tell the difference (and don't even consider trying to get me to use a tub of whipped oil, because I can definitely believe it's not butter!).

Don't get me wrong.  I appreciate some of the bulk items available at Costco.  My cats never complain about the cheap clay they cover their shit with.  A gross of Toilet paper rolls or a double-peck of bread (which can be frozen for a few months) makes financial sense.  Whatever Ok, I get it.

But something I realized about Costco—which occurred to me today—was if you are low on money, on a fixed income, or unemployed:  definitely become a Costco member.  Go daily for lunch or dinner.  Take your entire family.  Put an item or two in your cart (there's bound to be something you need).  Stop at each of the different "tasting booths" scattered throughout the store and eat what they offer.  (The primary function of a "Tasting booth" is generating a continuous effluence of "pleasant cooking odors."   The type of odors which make you hungry.  Hungry people buy more groceries.  So, don't think you are taking advantage—even if you fill your gut at the "tasting booths" every day for months and years—because they are trying to take advantage of you!)  Wanna try a small slice of pizza?... eat some roasted almonds?... taste a four-cheese ravioli?... sample some spicy sausage?  Before you know it, you and yours will be too full from eating the residue from the pleasant cooking odor stations to want the foot-long/drink combo (available for a dollar-fifty at the food concession on your way out).

The truth of things is the chief nutriment of superior intellects. — Leonardo da Vinci

4 comments:

Angela Ackerman said...

Ah Costco. Every trip is an adventure. But I really do enjoy a lot of their products. :-)

Re: the brown egg thing--a few months ago I was shopping with my son and he asked me if we could try 'the chocolate eggs' this time. I asked him what he meant, and he pointed to the brown eggs. Boy did I ever laugh, but it was a good laugh, because when your kid is 12, moments of childlike misconceptions like that are few and far between.

Thanks so much for your blog help. I tried as you suggested, but still wasn't able to get the undefined message off my posts (unless I post a new post and it's gone-- a possibility, and the old ones are stuck with the message.) I think the undefined stuff is where the date/time of the post used to shwow up if I recall correctly. I've seen lots of options to change this info to display differently, but no way to strip it off completely.

Anyway, I sincerely appreciate you helping, and thanks as well for the tip about the poll in the comments, too!

Mary Witzl said...

I absolutely accept free samples every time I go shopping: if I ever turn down free food, it's either not worth eating or there's something really wrong with me.

I buy organic milk: I like the thought of supporting dairies who give their cows (I fondly hope) a more decent lifestyle instead of pumping full of hormones or forcing to chow down on chemically treated grass. I go for good butter too, and sometimes I even splash out and buy lavender-scented kitty litter. I can afford to do that after all the free food.

Mary Witzl said...

Damn it, I left out two pronouns there! That's what I get for typing under the influence of French roast.

veach glines said...

Ok, Mary,(I love that you proofreaded your comment, by-the-by) I'll inject them for you:

...instead of pumping me full of hormones or forcing a trillion-billion insects and bacteria to chow down...

You are welcome, Angela; it seems the date/time got fixed and with a grandfather-clause too boot. Now, all your posts are clearly date-defined.