Sunday, February 12, 2006

Grocery Store Wars

O.K. Ladies,

The best response I got to my blog was the Red Pepper story. It seems a lot of people can relate; especially women. Do all women go into a grocery store anticipating that everyone is watching them? Am I the only person that breaks into a cold sweat every time I fumble with the plastic bags for the produce? They never want to open!

Here is a trick: Go to the wet produce, and pick them up like you're planning to buy them, then as soon as your fingers are damp, pick up one of those plastic bags and they will open like a charm!!

Just watch out for the Red Pepper Lady!!!! She will definitely have a few words to say..

Anyone else have a grocery store story? Please share!!!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

On the same trip that I purchased an inedible, mealy, tasteless canteloupe for $4, I made another purchase that turned out to be much worse. I bought a container of organic pre-washed salad greens, the brand of which I have bought before and enjoyed. I went though three quarters of the salad last week and then yesterday I made myself a salad for lunch.

I had only a few bites of salad left, and as I raised one to my mouth that contained some lettuce, a piece of cheese, and a red pepper, my mouth was watering. Just before taking the bite I saw what looked like a soggy, dark-green rolled-up piece of lettuce. It didn't look appetizing to I removed it from my fork with my finger. As I glanced at my finger, the lettuce moved! Then I noticed that the lettuce had many legs and was actually some type of worm or caterpillar thing that was still alive!

I quickly flung it onto the table and sat in shock for about two mintues before I could look at it or even speak for that matter. Eventually, I put it in a baggie, along with a piece of lettuce to keep it alive, and returned it to the store along with the remainder of the letttuce. They promised to have the company come and pick it up and address the issue.

I really like that lettuce, but I think it will be at least a month before I can fathom eating it again.

Anonymous said...

LOL! I do the exact same thing! I thought it might be gross to lick my fingers to open the bag!

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Steph, thanks for your comments (I think..). Wow, I'll be washing my greens for a while. No more pre-made salads for me. I was always skeptical of that pre-washed thing anyway.

Kelly, I'm glad I'm not the only one with dry fingers. Yeah, I've thought about licking them too, but that would definitely be a no-no! I think grocery stores should supply little sponges with water in them for opening those annoying bags. There are some stores that have bags that are easier to open for sure. I don't want to mention any store names here, but it is another major chain in Southern Ontario.

BTW, it occurred to me that I was being sexist to suggest that only women do the grocery shopping. Comments from men are also welcome. In fact it would be interesting to see if the shopping experience is any different for guys!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Jo
I will try wetting my fingers in order to get those pesky garbage bags open as I have a pile of this annoying type to work through.
The sponge idea does not appeal to me in the grocery store as I think in this day of viruses it may not be the healthy thing to do, but I may put my hand up to catch some of the wet spay to do thejob.
Maybe a disinfectant pump would do the job.
The worms I have experienced many times and putting the lettuce in the salad spinner and washing many times does the job.

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Good point about the sponge. Yeah, that would be a great bacteria breeding ground. I wonder about those sponges at church with the holy water? Mmmm... Something else to worry about!

Anonymous said...

Gee, I didn't realize the worm in the lettuce was a common occurrence. I guess from now on I'll be washing my pre-washed lettuce leaves!

Anonymous said...

Regarding the worms/bugs found in the pre-washed lettuce bags - If this is a common occurrence and we have to wash the "pre-washed", we might as well spend less and buy regular lettuce!

Anonymous said...

That is a very, very good point. I will keep this in mind when I do my grocery shopping tonight -- on second thought, I think it's going to be another few weeks before I can stomach buying lettuce again at all.

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Just a quick question here.. Did that happen to be organic greens with the bonus wildlife?

Anonymous said...

Yes, it was organic greens. I told them that I realized it was organic so I understand they wouldn't have used pesticides, but it was still supposed to be washed!

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Mmmm.. Good point Steph, but give me the chemicals anyday. When I go to the organic section, all I see is withered rotting vegetables. What is the appeal of that?

Anonymous said...

At least the cute little worm was clean then if they gave it a bath.
Just think of the extra protien you would have got if you would have ate it and it was Free.

Joanne (True Blue) said...

LOL! Good one, Phil! I was thinking the same thing. ;)