Back in New Mexico, I rarely hit a traditional ordinary supermarket. A quick pickup of toilet paper or tissues, maybe, or to snag a bottle of wine when my cache of Trader Joe's vino is empty, but...Here in Florida, I buy decent bread and fizzy water in one, and some minimal organic veggies, wine, and eggs, in another. The "health" stores are pricey, though I get apples and chard there, there is no Trader Joe's, the local stands rarely have organic, and....sigh.
The fish market in Gulfport, on the other hand, is reasonable and superlative. (See fishy post from Feb.1) Mazzaro's Italian Market in St Pete is fab! ( See post Feb 5.) And, we have IKEA a few miles away in Tampa.....just sayin'.
But as I wander the vast aisles of a supermarket, in search of unsweetened apple sauce, I marvel at the crap that people, some people, must buy. Acres of cereals, candies, and cookies. Canned string beans! The often lamented ( by me) multiple rows of sodas, the freezers filled with icky prepared meals. The bakery still turning out products loaded with partially hydrogenated oils. The fake butters, the diet foods, the tabloids and crappy chemical-laden gum at the checkout....AAAAGGGHHhhhhhhh! ( OK, there are still some dry pastas I might buy...)
Rant over.
ps Cute piece in WaPo today on people who have, or try to get dates at Wegman's, an unusual supermarket, extremely-people oriented, featuring multiple in-store cafes, in NY, NJ, PA, Virginia and Maryland. Wegman's is exceptional. ( See photo, folks!)
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