Grocery Store Insanity

Wegmans opened up nearby this weekend. I received the postcards in the mail and signed up for the shopper card. Given the lousy selection of grocery stores in my area—causing most of us to go multiple places in order to complete our entire list, or settle for a store close by that we don’t like—we were all pretty excited. And since I’d spent the three days prior to the opening consumed with my book release, I needed to get out of the house and into civilization.

Or so I thought.

According to a local news article, people actually camped out the night before outside the store. I haven’t camped out since I was a teenager waiting for concert tickets. There’s something wrong with camping out for food when you can afford to buy anything you want.

So Sunday, I took my list and I drove to the store. The cars were lined up on the highway. There were police cars directing traffic. No grocery store is worth this. I turned around and went home.

Today I went there as I was doing errands. There was no line of cars. I was easily able to find a parking spot. There were lots of people inside checking out what was offered, but the lines moved fast (except for the two teens who clearly had never gone through a self-checkout lane and had no clue what to do). I bought what was on my list and I explored a little.

I like Wegmans. I’m glad it’s close by. And they have great quality and unique offerings that other stores don’t stock. But I’m also glad I skipped opening day, even though I had planned to go. Although I missed out on the free samples, I also missed out sitting on the highway with my car idling, wasting gas. I missed out on the frustration of standing behind a million people checking out their groceries.

Because it’s food, people. Fancy food, yes. Yummy food that I plan to buy later, yes. But it’s still just food.