Costco Madness

Every time we go to Europe, or someone we know goes abroad, I am reminded of just how decadent our superstores really are. In most towns in Denmark, you may have to go to 2 or 3 grocery stores to find celery, there is only one brand of any one item and not alot of stock of that either. People go to the market everyday and pick up fresh food items, they don't have piles of canned and pre-packaged food in their cupboards. When you look at store aisles like those in this picture, you realize how spoiled and wasteful we are compared to the rest of the world. It's very good to have that put into perspective periodically to keep us from spiralling out of control.

A trip to the market in France is as much about visiting with the storeowner or other shoppers as it is about shopping. A trip to the store in the U.S. is all about getting in and out in minimal time, or, it's about filling your cart to heaping so you don't have to come back in the near future.

The other interesting thing is what you end up putting in your basket that wasn't anywhere on your list. Back in the 90's, we used to say a trip to Costco meant a $100 bill at a minimum. I think that has become standard these days. You go in for jewel cases to hold DVD's and baggies and you leave with Christmas ornaments, two newly released DVD's, mozzarella & sundried tomato salad and animal cookies. Of course, each of these packages is quite large because that is also a Costco requirement. And these were only the things that were not on the list. Some of the list items were never purchased because the other thing about Costco is that frequently they just don't have what you're looking for.

I dropped off some film and digital pictures of baby boy that were going to be ready in an hour but I'll have to go back to pick them up tomorrow night because there is no way I could resist temptation if I'd stayed for an entire hour. Pitiful but true. Of course, that also means I'll be back in there tomorrow, hmmm.....