I have this strange little game I play when I am at the grocer. I love to peer into my fellow shoppers’ carts and see what types of things they are buying. You are what you eat, as the saying goes. And as you usually eat what you buy, I try to deduce something about these strangers’ lives based on the contents of their baskets.
Some things that people actually consume astound me. I once checked out behind a woman who had an entire cart full of Wonderbread, pre-sliced bologna, off-brand chips and cases of Diet Coke. What no mustard?
In my old haunt in Knoxville, we were centrally located in Hipster Yuppieville. More people seemed to buy prepared foods from the deli counters. A step up from having to defrost, I guess. Here in our new location in Nashville, I see lots of men with carts full of frozen dinners, usually the healthier variety and enough for a month’s worth of evening meals. Also, lots of college kids with chips and Oreos and Ramen balanced on cases of Diet Coke and Miller Lite.
It’s fairly easy to spot people who cook. Their carts are full of bagged fresh veg, oils, flour, dried pasta and for some reason, six packs of decent bottled beer. I should point out that in Tennessee businesses that sell alcohol for off-premise consuption are not allowed to hold both a beer permit and a liquor permit, therefore groceries in Tennessee generally only sell beer and mixers. The first time I walked into a Trader Joe’s in California and they had everything from microbrew to tequila, I nearly fell over and kissed the vinyl flooring.
Parents are pretty easy to suss out as well. Got diapers and strained peas? Infant. Got sugary cereal and grape juice? Toddler (maybe a hyper one at that). Got two buggies full of half the store? Three teenage boys.
This also makes me wonder what cashiers think of what I am purchasing. Does this mean I assume others think too much, too? Apparently. But my last dash into the grocer was for the night Keifel got here. I bought beer and hard cider and a half pound of unsalted butter. Hm. What does that project about the evening ahead?
