Monday, September 27, 2021

GROCERY MIGRAINE

Haibun/Haiku and Frank asks us to overcome writers' block for our haibun this early autumn day.  Having made a quick (?) stop at the grocery, I had no trouble with block at all!  Submitted to dVerse 9/27/21

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                                      GROCER MIGRAINE

In the Stone Age, when I was a child, the grocer in our little town had shelves stocked with everything from crackers to bag balm.  It was a folksy little place where the local farmers gathered to visit a bit before going home to do the chores, and kids could get a towering ice cream cone for a dime.  I was thinking of it this week while bumbling about my ex-favorite grocery trying to find the items on my list.  The store is being converted to one of those mega-nightmares where I need a golf cart to get from produce to paper products.  Nothing is where it used to be, and the layout, I’m sure, was created by a demented chimp on speed.  A pound of coffee used to be 16 ounces, and picking up a box of crackers used to be a simple thing once upon a long ago.  Now crackers gives me a headache.  Low fat or no fat?  Extra thin and crispy?  Do I want regular, salt-free or low salt, cheddar flavor, ranch or barbeque, baked or traditional?  It’s enough to leave hapless shoppers in a corner in the fetal position.   My friends and I are in our senior years.  We wear out quickly.  We have decided to lobby for a first-aid station somewhre mid--store!

Grocer marathon

Requires time and stamina

No more quick pick-ups


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18 comments:

  1. Dwight L. RothSeptember 27, 2021 at 3:42 PM

    I love your story! Such a great haibun... This is why Quick Marts are so popular. People will pay a dollar an item more just to avoid the nightmare you described here. Well done Beverly

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ron. LavaletteSeptember 27, 2021 at 6:10 PM

    I'm living your reality, Beverly. The village store (not ours - the next village over, but the one I most like to visit) got sold to a newly-arrived Flatlander & is being "updated." That quiet corner where the a couple of locals could sit, sip coffee & play a game of checkers...GONE. Bummer.
    Nice haibun, B.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gillena CoxSeptember 27, 2021 at 7:12 PM

    Ah all those choices can give one z blustering headache.
    Nice one

    Happy you dropped by to read mine

    Much💖love

    ReplyDelete
  4. lynn__September 27, 2021 at 7:14 PM

    I agree, Bev...too many choices take too much time. During Covid, grocery stores here would take orders by phone or internet and then you just go pick it up.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Maggie CSeptember 27, 2021 at 8:33 PM

    I share your headache. Seems like the stores like to change things up just to keep us in there longer. Nice haibun.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Marion HortonSeptember 28, 2021 at 1:57 AM

    Totally agree - hate those stores. Just the thought of them is exhausting!

    ReplyDelete
  7. MiskySeptember 28, 2021 at 4:54 AM

    Since Covid, I've not stepped foot in a grocery store. I order everything online, and the shop delivers it to my front door. In truth, I miss seeing new products, trying new food and flavours. Always buying the same thing can be boring. Life is too short for boredom.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. indybevSeptember 28, 2021 at 7:47 AM

      I totally agree. I have succumbed to the order and pick-up routine as well ... and I am bored as well!

      Delete
  8. IngridSeptember 28, 2021 at 5:49 AM

    Consumerism gone mad! Sometimes too much choice is not a good thing, as you've illustrated so well here.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ken / rivrvlogrSeptember 28, 2021 at 6:48 AM

    "a first-aid station somewhere mid--store" -- I've been in stores that could use this!

    ReplyDelete
  10. DoraSeptember 28, 2021 at 10:50 AM

    Beverly,
    I laughed out loud at this! At my age, I could do with a first aid station, a golf cart and someone to kneecap that demented chimp on speed that lays out theses mega-stores! Great haibun.
    pax,
    dora

    ReplyDelete
  11. SuzanneSeptember 28, 2021 at 4:56 PM

    I like the immediacy of this and can relate to your problems. Modern life leaves me confused - being of senior years myself. It is very hard not to crumple into a fetal position in the supermarket sometimes.

    ReplyDelete
  12. ben AlexanderSeptember 28, 2021 at 11:46 PM

    hilarious, Bev! I'm sorry for your travails!

    yours,
    David [ben Alexander]

    ReplyDelete
  13. paeansunpluggedSeptember 29, 2021 at 1:21 AM

    Bev, these stores can wear out the young ones too! Too many choices do spoil the fun of shopping.

    I look forward to your poem on metaphors and idioms.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. indybevSeptember 29, 2021 at 10:18 AM

      Maybe you missed my "Idiometry" at the beginning of September. It's here:
      https://worditude.blogspot.com/2021/09/idiometry.html

      Delete
  14. Petru J ViljoenSeptember 29, 2021 at 10:58 AM

    Mega shops stops the flow of creativity for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  15. brudbergSeptember 29, 2021 at 11:53 AM

    Where did my comment go?

    Those stores are terrible, but sometimes you are happy to have the selection.

    ReplyDelete
  16. HelenSeptember 30, 2021 at 10:35 AM

    LOL LOL ... of course we seniors need First Aid Stations in our grocery stores ... and anyplace else we frequent!

    ReplyDelete

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