I went grocery shopping. For the first time in six months.
My son-in-law has been doing my shopping for me and I am seriously appreciative. But now I have all this extra time and I’m not actually doing much to help them out, I think I need to get back to this basic human task.
The store has been totally rearranged. This started right before the shutdown but now, by the time I’m back in it, my mind map of where everything is totally useless.
And I’ve forgotten all the produce codes.
The good news is I can buy bulk spices again. Because this is less expensive than buying the little jars, I haven’t been able to bring myself to put herbs and spices on my shopping list. Now I just need to remember what it was I’ve been wishing for.
A lot of other things that I declined to put on the list pandemic pantry.
Shopping is a ritual. You develop a path, a routine,
a rhythm for getting in and getting it done.
You know which brands are good and which brands are more economical. And, if you are like me, this is all visually encoded. You know it when you see it.
This has made the process of compiling a shopping list for someone else to follow really difficult. Not that I don’t have my own shopping list, a shopping ticker, you might say.
But it’s shorthand for the ritual. The details are not on the list.
I’m going to have to rebuild the whole thing, like a lot of other things in my life, I’m going to have to rebuild my whole grocery shopping ritual.
One week at a time.