Today is Labor Day in the good old US of A and Kimmy is at work so I thought I’d tell you about a subject I’ve been thinking about writing about since I got here and saw this on my first trip to the grocery store: a cup holder. A cup holder on the shopping trolley cart… is this necessary in life? I’ve since perused many a grocery store here and know that no, it is not necessary but why let that stop us? Now the important thing to remember is that you must never say ‘supermarket’ because there is nothing super about it, the grocery stores here are TINY compared to the ones I’m used to in the UK (I thought everything here was supposed to be bigger!). And the off licences (or package stores as they say in Connecticut) are thriving because the alcohol section in the grocery stores is extremely limited. Basically all the grocery stores are akin to shopping in a Tesco Metro.
There are Aldi stores still and they’re pretty similar to the ones in the UK but that’s the only brand I’ve found that’s the same. Our local shop (which we don’t usually do a big shop at) is called Highland Park Market and it’s a family owned small grocery chain (another thing you don’t see often in the UK). It’s a little more expensive but it’s quite sweet because after they pack your bags the staff insist on carrying your shopping out to your car. When I say ‘insist’, I mean insist – I tried to tell the guy last time that I could manage myself and he said “Oh no ma’am, we have to” and he even put my shopping trolley cart away afterwards, all whilst wearing a twee little old fashioned apron. So it isn’t all bad, just different. Also I now get to enjoy bizarre branding such as the seafood company ‘chicken of the sea’ (they sell no chicken). No one else finds this hilarious but me.
Fruit and vegetables are a lot cheaper however none of it ever has expiration dates on it so you have to eat it almost immediately because who knows if it’ll go off or not? I really miss expiration dates from the UK. Other things are more expensive, usually completely strange things like washing up sponges. I had to pay almost $3 for a pack of 3 washing up sponges to do the dishes with the other day, they’re about 17 pence in Asda! Why are sponges so expensive of all things? Some things like cereal there is way too much to choose from, whole aisles full of cereal yet only one type of sellotape and it isn’t sellotape it’s some shitty scotch tape that’s minute yet still inexplicably costs more than 6 rolls of sellotape does in the UK. Another thing is that Americans are curiously misinformed about things that are ‘English’, take this cheese for instance. My mother in law asked if I would pick her up some ‘old English cheddar’ from the store… since when is English cheddar cheese spreadable and in a jar??? There is something unnatural about this… I had to call Kim to make sure that this was definitely what her mom wanted because it does not look appetising.
In fact the cheese selection is completely different, I still have yet to find any Stilton sadly however I suppose this does allow to try new brands (so continues my obsession with Amish people). There is no Marmite or squash (the drink) either.
I have discovered some secrets whilst shopping though – you know these cups that people have for parties? In almost all American movies and tv shows where there is a party Americans always have red cups, always red. Why is this? Because I found out that they sell them in other colours! As I took this photo a frat boy came up and selected some red cups… it’s a conspiracy.
There’s other differences too like with the packaging, it’s more likely to contain helpful recipe suggestions than in England which is nice. The packaging often has advice on it too… I assume for idiots. This is from a packet of raw chicken breasts.
This warning came in the nick of time as I almost cooked my garlic bread in the plastic bag… phew. I like how they highlighted it in red… twice, just to be sure. Bless them. I enjoy pointing these things out to Kim but she doesn’t really think it’s funny, she just thinks I’m weird.
Other things that I’m not used to is tobacco adverts on signs like outside gas stations and they still have all the packs on display. It hasn’t been legal to advertise tobacco in the UK for my entire lifetime so that’s a little bit strange.
Also seeing guns on display to buy in a sports shop… a bit strange. They seem so lax with them, none of them were locked away, no one was even at this desk I could have just gone and picked one up off the shelf! Scary stuff.
Shopping in clothes stores etc is mostly the same except the sizes are slightly different and all the shop assistants look happy. I find this a little unnerving. They like to harrass you as soon as you step foot in the shop (Hey how are you, what are we looking for today?) but in fairness they do that a lot in the UK now too. Also getting money ready at the cash desk is impossible because all the prices displayed are displayed without tax added on so instead of being politely prepared to pay I have to faff about because all the money is bloody identical. A couple of times when change is required I just shove a fistful at the cashier for them to pick out and explain that I’m not used to their coins yet but no one seems to mind so far… or if they do they’re too busy pretending to be cheery to say. This sign confused me the other day when I went shopping for new work clothes and was trying to locate the ladies section. I saw the sign saying ‘chaps’ and just assumed they were trying to be trendy and that was the mens section, off I popped only to find another sign saying ‘chaps’ with women on it… what is this madness?!?
Anyways, that’s been my shopping adventures so far, sorry for boring you all!
hayleyiraina 