Random Answers

A family friend, Randa-Kay from justrk.blogspot.com has asked a few random questions in hopes to find out some interesting tid-bits of information about those who read her blog. So I thought, why not?, I am always looking for something to talk about and this kind of stuff is fun. So here are her questions:

1. When grocery shopping, do you arrange your items in the shopping cart nicely and in categories or just toss it in?

2. When putting your grocery items on the nifty conveyor belt at the check-out, do you group them by category to make bagging easy or do you just put them up there in whatever order you grab them?

Ok, now I know with some things I can be a pretty predictable person, but I am also so undisciplined in life and fly by the seat of my pants for the most part that I vary from the "norm" more often than I should...and my answers to these questions will illustrate this perfectly.

When I finally get myself in the mood to go to the grocery store in the first place these days, I usually go with the intentions of getting in and out as quickly as possible - especially if the boys are in tow. I fly down the aisles, grabbing only the things that I know we need or the things that catch my eye that would be good for future use, pile them into the cart and pray for a very short line at the check-out. All the while I am refereeing my kids, "no, we don't need that....please stay on this side of aisle....just a few more minutes Avery....no we can't open that now.....please don't touch the candy....we don't need any more trinkets" You get the picture - and the level of my politeness in addressing them dwindles the further into the trip we are, so that by the time we are waiting in the check-out line I am pretty much done with the whole experience.

Now when I go by myself I will have a comprehensive list and fill my cart methodically so that nothing gets overlooked and nothing gets squished - total opposite of the scene from above. I go slower and really don't care if the lines are long or not - its almost like a mini-vacation within the day, an oasis of grown-ups.

But regardless as to whether I have the boys or not, I do try to put everything in groups on the conveyor belt...boxes, cans, produce, meat - it just makes it easier in my mind...easier on the checker, on the bagger, on putting the stuff away once I get home...all around a proactive action in my book. But, as with everything, I am finding that this too is becoming random when the boys are with me, because they are getting tall enough and aware enough to want to help put things on the belt - which means its whatever they can reach and throw up there, because it is a total competition as to who can put their hands on the most product and get it on that belt!

So anyway, I didn't realize that this could be a subject that I could write upon at length (sorry), but it was still fun to think over the craziness of grocery shopping. And by the way, I would being giving a disservice to my husband if I did not mention the fact that he often goes for me so that I don't even have to mess with it at all - a good egg, that one is.