I like spending money, I like shopping. I even like
shopping in the supermarket, but the best thing about
the weekly shop is when you walk out through the
automatic doors with your trolley full of goodies,
secure in the knowledge that it's all over for another
week and you can now go home and
gorge on all the good stuff you've just bought.
Everything from potato puff crisps to chocolate trifle.
You can tell an awful lot about a person from the
things they put in their supermarket trolley, just look
at the slob guys with their pizzas and chocolates, beer
and TV dinners. See the young mothers with their
nappies, tins of baby food and stress relievers, the
bachelors with their individual tins of beans and small
jars of coffee, their beer, wine and aftershave. And
the students, hunting around for whatever's on special
offer or been marked down from the previous day, "oh
great, fish fingers and marmite for dinner". And then
there's me, what have I got in my trolley and what does
it say about
me? I try to eat healthy but like most things in life,
desire usually overcomes good sense so there's
wholemeal bread hiding the treacle sponge cake and a
bottle of Smirnoff nestling between the oranges and
grapefruit. A little bit of what you fancy does you
good, does it not? No need to feel guilty about
loading the trolley with chocolate syrup and ice cream
when there's some fresh chicken in there.
It all evens out doesn't it, creating a balanced diet,
a bottle of Guinness in one hand and a cream cake in
the other, that's pretty well balanced. Going to the
supermarket these days is just as much a social event
as a household necessity, I often bump into people I
know and we'll stand chatting by the
frozen peas for a good while. It's not that I choose to
bump into people but have you tried maneuvering one of
those steel death machines with 4 wheels that all want
to roll in different
directions? And then when you do get it going in a
straight line, yours is the only one in the store that
emits a high pitched whistle on the straight and a
grunting noise when you take the corner. It isn't a
novelty any more to hear about supermarkets that hold
singles evenings, for people wanting to walk
up and down the aisle together, walking away from the
TV dinners for one, to the family size
barbecue supplies. If I was still on the shelf and in
the market for a hunk at the supermarket, I'd use these
singles evening every week! What better way to meet
people, in a safe, well lit environment where you can
reveal your true personality and display your tastes
through the steel grating of your shopping trolley as
you push it along in front of you, hiding behind it. I
know what I'd be looking for in a man's trolley -
something raw and meaty with a soft centre and no
gristle or added fat. No prepackaged stuff, nothing
shop soiled or second hand, and as for the packaging,
no flipped lids or dented cans, and at the very least,
one bottle of Guinness.
Glenda Young is also the authoress of the
weekly Coronation
Street Update on the net, and can be contacted at:
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