Wednesday, December 15, 2010

ask me what's on sale this week at Kroger

I stopped in at Kroger after work.  Fortunately for me, I now work 1.2 miles from my home.  And. . . there's a Kroger between my workplace and my house.  
Today I visited my local grocer for the ingredients to make King Ranch Bean Casserole [scroll down the page and you'll see it - below the version utilizing tofu].  Previous to my vegetarian days, I enjoyed King Ranch Chicken.  So, I sought a veg version and found this one.  Chip worked late tonight, so it was a good time to try a new recipe containing beans [he's anti legume, anti war, anti . .. ].  It turned out pretty good.  But that's not the point of this entry.
There's a winter storm headed our way.  Snow and ice are predicted.  Which means Kentuckians flood the Kroger stores.  I truly believe if one was a sociology student, the local Kroger would be a great place to compile thesis data.  My neighborhood store was packed.  Shopping carts were hard to come by.  The aisles were full.  The check out lines were long.  And people were buying, you guessed it, white bread and milk [mainly whole].  A few were purchasing Coke products.  One man stood in line to purchase one item only:  an off brand 12 pack of Mountain Dew type soda.  A lady behind me in line dropped her stuff [boxed candy canes, a loaf of bread {yes, white}, and a couple other things].  She mentioned there were no carts available as I helped her pick up her goods.  
All of this begs a question in my mind:  If people truly believe they might be stuck indoors for a few days, why don't they choose more exotic foods?  At least spring for a nice cheese and some Triscuits.  What are people making with all the bread and milk?  Is there some secret I don't know?  Seriously, and I know a power outage is a consideration, but these people were shopping at 5:30 p.m.  The storm wasn't predicted to move through until around midnight.  They had at least 6 hours to prepare a gourmet meal.  I wonder if these folks eat out everyday and have nothing in their pantry?  And now they fear they'll be forced to eat at home.  Or is much more simple?  Maybe bread and milk are snow storm traditions.  Like turkey at Thanksgiving and ham at Easter.  I grew up in the desert, so maybe this info isn't entrenched in my psychi.
On another note, regarding the sociology study, we now have a security guard at our Kroger.  Why?  He usually stands outside the store, but tonight he was inside [too cold for him outdoors, I guess].  Someone honked at me as I backed out of my space at the far end of the lot.  A large white van [I'm thinking plumber].  I suppose hostilities are high.  What if the store runs out of bread?  Oh yeah, they were really low on large bags of potatoes.  It seems to be the white foods that are popular [again, maybe a snow theme?  get it?  white snow/white foods. . . ]
Well, I found my items for the casserole.  Then I headed home.  Only to pull into the driveway and be greeted by my daughter, wearing pajamas and a towel over her freshly washed hair.  She had climbed the side fence, checking if the recycling was full [tomorrow's our pickup].  She walked towards the car, and stated, "We need to go to Kroger."  She then mentioned why - snack needed for tomorrow's FCA party [which, mind you, probably won't happen due to the approaching storm].   I asked why she didn't call me - her brother knew where I was.  She claimed she did call.  My battery was low, so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.
So, later in the evening, she and I went out.  Yes, we hit a Kroger [not the same one].  It wasn't near as crowded and no one honked at me.  And there was no security guard, and the Salvation Army bell ringer was friendly.  And looking back, I wish I'd picked up some Triscuits and a nice cheese.  We might be iced in for a while.

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