Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Big Box Stores

Anyone who knows me knows I hate big box stores.  I'm very vocal on this issue and can get loud and ugly if pushed on the subject.  I've nursed this prejudice since the day I became a military spouse in 1962.

In those long ago days we did our grocery shopping at the military facility's commissary.  I hated every minute I spent there.  They were big cavernous buildings, enormous warehouses, and nothing had been done to enhance your shopping experience.  They stocked food with large families in mind.  

Finally the day came when Bob retired and I could leave commissary shopping behind, I thought.  After 20 years military blood flowed in Bob's veins.  He never recovered.  We had many a battle over whether to shop in the neighborhood or travel to a military facility to shop at the commissary.  That's when Bob became the family grocery shopper.  I refused to endure commissary shopping anymore.

When we moved to Oregon I was delighted to find there were no military facilities in the state large enough to have a commissary.  Life was good for a few years & then someone blinked & Costco appeared.  My goose was cooked.

Costco is the closest thing Bob's found in Oregon to shopping on a military facility.  He will no longer buy gas anywhere but Costco.  Again the battle was on over grocery shopping.  Keep in mind there are now only two in this household, and we're getting older by the day.  There's also the matter of freezer space.  We're apartment dwellers these days & have only the freezer space in our refrigerator.


Only one person in our household eats waffles and it's not me.


Where do you store 72 waffles?


But "that's the only size box they had" he says.

Laundry detergent is another item.  


This container is good for 126 loads of laundry and there are only two of us.

He buys paper towels and toilet tissue in bundles the size of a Volkswagon bus.

How long do you think it will take us to use 500 sandwich bags?

When his time comes to go I'm cremating the Costco card with him.



7 comments:

  1. Lou is the shopper for groceries here. We too have large supplies of paper towels and toilet paper and those waffles are in our freezer also. BJ's is his store of choice. We do however have the room to store all the stuff. I try not to complain as I never want him to say, "Well you go then" And we always have 51 ounce bags of M&M's. One peanut and one plain.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I got some good chuckles from this post, then I remembered the VW-sized paper towels, toilet paper, and Kleenex packages in our pantry. I can hardly wade through it all. We do have a small freezer in the basement, but I try to avoid going down to it as much as possible, so I cram as much as possible into the fridge's freezer. Oh, and I gas up the car only at Sam's Club, of course.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That sounds so much like DH and me! There are times when I am thankful for his exuberance with the paper products, especially when he goes out of town for weeks at a time.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hahahaha!!! You DO have a problem!!
    Listen, I am so happy to find your blog! I have been going to Yarn and I guess I never tried the other one before! Anyway, I want to thank you for your friendship and all the wonderful comments you have left on my blog! I think I was a little confused since I have a couple of Linda friends and both your profile pics are in red tops! I guess you can tell I'm a little slow catching things! I'm on my phone as I write but when I open my laptop I will come back and find your follow button! The quads will be here soon so I am hitting the floor running! I just wanted to say all this before I forgot!!! Thank you again for being such a gracious friend!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey, as long as he shops, I'd find the space:)) I use to love going with my military boyfriends to the commissary. Prices were so cheap. Guess it is what you get to do as opposed to what you have to do. Kind of miss no Sam's clubs in this area.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh, Linda, I love this post!
    I do shop at Costco once in a while, but that place is a trap for over buying!
    My neighborhood Safeway Supermarket is just three blocks away. They get most of my grocery dollars. Not small either, but the portions are!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hahaha. Cremating the Costco card.. Love it.

    ReplyDelete