Shopping grumps

[ladyofastolat]

Is it just me, or does food shopping get ever more complicated? I tried to buy tinned sweetcorn a while ago. Presumably we hadn't bought it for a long time, or maybe Pellinor happened to do the shopping the last time sweetcorn was on the list, or maybe the World of Sweetcorn, formerly simple, has recently acquired new complexities. I expected a choice between Brand Name, Another Brand Name and Own Brand. Instead, I found what seemed to my poor overloaded brain to be at least 127 subtly different sweetcorn choices. Which one is normal, old-fashioned sweetcorn? I wailed. Which one is the ordinary, classic, common-or-garden, original, newbie sweetcorn? No help was forthcoming.

It's even worse with toothpaste, where each brand name comes in about 105 different versions, all claiming to do something that sounds like a Good Thing, but none claiming to do all of them. Overwhelmed, I just buy whatever happens to be on special offer. And this week, I ended up bonding with an elderly lady over our shared Olive Oil Angst. Side by side, we surveyed the 20 foot wide display of all manner of olive oils, as we tried to work out which one was normal olive oil for cooking. I used to laugh about old ladies who stood around in shops loudly complaining about the price of carrots nowadays, or the shocking new-fangledness of the quiche. Now I seem to have become one.

What supermarkets need is some sort of walkthrough for confused newbies. ("New to tinned sweetcorn? Here's where to start!") Or maybe a clearly coloured shelf sticker that denotes the normal, regular, non-confusing version of a thing.

And while I'm busy grumping about shopping:

Why do so many clothes shops make it impossible to find clothes? Go into somewhere like Debenhams to look for trousers, and you have to look in 105 different places. At least it makes sense in Debenhams, because of the way the shop works: lots of different brands under the same roof. But M&S does the same thing now, with all their different ranges. I just want to browse trousers! I don't care if they're Per Una trousers, or Indigo Collection trousers, or M&S Classics trousers, or any of the other ranges they now sell. Why are they going out of their way to make things difficult? Well, yeah, I expect they're deliberately forcing customers to walk every inch of the shop in the hope that they get tempted by other items en route, but it's still very annoying.

As is the habit train stations have of only selling crisps in extra-large bags. After an early start and a long journey, I might feel in need of a small snack, but I don't want a large one. If they sold normal sized bags of crisps, they would probably get some money out of me. By only selling large ones, they ensure that I walk straight out again, feeling grumpy, negative thoughts in their general direction, and my money remaining unspent.

Comments

[leesa_perrie]

Yes, yes and yes again! You're not the only one who feels this way at times (though I will admit to occasionally buying the large bags of crisps, because I get really hungry when travelling for some reason)!

[torkell]

The sandwich shop round the corner from where I work started that a long time ago. I quite like Doritos, but not when they only come in too-large-for-one sizes.

[philmophlegm.livejournal.com]

Re: Clothes shops. Try TK Maxx. They (and I'm now admitting that I only have knowledge of the menswear section; the womenswear might be different) have the brilliantly simple idea of sorting everything by type then size. Want a medium t-shirt? Look on the medium t-shirts rail.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I do hope you have a grumpy old lady stick to wave about while you do these rants.

My problem with toothpaste is that I strongly dislike the taste of mint. In any British supermarket, I am typically confronted by 80 different flavours of mint toothpaste, maybe two super-sweet kiddie fruit flavour toothpastes, and not a single cinnamon, fennel or clove toothpaste. I guess the figures must prove that I am the ONLY person in Britain who doesn't like mint toothpaste, but it still seems odd to have to resort to ordering non-mint flavours online like some sort of bizarre fetish.

[rubygirl29.livejournal.com]

Bad shopping week, m'dear? I, too, remember when it was much more simple. Now the multitude of choices can leave me baffled. Don't get me started on yogurt!

[inamac.livejournal.com]

And flour. My Mum used to have a bag of Plain and a bag of Self Raising in the cupboard. I currently have eight different kinds of flour and keep picking up the wrong one by mistake (pancakes accidentally made with Strong Bread Flour just taste *wrong*)

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Yes, it does. I am fine with things I buy regularly, but if it's something I don't buy very often, it can be tricky.

[bookwormsarah.livejournal.com]

Oh don't talk to me about toothpaste. My brand of choice is Colgate Total, but suddenly it isn't just the lovely standard Total, you have to chose between fresh breath, cavity protection, pro-enamel, sensitive and probably more. Maybe I should invest in a tube of each and blend?