The Grocery Game

Grocery shopping at Sainsbury's is a bit like some kind of reality TV game. Each week, the store completely rearranges half the items in the store and puts them in a completely different (and rather sneaky) location than the previous week. The contestants... er shoppers... are then set free to find the items we finally located last week, only to discover they are nowhere to be found. At least, no where logical. The canned olives are in the freezer section. The eggs are with the baked goods (note: they do not refrigerate their eggs). The spices are by the fruits and vegetables (fresh). There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to the placement of anything, you simply have to memorize where things are. And once you finally memorize it, they up and change everything. In other words, the point of the game is to see which contestant cracks under the frustration and starts using unpleasant British swear words. Going postal is simply not done. One does not pull out and uzi and start shooting ones fellow shoppers. It would be impolite. One gets in the car and drives over them in the parking lot later.

The really nice thing about British grocery stores is A) the high quality of food and B) the diversity of food. You can buy ingredients for Indian, Thai, Chinese, Italian, and even Mexican food. Spanish, French, American, and ordinary British. There's duck next to the chicken, and about 30 different kinds of cheeses in the dairy case. Because of the European Union, all the foods imported from all these countries have to adhere to the same standards, so quality and safety is guaranteed and you get loads of delicious imports from countries who are serious about excellent food. Trans fats are illegal, and saturated fats are getting that way. Nutrition labels are informative and make healthy choices super easy to make. And organic foods are the norm, not the rare exception.

But if one needs a Hershey fix, it is available. Though personally, if I'm going to splurge, I'd rather do it with a sinfully delectable chocolate truffle from Harrods....