Ubermarket
There's an actual science to laying out supermarkets. It's a specialty, tapping into the psychology of the shopper in order to separate them from their money. I admit to being an impulse buyer. I'll go the store for some lemons, say, and walk out with a cartful of stuff I don't need. I also have a thing about making sure I have enough of everything on hand at home, so that even if I don't want something right at the moment, it's there in case I need it later. So I'm an easy mark for the experts. I have gotten better, though, and now don't throw away nearly as much stuff that goes bad before I can get to it. But the thing about supermarkets that really floors me is this, how come the smallest section by far is the health food section? It definitely tells you a lot about the rest of the junk in there.
posted by John M Crowther @ 7:53 AM
2 Comments:
I have a very bad food buying addiction that has nothing to do with falling for marketing ploys. I will actively seek out difficult to find foods, like organically grown foods, or cultural foods (I love Mediterranean foods like stuffed grape leaves, and Humus) and I like to make everything from scratch so I know exactly what is going in to the foods.
Even though there are only three people in this house, none of whom eats a terribly large amount of food, I have three freezers and four refrigerators, all stuffed with food. My kitchen cabinets are so full that the overflow has to be stored in the garage.
And some things are too bizarre to even contemplate. We have at least 8 jars of peanut butter at any one time. We eat a lot of peanut butter, and we each like different types. I like the natural peanut butter, my husband extra crunchy and my daughter smooth. But then we also have several flavors, like white chocolate and honey-nut. And I probably have 30-40 bottles of salad dressing, although I usually make my own.
If I went to a psychologist I would probably be told I have this problem because my food was rationed throughout my childhood because of being diabetic, but I don't need a psychologist to figure that one out.
But since the problem doesn't disrupt my life, and I'm not doing anything destructive like eating all the food I buy or buying something we can't afford, I'll save the psychologist for something bigger, should it arise.
Why is it that we can go to the grocery telling ourselves that we are there for bread and milk but come home with six or seven large bags of groceries. Happens every time. Love the gourmet section of this grocery store, John C. My kind of gourmet dept. but will pass on the cheez whiz, thanks anyway. Like the flow of this cartoon, by the way.
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