A NEW NORMAL GROCERY SHOPPING

I am realizing more and more that the world we live in has changed and some days are just harder than others.

I used to love to pop into the grocery a couple of times a week to browse and purchase the things I needed for a few days. Walking around the store with other shoppers I would check out the produce, making sure I was happy with my choice, the deli enticed me with their daily offerings, the smells of fresh baked goods filled the air, and new and interesting items were generally on display.

These days grocery shopping has become an all day chore it seems. First I have to plan out what I think I will need for two weeks. I sift through my cupboards, refrigerator, and freezer making my list. Once that is done I go online and place an order for pickup, which is generally the next day.

Yesterday morning I arrived at 9 am which was my allotted time and the grocery worker was out loading them into my car within a few minutes. That was much better than last week when I had to wait 45 minutes.

Once I got them home I did my now usual routine of placing the bags in the front hall, taking out the food and washing off all of the containers before putting them away, and then checking to see what was missing. I would say that half my order was missing, plus the shopper had gotten me 10 plantains instead of 10 bananas. 

Great!! I started doing curbside pickup to save myself the added expenses that I was incurring from Instacart, but just like last time I had to get on Instacart and order the things I didn't get. 

Both the curbside pickup and Instacart  are from Kroger. After placing my order with Instacart, I got a notice that the shopper had started shopping for my order, but then a couple of minutes later, after shopping two of the items, she quit and notified me they were looking for another shopper. 

Okay, no problem, I had forgotten to put ketchup on my list and went into the app to do it. That's when I got the message that Instacart was down for maintenance. Seriously, in the middle of the day? When it finally came back up it said my delivery was delayed, but it still showed the two items as being shopped for and I couldn't add to my order.

Finally, three hours later someone new shopped my order. He even picked up the ketchup I wanted, and made up for all of the aggravation of the day (except the toilet paper was now sold out).

Grocery shopping is definitely not what it used to be, especially for those who must still shelter in place. Like most changes though we usually come to accept them and learn to live with a new normal.