Wednesday 29 October 2008
Tuesday 21 October 2008
Monday 20 October 2008
Shopping Experiences - A Comparison
This is a post I made on my other blog this summer - I went to the price chopper a couple of days ago and thought I should post this on a more public forum...well as public as TFTH gets.
I've always known I've been a bit of a traditionalist, or dare I say: old fashioned, but I had never felt it as hard as I had today. It came to me at the butcher's.
It was a beautiful day today. I meandered my way towards the "market" to acquire some sustenance. I usually shop at the Food Basics for anything not meat related. Tomato Sauces, Rice, Bread, Eggs... whatever. The meat, I buy next door at the organic butcher's. I enjoy shopping at the butcher's and I hate shopping at the Food Basics.
Yes yes yes, the Food Basics have the variety and prices that can't be beat which is all well and good if all you want to do in get in, switch-back in the aisles grab what you came for and stand in line noticing that no one is noticing, no one is making eye contact with anyone let alone striking up a conversation or heaven forbid even simply smiling at anyone and being checked out by a soulless employee who on a good day may offer the perfunctory corporate mandated concept of what passes customer service, so canned, so devoid of kind of personality and more importantly sincerity that you feel dirty afterwards - have at it.
However if you like the idea of walking in to an establishment where upon entry, or first chance thereafter, you are greeted with a smile, eye contact and a words that filled with genuineness and authenticity followed by queries of your dining plan to better aid the cut of meat you buy. If you require ground meat, it's ground right there - as much or as little as you want. No pre-packaged quantities dictating how much you shall make or conversely will have to freeze. It is the kind of place where the sole butcher wears neither an apron nor gloves. But when he cuts the meat with his razor sharp blade and handles the product with his bare hands I cannot describe watching him work and still do it justice, suffice it to say it's poetic.
After reflecting on this, I longed, ached for the old days. I thought if there somewhere I could get my fruits, vegetable and dietary staples that was akin to the shopping experience of the butcher, I would patronise it even if it meant it was farther from home. There's something to said about having a rapport with the people from whom you shop. I left the butcher's smiling. I then went to back to the Food Basics for some mushrooms that I forgotten and after leaving, my smile was lost.
Tuesday 14 October 2008
Sunday 5 October 2008
Friday 3 October 2008
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