Grocery Explorer

I hate grocery shopping. That being said, I do not have a "regular" grocery store I frequent. I get certain groceries from certain stores. Like for instance, I do not get my milk from the same place I get my meat or even my pasta or fruit. That is four grocery stops right there. Sometimes I do get dry goods and produce in the same spot, but not frequently. It is so confusing. Sometimes it takes five stops if I want cheese products. Asian products, factor in another stop for 6. Yikes! Why can't I streamline? Back to the point, I went to a grocery store I rarely go to today because I heard they had cheap pineapples, I went to aldi. Do you know about aldi? I knew a little from my grocery shopping experiences in germany, they are pretty much the same. They are a no frills, do it yourself grocery experience. They package their own food for their stores only, kinda like trader joe's. Not as nice as everyone's beloved t.j.'s you say? Well, they are both owned by the same company....who's to judge? Today I went out to the aldi at 22st and 129th, armed with my own bags(because they charge you for bags) and my quarter(for the grocery cart) I went out for my adventure. First thing I noticed was all the German speaking Amish women shopping. I felt like I was in Germany! Well not really, that was a joke, the feeling like i was in germany part...nevermind. Another thing I noticed was it was very clean, and they had my favorite brand of gummi, haribo, and lots of European chocolate! Now I really did feel like I was in a German grocery store. I think the first things I ever bought in a German grocery store was chocolate:). Well, I got my pineapple for dollars cheaper than the regular store, mushrooms, strawberries, pears, and apples. They had a very large special on name brand toys like Barbie and Thomas the train there too. After i got what i came for I checked out behind a young Amish lady who bought maybe 100 lbs of cream cheese. After my turn I bagged my own groceries on the long table behind the registers and traded my cart for a quarter to an older gentleman. All in all it was a pleasant experience. I think I'll go again.