Re: Loyalty cards again

Evelyn C. Leeper <eleeper@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Keith F. Lynch wrote:
Paul Dormer <prd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
And I might add a type of shopper I see frequently around here,
shopping for a large family, presumably for an extended period.
The trolley is full to the gunwales and the bill comes to several
hundred pounds. What surprises me in these cases is not that people
pay with credit cards, but that quite a few pull out huge wads of
twenties and pay with cash.

I'm always amazed to see such large amounts of groceries bought at
once. What's the point? Are they survivalists or something? But any
disaster that would close all the grocery stores would almost certainly
cut off their electricity, causing their refrigerated goods to spoil.

When we shopped at the commissary we saw this a lot. Frequently, these
were retired military who made a monthly trip to the commissary for the
cheap prices, and so bought a month's supply at a time. This was
frequently two or even three shopping carts' full.

In the US, it may be more common, especially if a rural family drives
into town and does their shopping once a month. And they don't stock up
on refrigerated stuff. What fills their carts is probably mostly basics
like flour, beans, canned goods, etc.

(Although milk and eggs can really boost the amount. Six people
drinking three glasses a day is eight gallons a week. Even if one uses
non-fat dry milk, that's one big box every week. And if everyone has
two eggs for breakfast, that's seven dozen a week.)

Oh, yeah. My wife's sister and her family came down to help after our
daughter was born. The food that we were used to buying monthly didn't last
out the first week and the perishables that we typically bought weekly
didn't make it through the first day. We usually bought a half gallon
of milk and sometimes discarded a bit at the end when it spoiled. They
bought two gallons at a time several times a week. And eggs. And cheese.
And butter. And vegetables. And bread. Teenagers go through an absolutely
astonishing amount of food.

Robert
--
Robert K. Shull Email: rkshull at rosettacon dot com
.