Grocery shopping

I grew up in a small town. There is an incredibly small Main St., with the only two lights in town on either end, some shops, restaurants, and pizza places. The school district is very good (in my uneducated about primary/secondary opinion), we had college-level courses, instructors with Master's Degrees, and an administration I respect. I remember when housing tracks were fields, when across the road from my parents house was a swamp, and when lots of parents volunteered to work with Booster Clubs, committees, and school activities. There were drugs, cigarettes, sex, and all sorts of scandals (one of my locker neighbors in Middle School mysteriously disappeared after rumors of pregnancy).

I now live in a small city, which is located in a very rural county. There are a few places I can buy groceries, including a local supermarket, Target, Walmart, Aldi, and now a small grocery store. Walmart is generally poorly organized, poorly staffed, and highly annoying. Target is much better, but I rarely buy food products from there (unless they're on sale, of course). I usually use the supermarket, Tops, and I'll use the weekly circular to find good deals and then add to the list whatever else we need in the house. There are downfalls to using Aldi, mainly that I need to bag my own stuff and need cash to make a purchase.

But I'm open to trying new things, especially if it'll help save us money, so I went to the new grocery store. It's right down the road from me so I was really hoping it was going to work out. I walked in, there are no baskets, only carts. No flyers are available, so I walked around. The prices on meat isn't cheaper than Tops, and the aisles are small and cramped. They save on money, therefore overhead, by not unpacking flats, not bagging groceries, and not having other things that a brand-name grocery store would have.

Well, to get to the point without being too rude, I don't think I'll be visiting the new grocery store on a regular basis. It's not all about the actual store, it's about the clientele. I don't think I'm above anyone, I've just decided on a different path. Maybe they remind me of every reason I chose two prestigious institutions of higher education, or maybe I just don't like how they smell like cheap cigarettes and beer, or maybe it's because I was super hungry and just wanted to be done grocery shopping. 

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