We Gotta Talk: Worldwide Grocery Store Issues

There are a lot of problems in the world we live in today, and a lot of them seem like they either can’t be or won’t be solved. That means we all have got to be committed to fixing the easy issues, we have to become one big team when it comes to the easy stuff… and we just aren’t. I have been going to the grocery store for 25 years now, from “driving” a race car cart, having one hand on the cart at all times when I was young so my mother could always keep an eye on me, to going during my lunch break now that I am all grown up...these two issues have been consistent in every single grocery store I have ever been in. The repeated trials and evidence of this experiment are through the roof and it simply needs to be stopped. I need you all to read this with an open mind and a willingness to change. Two major issues that are so easy to fix, buckle up.

1. Island Time: Save it for vacation. The grocery store is no place to practice island time. Before you enter the store I need you to enter the mindset of getting in and getting out as soon as you possibly can. Set a timer, maybe a time goal that you want to beat? Whatever helps. Today, for example, I was behind a couple walking in one of the main isles near the cash register walking slower than you could possibly imagine, holding hands, and exchanging cheek kisses. This was the final straw for me. Did jealousy have anything to do with it? Shut up. The point is that too many people walk like they have no better place to be. Speed it up or get your groceries delivered to you if you can’t keep up with the big boys and girls.

1. Right of Way Awareness: My grocery store vocab is not up to par with the best of them, so I will try my best here. If you are exiting a side aisle (the ones with all the groceries in them) YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY. The right of way belongs to the customers in the main aisles (the aisles you take to get to your side aisle destination). Too many times I see airheads walk out of side aisles not even looking to see if anyone is coming and causing a grocery store version of a traffic jam (people looking at each other and doing the grocery store shuffle to get out of the way). This action is the equivalent to turning right on red without looking to see if anyone is coming while driving. STOP IT.

It truly is amazing how far self awareness will get you in this life, and it is a shame that some people don't have the luxury of carrying that with them in their everyday life. The good news for those people is that it's never too late to wake up from your slumber and fix it.

I beg you all to enter the grocery store with these two things in mind. We can fix this issue, I just know it, but it will take us all.