Irrational anxiety!
I have this irrational anxiety when it comes to grocery stores. I hate shopping for food. My plan is to make a list, go in the store and grab everything I can in 10 minutes or less. If I pass an aisle, forget it. I ain't going back for it. I could blame my mom for this fear because when she went shopping she was in the grocery store for two hours or more. I hate wasting my time looking at stuff. I usually buy or at least window shop on line so by the time I get to the store, I grab what I want and go. I can't do that in a grocery store. It's crowded, people block your aisle with their carts and kids and sometimes it's like Mad Max beyond Thunderdome in there. I tried to remedy this problem by shopping only late at night around 1 or 2 in the morning but I kind of sleep during that time and I just stopped shopping and started eating fast food. One of my New Year's resolutions is to face my fear and dislike of the grocery store and to save money by not eating out all the time. So, today, I went to the store. They say music can calm you down and those people who figured that out weren't lying. I slapped on my iPod and earbuds and tuned out while I sang and danced little jigs down the aisles. People were looking at me funny but, hey, I was in a happy place. I shopped for 30 minutes by myself...all alone. This is a record. I had to take my earphones off at the check out and I started to get anxious and the cashier noticed, said something about me being flustered. I don't care I feel like I have crossed a major hurdle in getting over my grocery shopping anxiety.
posted by Angelique at 6:32 PM
5 Comments:
Congrats to you on jumping the hurdle. I hesitate to mention this, but have you heard of Safeway.com? They deliver. ;-) Even with the delivery charge, it's still cheaper than eating out.
Notta, I haven't heard about Safeway.com. We use to have a bunch of them around here in Austin but they were all bought out by Albertsons. Now, Albertson's are disappearing, too. I have to check out buying groceries online, I never thought about it. You are awesome!
Chica,
I don't think your irrational anxiety is for grocery shopping but for the high concentration of people in the store. People in general will pick the most complicated method of shopping. I have a rule. If it doesn't fit in the basket, I am not getting it. I also have a list when I go to the store. The most I have ever spent in a grocery store was 20 minutes and that was due to the long line at the check out counter. I have to thank my ex for my speed shopping. Shopping with him was torture...he would contemplate the many kinds of hot dogs and read every one of them and still be clueless as to which one he wanted. Needless to say I was not sad to see him go. It just gives me a feeling of dread when someone can not decide in half a second if they want cheese or beef hot dogs. To me this is not one of life's great mysteries. I generally ignore everyone, just like a horse with blinders. It's a gift really...my short term memory just dumps it. I am more likely to remember how firm the plums were.
I am glad that you are channeling your anxiety... this is great! I should really jump on the ipod bandwagon and get one of those things!
Amy
Amy!
Dude, if I had to put up with which kind of weenie boy I would have had to have picked up a pack of meat and beaned him with it. That's the things about exes they always leave you with a dislike of annoying habits. I try to keep my list small but by the time I have to go to the store, I have run out of toilet paper, salt and I am down to a can of beans. It sucks having to MacGyver a replacement for toilet paper. You are right, crowded situations do suck but I seem to always survive the Christmas shopping season with few complaints. Could there even be a deeper routed reason to my problem? Nah, I just hate shopping in person. Tschüss!
Angelique - You could always check with HEB. Maybe they are online. :-)
Also, I agree with your sis. I am generally a nice person, but when you get me around lots of people who are rude and pushy or leave their carts in the middle of the aisle (because, after all, they are the only people on the face of the earth), then I get downright bitchy. Anyone I've ever gone shopping with recognizes my low tolerance for assholes, even my blind friend. She's like, "You've had enough, haven't you?" - she can tell without even seeing my face. To be honest, I don't take enough advantage of online grocery shopping. However, one thing that keeps me in a more pleasant mood is to go grocery shopping either very late at night or very early in the morning. I love an empty store! :-P
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