Supermarket Ramble

Well. Ya see. It’s like this.

Now, as you know, I’m a ‘happy chappie’ and not one to complain, but.

I went to my local supermarket at lunch time. As you do when you live in a very small town whose’ only reason for its existence is based upon a 10^th century Abbey that Henry VIII^th had a darn good try at demolishing.  Except the locals got angry and said;

” If you knock this down we will rise up and get you at play time”.

So he said “OK. But don’t take my Dinner Money”.
Also the canal system went through it. Yes. OK, also the railways. But there ain’t much else there, apart from lots of rich people with big houses and flash cars. So, pretty normal.
So I use the said Supermarket, although I haven’t said which one it is but the name starts’ with Wait and ends in Rose.

Yes. We all know it’s the one that if a certain type of store builds one out of town, it will help to keep the ‘Riff Raff’ out.

Well, they always build stores out of town. Something to do with increasing the turn over coz you need to fill up the tank at the petrol station they have there just to get home, allegedly.

Anyway, I got the bit of food I needed for lunch. Crispy bacon strips, a small pack of Brussel Sprouts coz I like ‘em.  Hold on. You eat Coleslaw and that’s raw cabbage and other vegetables, so stop rolling about on the floor moaning you "can't stand Sprouts". Also a pack of cocktail sausages, which remind me of something but I can never remember what.

Now, the very nice man in a suit, in the supermarket, asked if I wanted a basket to put my things in. “It’s much easier to carry.” He said.

Now, this is a cunning marketing ploy. By using a basket, they are trying to trick you into buying more than you want or need.

You look down at the basket with only two items in, so you are immediately suckered into putting more stuff in it coz it looks so empty.

It’s the small plate idea you use when dieting, whatever dieting is!

I said, “I have my hands full with this lot” and carried on towards the check out tills.
Now this is the shock horror bit.

They have removed four of the checkouts and replaced them with five, self service, cards only DIY points.

“So what,” I hear you say. But they have also removed three of the six ‘Baskets only Speedy Fast Track tills”. So now we have only 60% checkout tills and 50% baskets only.
Adding insult to injury only 75% of the checkouts and 60% of the baskets only tills are manned at any one time.
This effectively gives us only 6 manned check outs and two baskets only tills.

Are you with me so far? Buggered if I am! So the cues are now even longer coz no one likes using the self service and it breaks down more times than the cash point outside the bank.
Also the age group of the people using it tends to lead to forgotten cards; forgotten pin numbers and a faint smell of blue rinse and stale wee around the area.
If you have only one Item to pay for, it now takes longer to pay 30% more than if you bought it in Coop or 50% more than if you bought it in Aldi.
So why do I go there. Not a piggin clue!