It's good for me to sometimes leave my very limited remote bubble here and enter the outside world, if only to realize how odd my life is in the grander American scheme. This was really highlighted by my trip to a grocery store in suburban Albuquerque last Friday.
I went to Albuquerque to pick up the traveling kid from the airport. Because his flight was coming in on the later side and we had to drive so far back home, I did not want to stop on the way home at the grocery store. We wouldn't have gotten home until 11 p.m. So instead I went to the store before picking him up.
The grocery store I went to was just a Smith's, but it was in what is quite clearly a major area of commerce for the Albuquerque suburbs. In fact, I entered the heart of American consumerism. My exit off the freeway brought me to a road lined with every store and restaurant I've heard of or read about, but never actually shop at. Like Chick-fil-A. And Target.
I realize these are not uncommon for most of you. But they are for me.
Thankfully, this was a big road with good traffic flow, so although it was busy (keep in mind, this was Black Friday), I made it to the grocery store without too much delay.
And there I was taken aback by the experience of sheer opulence that is American grocery shopping.
This store was as big as the entire Walmart I typically shop at, except instead of half the store being things like storage containers and camping equipment, it was all just . . . food. There was SO MUCH. So many options, so many displays, so many perishable things that I never see.
They had a fancy cheese section! And a seafood counter! I mean, I couldn't buy anything from it because whatever I bought was going to be a sitting in a cooler for six hours and that seemed like a bad idea for fish, but still. It was there. I do not ever shop anywhere that has a seafood counter.
In the end, I didn't buy too much. A few of the fancy cheeses and some multi-color "snacking tomatoes" were about the extent of the indulgence for me, but it was fun to visit the Other America for a little while before returning to my little bubble.
4 comments:
Smith's looks pretty barebones for an Albuquerque store. I think I shopped at an Albertson's the last time I did an Albuquerque shopping expedition. Your BIL shops at Fry's; I've gotten to know the layout there pretty well. MiL.
When I was a kid, relatives from the then Soviet Union came over. My father took them to an ordinary grocery store and they refused to believe it was not a fake store set up to make foreigners jealous. When they were finally convinced, the wife cried at such opulence. And this was in the 1970s so the choices were nothing compared to what we have now.
I honestly sometimes feel like someone from another country when I leave our corner of New Mexico. It can be disorienting.
You all are so lucky to live like you do. The rest of America needs that experience in their lives. Most times too much is just too much. ;) Lucky you and your family.
Life is too short to be busy all the time.
Need time to slow down and smell the horse poop. :)
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