November 6, 2001

Supermarkets, Schmupermarkets

It's all my fault, really. There is a Tom Thumb grocery store about a mile from where I live, and it's also the store closest to the route I take to get home from work. Tom Thumb is a big chain around here, and they are big stores that carry lots of good stuff. Except this one. I don't understand it. It's a new store, and they only opened it about two years ago. However, they basically picked up the old store that was in an old crumbling shopping center half a mile west of the current location and moved it to a better spot. I was never in the old store, but the new one is nothing special compared to the other stores around.

Unfortunately the next nearest store to where I live is an Albertson's and every Albertson's in north Dallas strives to be the slowest, most painful experience you'll ever have. While Tom Thumb apparently doesn't hire anyone between the ages of 18 and 60 (all employees are either younger or older), Albertson's doesn't hire anyone younger than 60, period. Now, I have nothing against older people working. I think it's great that they want to do something besides watch soap operas all day, however, when you get to an advanced age, you move a little slower than you used to. The 16-year-old management staff at Tom Thumb doesn't impress me very much either. Yesterday the woman in line ahead of me at the checkout had a problem with her check (why do all these people still write checks anyway??) and the very young-looking checkout girl picked up the phone and asked a manager to help her. Pretty soon another very young-looking girl walks over and does the manager thing. They couldn't let the 65-year-old men be the managers instead of making them sack groceries and help people out to their cars? They sometimes look as feeble as the people they help, whereas I bet the teenagers make great sackers.

There are other options for my grocery shopping. There is another Tom Thumb about 3 miles from home I could go to, but the traffic near that store is bad enough that I don't like going there right after work. The store is far superior though, and doesn't seem to have trouble keeping fancy items like potatoes and ground beef in stock like my usual store. PFFT! that it's not on my direct path home, and PFFT! that the two stores nearest me suck so much.

Published: November 6, 2001
Editor: stacy