November 20, 2015 Chautauqua

Beth's Ponderings

   I am sure I have mentioned before that I don’t really like shopping - unless it is in a bookstore - I can spend hours in a bookstore.  

   I enjoy buying things, I just don’t like the process of going into a store and looking for what I want, and not always finding it.  I prefer to go in, and then get out as quickly as possible.  And, for me, grocery shopping is the worst.

   That is one reason why I prefer shopping in small town stores where everyone knows you, and your preferences.  There is a chance to visit and catch up, and finding what you want doesn’t become an elaborate scavenger hunt.

   Yet, during this healing journey, shopping - especially grocery shopping - has been a bit of an adventure.  Mainly because I was trying to figure out what was safe for me to eat, so I was constantly on the look out for different products and items.

   In the past two and a half years of twice-weekly (then graduating to weekly) appointments in Red Deer, I needed to find a place to buy groceries, and I chose Eastview IGA.  The reasons for my choice were: I didn’t have to drive far off of Ross Street to get to it, I could park right outside the door, the produce section and tills were very close to the door, and they had a large selection of pre-cut fruit (and cut more if I needed it).  Important considerations when I was still rather weak.  

   While it is a city store, it feels more like one in a small town.  I’ve gotten to know some of the staff, and they’ve kept an eye on me - seems they were concerned about me collapsing in the aisles in the beginning - and my food purchases as I’ve progressed on this healing journey.  They’ve teased me about bringing Co-op bags to an IGA store and we catch up as I go through the till.

   So, I’d like to take this opportunity to say a big THANK YOU to Joe, Shara, Becky, Bruce, Lynnie, MJ, Dorothy, Christine, Helen, Samantha, Lorna, Doris, Dallas, Tammy, Calvin, Donald, and everyone else (sorry I don’t know all your names yet) who work at the Eastview IGA for making it such a delight to shop in your store...from the “Fruit Lady”

Beth

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