Survival Guide to Friday Night at the Grocery Store

It's 5 pm on Friday. You should be filled with joy as this ephemeral time of week heralds happy hour and the start of 48 hours off of work. Instead, a feeling of dread comes over you because you absolutely must stop off for groceries on the way home.

And for some reason, Friday night at the grocery store is always a nightmare.

You tried to avoid it, but despite last weekend's expertly planned shopping list, you've run out of a few key staples during the week. You can't wait until Saturday morning, because the things you've run out of include toothpaste, toilet paper, and wine, and going through the night without even one of those things is just uncivilized.

You have no choice but to swap your sanity for sundries. It's going to suck. But I'm here to help you get through this.

Follow these guidelines to make this wretched errand as brief as possible:

Park at the Back

Drive straight to the back of the lot, do not waste time looking for a spot close to the doors. It may seem like a bummer having to walk the extra few yards to get inside, but by the time you wade through the sea of people with shopping carts and finish waiting for that car to finally back out of their prime parking spot, you could have already been checking out with the goods.

Bonus points if you can sneak into the back of the parking lot through a side street to avoid driving by the front, which is riddled with speed bumps, slow-moving pedestrians, and cars that can't make up their mind which row they want to turn down.

Downsize Your Shopping Receptacle

The point is to grab only the necessities and get out. You'll get the rest tomorrow when it's a slower time of day and you're armed with a well-organized shopping list. If you can't manage to carry everything in your arms, grab a basket.

But do not grab a cart, no matter how great the deal is on that jumbo pack of paper towels. The cart will be your demise.

You'll find yourself making your way down the aisle towards the checkout only to be impeded by a shopper carefully scrutinizing the jam selection with their own cart parked diagonally across your path to freedom. You'll try to go back the way you came but at that exact moment, a grocery clerk will show up with a pallet of Cap'n Crunch and block your way.

And just like that, you'll be barricaded in the breakfast aisle.

The only way out is to squeeze yourself around the obstacle, but not without abandoning your cart. Either that, or you'll have to wait for the jam guy to move along, but we both know you're too impatient for that.

Avoid the Deli Counter

This is definitely one of the bigger time-sucks at the grocery store. I broke my high score in Doodle Jump once while waiting for my turn to get serviced at the deli counter.

Listen, I understand that you like a little black forest ham with your Saturday morning eggs, but take a pass. Chances are there will be at least four people ahead of you, and all of them want half a pound of everything, freshly sliced. There might not even be any ham left by the time they get to you, so just save yourself the disappointment and skip it.

Don't Forget the Toothpaste

You were on your way to the checkout, weren't you? The toothpaste is the whole reason you're here in the first place! Go back and get it.

Beware the Price Matchers

I will preface this by saying I truly admire people who take the time to price match. You can save a lot of money, and it's a super-smart thing to do.

But it takes forever, and I'm more impatient than I am smart. I'd rather pay an extra 30 cents for my bag of apples if it means shaving 10 seconds off my time at the checkout.

If you share this sentiment, then check to make sure the person ahead of you isn't wielding any flyers before getting behind them in the checkout line.

And lastly, the most important step of all:

At the Wine Shop Past the Checkout, Buy Two Bottles Instead of One

You've earned it! TGIF!

***

Author's Note

[Originally written in 2018]

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