I made a Senior’s mistake today and my back will have the pleasure of paying for it over the next week or two. I glossed over a simple item in the list of things we planned to do and then we paid for it.
A few weeks ago we had spent over an hour in a supermarket and bought groceries and other goodies (like chocolate) for the month. When we arrived at the checkout I heard the woman in front of me telling the cashier that she wanted her purchases delivered. Fantastic, I thought, looking at our full trolley. Me too! It cost pennies.
“I recommend you take the items for the refrigerator with you,” suggested the cashier and we did.
About two hours after we arrived home and had relaxed from the efforts of shopping, our purchase arrived. They were all neatly packed into three largish cartons. I gave the delivery guy something for his trouble and we relaxed over a cup of coffee after our strenuous morning. As the day progressed we took out time stowing the goods in their various places.
At a family dinner a few evenings later I boasted that I will from now on only buy groceries at a supermarket that has a delivery service. I justified my statement that this is a logical and energy-saving step specially concocted for us Golden-agers. Everyone was impressed at my foresight.
And this morning I forgot my words.
So we did the old ritual. We cruised around the supermarket, stopping at every shelf, looking, reading the label, checking the date, discussing the contents, trying to remember if we had eaten this before and whether we had liked it. After we had passed the cashier, meaning that we take every single item off the stainless steel counter after it has been entered into the computer/till and put it back in the trolley. Then we wheeled it to the car using the elevator and unloaded every item into bags in the boot of the car. We took it home, got it out of the car and into the tenants’ trolley, got it up to the third floor using the elevator, got it out of the trolley, packed each item away and finally collapsed on the couch, unable to move for the next two ours.
Never again.
Again I resolve: From now on I will only buy at a supermarket that has a delivery service.
