Summer smoke has pretty much trapped us in our house for the past several days, but the air is a lot cleaner this morning. Means we are safe to make a quick trip to Fred Meyer for some food and some other stuff.
I used to “help” my wife shop by splitting the list and rounding up items for the grocery cart as fast as I could. Somehow, my efforts always managed to irritate the crap out of her. And then I looked back and remembered my Dad saying, “Women shop and men hunt.”
The “hunting” style is to locate the items on the list, ignore any sales and head for the checkout stand as quickly as possible. In and out, that’s the way to do it. At least that’s how most men do it.
Women, on the other hand, “shop.” I’ve discovered this means going up and down every aisle…sometimes twice…comparing prices by brand name, looking for bargains even if you don’t really need the item. It takes a lot more time than the hunting style, but it must be more satisfying somehow. (I’m not sure I’ll ever understand why.)
If an item on the grocery list is on sale, it might encourage a man to buy a dozen cans instead of one or two, but the women I know will buy something just because it’s a bargain, regardless of its utility.(The rationale is that someone in the family might find a use for it.)
I’m happy to say I’ve finally solved the problem. My wife no longer becomes irritated when we go shopping. It’s really very simple: she “shops” while I buy a book, head for the Starbucks stand, buy a cup of coffee and settle in at one of the small tables. I read until my wife pushes the cart up to my table, sits down and says, “All done.” Wonderful words, those. “All done.” (And we are still friends, after all.)
Rod