I'm a frequent visitor of the local grocery market. The venue is somewhere right in the middle of a bodega and a supermarket. It's been a nice place to buy my wares for the past couple of years, even with all its inconveniences. For instance, the aisles are wide enough for only one shopping cart. The staff are grumpy, indifferent, or ignorant of one's presence. The store is often crowded, like an American Idol tour. One cannot get out of the way. As much as I dread the trip, the store is not even a tenth of a mile from my house. very convenient geographically.
Suddenly though, the market began a renovation. First, certain product was no longer available. I am partial to fat free cheese. They no longer carry it. Sugar free tomato sauce? Nope. Burrito seasoning. Forget it. Gallons of milk. Nope. The first few visits after the changes, I got angry, but nor indignant. After a while, though, of walking out with only half of my shopping list fulfilled, I vowed to never return. But I did, and continue to return.
At this point, the crowds with whom I've competed for space in the store in the past have become comrades in suffering. We silently commiserate as we stroll aimlessly trying to find toothbrushes, macaroni and cheese, and tampons. I don't buy tampons. They do. I am pleased that we have become kinder to one another in these adverse conditions. I wonder if it will last when, as promised, we receive the fruits of our inconvenience- the fancy shmancy market where paying much too much for our food is a pleasure, because it's pretty, the store.
What I am realizing is that in the mean time I am going to be better served by going outside of my relationship with my store and heading across town to a more predictable shopping climate. Is this betrayal? Will shame be involved? Is it dirty?
I do know where the wine sections are in every supermarket in the region. This is key. Adaptation is thought to be imperative in overcoming adverse situations.
