Today as I waited in the checkout line, the purchases of the family behind me were SHOCKING!

Date:   3/11/2006 7:13:28 PM ( 18 y ago)

Today I was in the checkout line. I had run in just to pick up a tomato and an onion. The lady in front of me was debating with the checkout clerk over the strawberries, which were "Buy one get one free" for $3.99. This lady felt that they should cost $1.99 each, instead of $2.00 for one and $1.99 for the other, so I stood there several minutes waiting for this purchase to be voided and rung up again, saving this woman ONE PENNY. This woman did not look poor, by the way.

Anyway, as I was waiting, I looked over all the items that the family behind me was purchasing. The caucasian family consisted of a father, mother, teenage daughter, and a younger boy (9 or 10 years old?). The parents were wearing shirts sporting the name of a children's soccer league, and the boy was wearing his soccer uniform. The parents and the teenage daughter were very overweight, although not obese. The boy was a reasonably thin body size.
They were buying so many things that were PURE JUNK! I couldn't see even ONE thing that looked truly healthy, such as a fruit or vegetable.

Some of the things I do remember seeing:
Case of blue Gatorade
Case of Diet Dr. Pepper
5 lb. bag of sugar
Stack of "Lean Cuisine" frozen dinners
"Free" (fat and sugar free) Cool Whip
Large jug of vegetable oil
1 can of Grands biscuits
2 large bags of potato chips
3 cans of tuna fish (this was the "healthiest" thing that I saw)
2 large boxes of Eggo frozen waffles (one blueberry and one chocolate chip)

There was a lot more but it was ALL of this nature.
What are they going to do with this "food"?
Perhaps some of it is for the soccer team - is this how we feed "champions"?
Maybe they will eat it all themselves.

In any case, somebody will eat all these things. It is a scary thought.

I frequently observe what other people are buying in the grocery store, and how they look. I would think it interesting to be able to stand in a grocery store for a while and take photographs of entire carts (or "buggies" as we call them) of foodstuff. Perhaps interview the people, too. To get some insight into what people buy, and why - and how they eat it. This would be conditional on people being willing to participate. It's possible that the people with the biggest loads of junk would not want to participate. I think it would be interesting to see the results.
Perhaps a good contrast would be to do this project at two different places. Once at a "SuperCrapmart" and then again at a Whole Foods or some large Farmer's Market (a place where the health-conscious flock). It would be pretty insightful to compare the results!

Even if that is never done... I will still be watching as I wait in line. It is an education in itself.

 

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