The Costco Effect - Just for Fun - What is it about Costco that turns otherwise harmless shoppers into "Grocery Zombies", if you have ever been to a Costco you know exactly what I am referring to, regular people, just like you and I will just totally abandon our shopping carts in the middle of an aisle to walk miles in the opposite direction for something that they seemingly forgot, or even worse to stand in line for a tasty cracker covered with cream cheese and jalapeno pineapple spread, as Andy Taylor would say "mmmm, mmmm Aunt Bee, that is might fine, mighty fine indeed"
It is as if these shoppers are totally oblivious to their surroundings, especially other shoppers, they grab a snack and then just stop, right in the middle of everything, perhaps they do not want the servers to feel neglected so they hang around a while to hear their little spiel, or maybe a little more self-indulgent they are just wanting to finish their snack and then throw the trash away behind the server.
It might be that these shoppers have a membership so they feel entitled to "member" privileges, that feeling of somehow being above others and having the ability to shop as if it is your own personal mega store, again oblivious to the thousands of others that apparently feel exactly the same as they do. Or perhaps it is that all of the sudden these shoppers walk in and they get their choice of mega cart, or supra-mega cart, they feel all high and mighty in their super SUV style shopping cart so they are the king or queen of the aisle.
I never understood why they can't just take a couple extra steps and go down one of the Mississippi River sized side aisles to park their barge if they insist on shopping without it, I guess that would be a little too courteous, and "for cryin' out loud I have a membership, so move out of my way" I say under my breath as I pass the parked behemoths.
The sad thing about this is that it is starting to carry over to the local grocery stores, and they do not have the XXX-Large aisles to just leave a cart recklessly halfway in the intersection. Little old ladies having to navigate their way around these experienced Costco shoppers.
My adult sons and I are in the process of creating "The Costco Game" we have tossed around several versions, one of the first was to just walk into Costco, grab an empty cart and trade it for the first abandoned cart you see and proceed directly to the check out, who knows what you might end up with, could be fun, but will more than likely be expensive. The second game would have a starting and ending destination, the object would be to see how many abandoned carts you can swap for along your "CandyCostcoland" path, the one who swaps the most is declared the winner and the other contestants must buy him an item from the Costco concession, a slice of pizza, a foot long dog or a baked chicken wrap.
I guess I had better get my Costco Game face on, only two more shopping days until Thanksgiving, Thank God I have a membership card, i should be able to blow right by the "Grocery Zombies".
Everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
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