http://thoughtfulshopper.mywebconnect.info It's not that I don't like shopping, but.... Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:06:36 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Just finished the weekly shop and the assistants were encouraging everyone to have a go on the new self-serve checkouts.  We asked whether it was just limited to a few items or whether we could do our trolley-load.  Go ahead they said.   Well the scanning is OK, but it’s putting the ... http://thoughtfulshopper.mywebconnect.info/2008/07/08/self-serve-2/ If you read my blog you'll know that I'm always moaning about the supermarket checkout operatives.  Last week our local supermarket had some of those self-serve gizmos fitted.  Now is this a good thing or not?  My initial response is that I'd rather deal with a human being than a ... http://thoughtfulshopper.mywebconnect.info/2008/06/30/self-serve-checkouts-good-or-bad/ I was at the supermarket this weekend and I felt that the shelves looked different but it took me a while to work it out.  All the stuff was still in the boxes!  They've just plonked them on the shelves and cut the end of the box off.  What happened ... http://thoughtfulshopper.mywebconnect.info/2008/06/17/shopping-out-of-boxes/ Have just arrived home from the supermarket - exhausted!.  I couldn't believe how busy it was.  I had to actually queue for a parking space.  And this on a Monday morning.  I've never shopped on a Monday before - I always go at the weekend, but didn't have time this ... http://thoughtfulshopper.mywebconnect.info/2008/06/09/monday-shopping-blues/ This week my usual trip to the supermarket has left me feeling that I might have been conned.  The item responsible for this is orange that you dilute with water to drink. I usually buy the supermarket's own brand - it's cheap and it tastes OK.  But this week they've changed it.  ... http://thoughtfulshopper.mywebconnect.info/2008/04/28/better-value-or-bigger-con/ I've noticed how grumpy I can get when shopping - especially in the supermarket. I approach it as a military operation: I decide my menu for the week, write the list to reflect this, then write it in order of the goods in the local store.  I could whizz round and ... http://thoughtfulshopper.mywebconnect.info/2008/04/12/grumpy-shopper/ Out and about over the Easter weekend and it was amazing how many people park in spaces set aside for disabled people - even though they have no blue badge, and no disability. Who do these people think they are?  More important than the rest of us - or maybe they ... http://thoughtfulshopper.mywebconnect.info/2008/03/27/disabled-parking-spaces/ There's a real shop in Manchester.  The people behind the counter know what they are talking about.  They are pleasant and friendly - they are well mannered.  They don't chew gum!! It's a shop for photographers - they sell cameras and accessories - secondhand, film cameras - not digital. I've been in ... http://thoughtfulshopper.mywebconnect.info/2008/03/10/a-real-shop-no-it-must-be-a-dream/ This is something that really annoys me.  I just get used to where everything is, and then they move it! They do it on purpose of course.  A manufacturer pays them or offers them a special deal if they'll put their product at eye-level or in a more prominent place. Or they ... http://thoughtfulshopper.mywebconnect.info/2008/02/29/they-keep-moving-the-food-around-the-shop-i-cant-find-what-i-want/ Just think about it for a minute. You walk for miles, pushing a trolley basket larger than yourself.  You fill it with items that you don't necessarily need.  People look grim, babies cry, children whine. At the end of it, you hand over wads of money and you feel exhausted. Then there's the ... http://thoughtfulshopper.mywebconnect.info/2008/02/22/supermarkets-are-actually-alien-spaceships/