The plan was to have dinner at Stephanie's house in Hershey on Sunday. Lois gave us the assignment to prepare a potato dish. She had a recipe on a card and potatoes from her neighbor's homegrown garden. We would need to make a run to the store for cornflakes.
This dish is one that my MIL makes often. It's one of Darcy's favorites. I offered up that my MIL uses Simply Potatoes hashbrowns, therefore, eliminating the time of peeling and boiling potatoes. I'm all about ease of time management when it comes to cooking.
Lois: "But then what would I do with those potatoes?"
We set off for the grocery store later on Saturday. I remarked at how I would like to exam the price of bacon being as it was nine dollars in Florida. This is an area that drives my brother crazy when he visits the Sunshine State, and he is always comparing the price of bacon in Florida to other parts of the world. From the produce department, we passed by the bacon neatly lined in one of the refrigerated displays in the aisle. FYI - bacon in Pennsylvania ranges from four to seven dollars.
We had other things on our list, but I was in charge of the Simply Potato hashbrowns, which Lois was willing to try. I later learned that she was humoring me. At the time, I liked getting my way, and so I marched through the store looking for the hash browns.
Shopping in a different grocery far from home shouldn't be complicated. I mean, there are the usual departments; meat, produce, deli and bakery. From there, are the in-betweens. It isn't rocket science, but for the life of me, I could not find the Simply Potatoes brand in Karn's Grocery. I resorted to asking in customer service where a nice lady directed me to the deli area and to the very refrigerated display, albeit the opposite side, where I had studied the bacon. Armed with my Simply Potatoes hashbrowns and a massive box of cornflakes, Kim and I were ready to cook.
Lois made us peel and boil and add her potatoes. Whatever. They were delicious. We ate them, and the cornflakes, for days.
Later on Saturday, Kim and I took Maggie and Kevin to Chocolate World. As we left, Stephanie texted that she would like us to stop at the Giant grocery store nearby for buns. We ran directly to the bakery and secured the buns.
One day later, I was dropped off at Giant again to secure a few items, including bacon and more Simply Potatoes hashbrowns. Since I knew where everything was, I volunteered to be let out at the curb while Lois, Kim, and Maggie sat in the car. The plan was to have breakfast for dinner, and so I stopped in produce and picked up some fruit and then moseyed my way toward the refrigerated display where I knew the bacon and hashbrowns resided.
The display was there, but the items I needed were not.
I checked that I was in the deli section. I checked the display. Nothing but meats and cheeses. What? Muttering under my breath, I hoofed it around the area, looking for the bacon and hashbrowns. Nothing. Slowly, irritation seeped its way into my veins. I marched on to the meats where our bacon is housed in Florida's number one grocery, Publix.
Nothing.
There was; however, an employee hiding down a hallway where restrooms were located. She wore a shirt that said, "Questions? I have the answers". Fabulous. I approached her. She acted like she didn't see me. She turned her back, where I could read the slogan on her shirt more prominently, and studied the wall. I moved in closer. She spoke to a mother going into the restroom. I continued edging her way. She peered over one shoulder to see if I had gotten tired. I pounced.
Me: "I'm looking for Simply Potatoes hashbrowns. Could you tell me where those are? I was here yesterday, and they were in a case by the deli, but now they aren't there."
She sighed, wrinkled her brow in thought, and then spoke into a small, black device attached to her collar.
Her: "I have a customer looking for hashbrowns."
Me: "The Simply Potato brand. They aren't frozen."
Her: "In aisle 23."
Me: "And bacon?"
Her: "Same aisle, with the hotdogs, by the frozen stuff."
Muttering about incompetence and piss poor employees, not to mention shirts that lie, I walked to aisle 23 and discovered this grocery had refrigerated cases like our frozen cases, and there was the bacon. There were no Simply Potatoes to be found. I headed back to the deli, where I was sure I had bypassed the damn hashbrowns.
Again nothing but meats and cheeses.
I spied another employee sitting in between the deli and produce at a small kiosk selling wine. He sat, chin in hand, looking bored. He was not wearing the t-shirt alerting me to his helpfulness.
Me: "Hi. I'm looking for Simply Potatoes. It's a brand. They sell hashbrowns and diced potatoes. They were in the display case right there in the deli yesterday. I was just in here yesterday. I bought some from that case. Now they are gone. Can you help me?"
Him: (sighing and speaking into his small, black device attached to his collar) "I have a customer looking for hashbrowns."
Me: "Simply Potatoes. It's a brand, and they aren't frozen."
Him: "Simply Potatoes brand. Not frozen. They were in the deli yesterday. Uh-huh. Okay. My manager is checking. He moved them yesterday but doesn't remember where. He's checking."
Me: "Great. Thanks. I know I'm not crazy. I just bought them here yesterday."
He didn't care. He went back to contemplating his life or whatever he'd been contemplating before I'd approached. I moved out of the way in case customers wanted wine. I stood nearby. Three minutes went by. No one bought wine. The kid rolled his head and saw me. Back into the device, he went.
Him: "Uh, the customer is still waiting on the hashbrowns. Okay. Ma'am?"
Me: (ignoring the ma'am comment) "Yes?"
Him: "My manager said, aisle 23. If there aren't any there, then they are sold out."
I thanked him. Maybe I rolled my eyes. Then off I went muttering under my breath very unkind things about Giant Grocery and the employees and the managers. I checked by the deli again. I went to where I thought the damn Simply Potatoes brand should be. Nothing. I gave up and went to the checkout line.
Where I found Kim and Maggie entering the store.
Maggie: "Grandmother sent us in to look for you. She said you'd been gone for half an hour. What have you been doing?"
Checkout Girl - "Did you find everything today?"
Me: "No, I did not. I could not find the Simply Potatoes hashbrowns. Which I purchased in here yesterday. Apparently, the damn store was reconfigured between my visit yesterday and my visit today because the items I needed have been moved. I mean, what the what! That's craziness. And I know I'm not crazy. I had to ask yesterday at customer service to find the potatoes. You guys could seriously benefit from studying Publix brand grocers in the south. And, the only reason it has taken me so long is that the employees here aren't willing to help. Present company excluded, of course."
Checkout Girl - "I'm so sorry."
Me: "I mean, it's nuts. I was just in here yesterday. I'm not crazy."
Kim: "You mean when we bought the hashbrowns?"
Me: "Yes, exactly. Yesterday. We were right here."
Kim: "We bought buns here. We bought the hashbrowns at Karn's."
OOPS.
Maggie couldn't wait to tell the story to everyone we ran into.
Yeah, yeah, kid, I'm from Florida. We have a lot of senior moments in that state.
No comments:
Post a Comment