i hate exams, i hate exams, so much to learn, so much to learn so little time, too much noise in the world. although now i am home so it will be better, quieter.

watch these. you have to love them for obvious reasons!
Bush in 30 Seconds

Yesterday evening, after leaving work fairly late, I had to go to the library to get a book. I also needed to buy some groceries. I opted to go the library first. So by the time I got back to my neck of the woods, Superquinn my first choice of supermarket was closed. It only stays open til 2100hrs on wednesdays. This I knew, so I went to the nearest alternative. Tesco in the Merrion centre. Tesco advertises that it stays open until 2200hrs. As such, you would expect to find groceries still on the shelves. I was after ratatouille ingredients. Simple things. An onion, a red, yellow and green pepper. An aubergine, two courgettes and maybe some mushrooms. Chicken breasts were also on my list.

I arrived in Tesco to find the majority of green plastic boxes in the vegetable section turned upside down. Of the items on the list, I found an onion. Unbelievable. Tesco, is now, in my opinion, probably the least well stocked supermarket of those around me. (I have had the same problem previously). If a supermarket is open seven days a week, which tesco in the merrion centre is, then there is absolutely no reason why it shouldn’t have shelves stocked with fresh produce! They don’t need to be overflowing, but they shouldn’t be completely empty either. I have come to the conclusion that the Tesco in the Merrion centre is really really badly managed. Big black mark to Tesco in the merrion centre. If it’s fruit and veg you are after, give it a miss.

I was not going to be deterred from my quest to find my ingredients. I went to Dunnes Stores in Cornelscourt. It was a different world. All the shelves were fully stocked. Not only that, people were actively restocking shelves for the morning. I found all the vegetables on my list and I had a choice. Organic, or run of the mill. As an aside, I also solved the mystery of “Where is all the maple syrup in Dublin gone” for SK. It’s in Dunnes. Bucket loads of it.

But then in Dunnes something weird happened. A man in front of me had a grocery bill of 216 euros. He had a lot of groceries. He wanted to pay for them with his Laser. Laser cards have a limit, so they had to get an authorisation code. The checkout operator called his supervisor. I stayed, with my ratatoullie ingredients on the belt. Ten minutes later, the supervisor still had not come back and I was still at the checkout. The checkout operator was apologising for the delay. He helped me move my groceries to the checkout next door. I was still keeping an eye on proceedings at my original checkout, intrigued at the whole “authorisation code” scenario which, admittedly was new to me. Another member of staff appeared to say that the supervisor was on the phone to the bank hotline as she spoke, that it shouldn’t take too long. A few minutes later she reappeared. The bank wanted to talk to the owner of the laser card. They needed some security check questions answered. Bizarre. The poor man who was trying to buy his groceries was taken off, complete with trolley to wherever the supervisor was. I was imagining bright interrogation lights. I wonder did he get out of there soon after.

Grocery Shopping, frustrations, amusement, bafflement at every turn. Supermarkets continue to provide me with great entertainment. I am fascinated by them. Now, if only there was an Auchan or a Carrefour in Ireland all my Christmases would come at once. A trip to any Auchan or Carrefour is an adventure. I revert back to being a child of nine or ten when I go into one. “They have runners on ROLLERSKATES????” Childhood disbelief never lost.