Judith Lacy's Jottings: Take a breather - and a bite - and watch your fellow shoppers

Monday evening. Isn't that the one day of the week when we really, really must make an effort to cook ourselves a healthy dinner? Photo / NZME

COMMENT:

It's 4.55pm on Monday. I'm in Feilding New World's carpark, having bought some muesli, cans of fruit, fish, sushi, and a drink that's meant to be calming and give me clarity. Oh, yes - and a boysenberry Danish.

I was in Feilding to do some volunteering and write about it for Jottings, but that fell over. So, what's a jotter to do once she is calmed and berried-up but to observe her fellow shoppers and make a few notes?

Monday evening. Isn't that the one day of the week when we really, really must make an effort to cook ourselves a healthy dinner? Some of the shoppers appear to be doing just that: the man with two bags of frozen chips, the woman with some mince and blueberries, and the masked man with leafy green veggies poking out from both his bags. Then there was the man juggling eggs, sausages and a spread that he managed to balance on his bonnet as he opened the door.

One woman had two packets of Mallowpuffs and a share pack of KitKats. 'Gosh, she's had a tough day', I thought, until the chocolate coin dropped. It's Halloween.

I admired the pluck of the man who took bites of a bread roll as he unpacked his groceries - no waiting for the semi-anonymity of his ute. But the woman who was on her phone as she parked, walked into the supermarket and got back into her vehicle, was a smuck. Pluck! Smuck! This drink must be working.

What kind of supermarket shopper are you? Do you diligently take in six bags, kid yourself you are only buying two items and won't need one, or are you somewhere in between? What bags do you use - the chain's own, artistic ones, homemade ones, paper bags? Sometimes I'm in the mood to be contrary, and will take New World bags into Countdown and vice versa.

And what do you do with your trolley? Leave it a few steps from your car, or take it to the nearest trolley park? I've never tried, but watching the young curly-haired guy wrangle dozens of trolleys on Monday - there's a real art to it. He even collected a trolley from a woman who was putting her last items in the boot of her car. Bravo, trolley collector.

My 30-minute survey was certainly not scientific, but it seems the three items we Kiwis are happy to have sitting in our trolleys (or should that be food galleries?) unbagged are toilet paper, bread, and 12-packs of beer.

Then there's the list. The day I manage to get everything on my list will be the day I win Lotto. Then, I don't buy Lotto tickets. But it's not like I'm starving or hosting dinner parties. The four items I always like to have in the house are cat food, sanitary products, toilet paper and painkillers.

But back to lists. Do you make one or do you wing it? Do you stick to your list or succumb to the temptation of treats, specials, and new products?

As we enter a season in which many people are drawn to the supermarket every day, let's be courteous and aware of our surroundings. Maybe buy a few treats for your local trolley wrangler.

Or, hibernate for a few months. I wonder what chocolate-dipped cat food tastes like?

This is a Public Interest Journalism funded role through NZ On Air