Shopping in Circles
By Lolae Joline Lambert

This is a true story. No names are given to protect the guilty.

I must admit that as the years advance, shopping is my least favorite past time. So,if a volunteer offers to go to the store for me, I am super excited and have sugar plum visions dancing in my head of groceries delivered to my kitchen, where I only have to put them away. Of course the down side is, as all women know, shopping is an art.

It is very difficult to explain to a novice that you must check labels, dates, and compare prices…Only purchasing brand names when the quality or taste is extremely superior to the generic. You must also be very clear about packaging. Do you want it in cardboard, refrigerated, frozen, the size , where to look for it…Assuming you know the plan of the store and the store has not decided, as they often do, to change everything around. You must impress upon the volunteer the need to be careful of displays and the tempting items by the register.

Of course they must watch carefully the cashier ring up items, use the store card to get the discounts, and check the register tape, while simultaneously bagging and discreetly using your credit card. Wow! Are we tired of the education process yet? My volunteer certainly was. I could tell by the way he was rolling his eyes. However, any good homemaker knows exactly what I am saying to be true and can probably add a few more lessons I overlooked.

Every week I get the sale circulars, go through them, and circle the sale items I think I might purchase.  Before I go shopping, I write the items down from the circular and add any supplies I know I need...on sale or not. This is a habit and system I have used for years and works well for me.

The first few times I sent my volunteer shopping, I gave him a list like I use. Almost every time it created confusion and at least 3 phone calls for help instructions, and then sometimes, the wrong items were purchased anyway.  This was frustrating, but the concept of not having to shop myself was so strong, I devised a new plan.

I circled the items as usual, and did not need any extras this trip, so it should be an easy day. The items circled complete with  photo, the size and the price…Making it kind of difficult to make a mistake…Correct?  As it turns out this is not necessarily as easy as it sounds.

Armed with the circular, my volunteer went shopping. I had only circled a few items, so I could not understand why it was taking so long, and not one phone call for clarification. Just as I was really getting concerned, the door opened and bags and bags of groceries began arriving. At first, my mouth fell open. This cannot be... right! Maybe 10 items max was all I circled. How could this be?

When I regained my composure, I asked, “why so many groceries?” I was told quite proudly that he purchased exactly what was circled. I said, “This cannot be,” and a minor confrontation erupted. With great fanfare the volunteer produced the circular and pointed to everything that was circled. 

It was then the problem became evident. Usually I circle with a ball point pen, but for clarification, I used a marker. The marker bled through to all the pages and the volunteer took that to mean I wanted ALL the items circled.

We the dust settled, we laughed and laughed. Luckily everything purchased was useable and I was well stocked, but the experience will always be a great story!

What is the lesson? After much consideration besides the obvious…Don’t use markers, another one surfaced. One every woman will understand. If you want it done right, and with some degree of common sense, do it yourself!