The Anonymous Widower

The Organised Shopper

I am one of that rare breed, a man who actually likes shopping.  But then so did my father! Especially, when he had money.  He didn’t always.

As a 10-year-old, I used to trail my mother’s wicker trolley round perhaps a kilometre to Williams Brothers on Cockfosters Road to get the weekly shop. The only item I can remember with a price is a leg of New Zealand lamb at 15 shillings. In those days the shop paid a reward in fake money, which was a bit like a Co-op divi or the reward points offered by most supemarkets these days in one form or another.

When I lived in Suffolk, I always used a store with their Quick Check facility, so that I could be in and out as fast as possible.  I also packed the bags so that everything came out in an order, that meant putting things away quicer too. My nightmare was having a recheck as this meant that nothing was in the right place and putting things away took twice the time.

Now that I am in London I have easy access to two Waitrose branches; Angel, Islington and Jones Brothers.  I’m afraid that corner site on the Holloway Road will always be Jones Brothers to me, as it was one of first department stores I encountered as a child, along with Pearsons in Enfield. Pearsons had one of those central tills, with wires and cash carriers leading to all the service desks. Well-behaved children were allowed to send the money on its way, by pulling the chain.

But neither of these Waitrose branches has Quick Check, which means I have to endure the queues at the checkout. Yesterday, I was told to go to the checkout in order by one of the store’s staff, only to find, that some oick about thirty-five buying bottles of expensive booze had taken my space.  He then accused me of queue jumping.  I’ve never done that deliberately and now after the stroke, I always wait to make sure I don’t do it inadvertently. I ended up delaying the whole queue, as it took me a couple of minutes to organise everything.

So you can see why I want a Quick Check store, as not only do I get everything packed up as I go, but I can take my time properly to fulfil the list, I’ve written. There is a small point here, in that I like a trolley with a list holder, as I only have one 100% hand, with the left at about eighty on a good day.

So this morning, I’ve been on Waitrose’s web site, to try to find a branch nearby or on one of the seven or so  bus routes that stop within a hundred metres of my house, that has Quick Check. Waitrose’s branch search is bad and won’t even show me which branches are close to my post code.  So you have to bring up all the individual London branches and see if they have the facility.  There is a link which says it will find those branches with Quick Check, but it just points you to the main search page, which gets me back to the proverbial and useless square one.

There is also one other thing I want from a supermarket.  And that is a map of the store, showing what is in each of aisles.  Not in great detail, but sufficient so that I casn logically progress round the store without being ambushed, if I write what I need on it.  It’s one of the reasons, I only use Tesco, when they are only place I can get something.  Every store is disorganised deliberately, so you end up passing many things you don’t need or even want.  And to make it worse finding the Free From section in Tescos usually means checking the whole store. I never ask, as that wastes my time.

These maps could be available for printing off the Internet, so that all the shopping is organised before I leave home.

I suppose I could shop on line, but then I don’t get to choose the fish or vegetables I want.

I’m also looking for a square back-pack, so that I can carry things home easier.

December 18, 2010 - Posted by AnonW | World | Shopping, Waitrose