I’ve decided to simplify my life. Like many working mothers, the last thing I want to do is run errands and buy necessities. I have 3 young girls under the age of 4 and it is a time bomb waiting to explode when I shop with them.
I’ve bought books, flowers and several other small things over the internet. It’s pretty easy. I’m ready to move onto bigger and better things. Like grocery shopping. I’m sure I can do it. This was built for people like me. I can order my groceries on-line while at work on break and then have them delivered to my home that evening. The kids are not involved. Perfect! This should be simple.
The website was easy to find thanks to the heavy advertising the company had been promoting. While waiting for the site, I had visions of putting my delivered groceries away while wearing a dress, apron, heels and a lovely pearl necklace. My husband (who is the epitome of grunge – we live in Seattle) would come home wearing a three-piece suit and sporting a short, suave hairstyle and carrying the newspaper rolled up under one arm. He would kiss my cheek and I would hand him a cold mixed drink. In the past,he has frowned upon the idea of ordering groceries on-line, but I will surprise him and show him how incredibly wonderful it is. He will say he was wrong and how glad he is that I ordered them anyway. Aaaahhh, this is going to be incredible. I can hardly wait to figure out what I’m going to do with all the spare time!
I signed up to start grocery shopping and grabbed my virtual cart. I tried to envision my traditional grocery store in my head as to what aisles I would need to visit to fill my cart. It never occurred to me to even make a list – that was my first of many mistakes.
I started to look at the different virtual aisles I could select and picked fruits and vegetables. I was a deer caught in the headlights. Do I want ripe or non-ripe? Frozen or fresh? Bulk or singles? It would have been easier if I would have covered my eyes and pointed. I can do this! I negotiate with international companies on a daily basis and I can surely decide if I want bulk or single bananas. That was my second mistake – I can’t. I received 1 banana – yes ONE banana. I have 3 children who each wanted a WHOLE banana. You can guess how I spent the evening. They’re still mad at me.
The one thing I did succeed in was also my third and most disastrous mistake. I was successful in ordering every personal item I needed. Only I forgot to pick up a single item my husband needed. I was horrified as my mind raced with all the items I had meant to order, but had forgotten. I had been amazed with how much money I had saved us and now I realized why we had spent so little. Thus, I had to race to the store and pick up what I had forgotten and ended up spending more than if we had gone to a traditional grocery store originally with. Not to mention, I just gave my husband another point to his scolding.
Yes, I tried the on-line grocery store and it’s not for me. But, I try to look on the bright side – I did get a free mouse pad.
