Scouting out guys at the grocery store.

hey..I just went to the grocery..this could be easy
30something
female
coupled (how cute is that?)
After work...weekdays but usually not on Thursdays and certainly not on Fridays
Walked straight in to the sale aisle...love that as a starting point now
picked up pastas and soups
at the end of that aisle is the beef so...took a gander and found some great Tbones on sale and a lovely assortment of stew beef so..headed back to the produce aisle and picked up potatoes celery and carrots
coffeebeans
(dang forgot the iced tea)
package of goldfish crackers
gandered at the pork and chicken..nothing exciting
into the soup aisle and beef broth
over to the creamer
down to the pet food-lots of cat food (reason for shopping in the first place)
over to the bakery for english muffins and farmhouse loaf
quick swagger to toilet paper and toothpaste
and out the door

It differs by season and by when I shopped last, the reason for shopping, etc.
I always organize the cart and want to bag everything myself because I end up rebagging as I put it into the car....yes, Im freakish about the grocery bagging but, I make it perfectly clear..so, I think thats okay...in my own little mind

As far as single guys go...mostly large pieces of meat and frozen food with brief passes bewildered through the produce and occassional snack/beverage, bakery aisles....the I have no idea what Im looking for in the produce section usually is a good idea on the single thing...the no cell phone present in ear is another....and haphazard/unorganized basket with just enough to get by is the other clues.
I have noticed a great deal of single heterosexual men going with each other to the grocery lately...it just seems odd.
Anyway..hope that helped!

I often shop on friday nights - waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!

Another wimmin here, 61 (don't gasp, time flies... you too wil be 61!)

I am pretty much like Cav, in that I buy what looks good that day, and riff off of that, cooking from scratch as butryflynet says.

I might have posted before on the other grocery store topic, so sorry if this is redundant.

I stop after work at the local coop store and buy - perhaps once a week, one of these - fish (fresh local or smoked) or chicken or, once in a while, some Humboldt beef company beef (expensive but thoughtfully raised), sometimes some tofu; I buy, oh, twice a week, some hearth bread from Brio bakery, wonderful stuff. I am a chocolate milk (cow and soy) fiend and like soy ginger milk, so I often get that, plus possibly some ricotta. And they have Apollonaris, a bottled mineral water I like.

I usually pick up some vegies and fruit. Today I got some swiss chard and some spinach, to go with the ricotta, and a lemon because I wasn't sure I had one, no parmigiano since I already have it. Already have fruit.

Once a month or so, I hit Winco, inexpensive, fairly uninteresting, except they have a good mexican product aisle, unusual in this northern outpost. Plus they have the only semidecent fresh bagels north of the "redwood curtain".
And there I buy a lottery ticket... and stock up on some staples.

Once a month or six weeks/two months, I go to Wildberries, very stylish somewhat healthfoody emporium, and get jars of Indian sauces, some spices from their bulk spice display, good wine for not too much, good cheeses. Get a real life copy of the New York Times, which doesn't home deliver here (as if I could afford it).

Another once a month/six weeks/two months, I go to Roy's italian deli and get a good batch of ital pastas, a nice selection of olives, perhaps some prosciutto, or pancetta, maybe some arborio rice or carnaroli rice, maybe some interesting dried beans. I stare at their wines balefully, all of them too pricey for now, she says, fondling her lottery ticket.

I put these things in my basket in no particular order, except that I don't put milk on top of peaches, etc.

Oh, yeah, in season, I hit the street markets...

Sadly there aren't all that many guys in my age group in the markets...

Lil'K,

To do that, I'd be spending twice as much on delivery fees. If I go to the store, I expose myself twice as often to impulse buying. The need to budget wins over the need for fresh all the time.

If I really must have something fresh, I'll go buy another head of lettuce in the middle of the month but that's a rare occasion. I usually have enough fresh food to keep me satisfied until the next month. For instance, I'm in the last week of my supplies at the moment. Still have several packages of pork sirloin strips and lots of frozen veggies. Also still have some fresh carrots,
oranges and apples left.

I admit I am looking forward to having more fresh choices when the new order arrives next week.

okay k..STOP going on Fridays...you're just not going to do well on Fridays.

Funny..when I broke my leg I did the Peapod thing for three months...I actually enjoyed it a great deal. I tipped--no charge for delivery so..I figured it was the best thing..besides..without that I was starving so..you know...pay the guy.

I did Peapod when sozlet was wee tiny and it was cooooold outside. Such a lifesaver. It was all I could do to keep from hugging the poor befuddled delivery guy.

(OK, do they purposely have cross-gender delivery people? Gals for mins, guys for wimmins? Figure that's a good way to keep the orders coming?)

Males with lists are anal OR are shopping for a female, all of whom are anal.

If you're ordering from Safeway or Albertson's, the drivers aren't allowed to accept tips. I've tried several times and even got a call from their boss to make it clear that they weren't allowed. Last Christmas I bought a CD for one of my favorite drivers and gave it to him all wrapped up. He said he couldn't accept it so I made him at least unwrap it and see what it was. Now I just play the CD while he's struggling to bring the groceries up the stairs.

The delivery charge here is $10 too unless your order is over $150 then it's free. (Which makes the no tip situation suck even more.)

During the summer when we were having 100+ degree heat, I tried to keep the delivery times in the mornings to make it less of a burden on the drivers and I don't give them any grief if they are late or have to reschedule a delivery time because of bad traffic. They appreciate that more then the tip. You should hear some of their stories about how rude people are to them.

I had a woman once so, I dont think its purposeful...but, you never know...they may have come to the point with me ..oh yeah..the crazy lady on the crutches that tips
who knows!?
It is something Ive thought about doing again as I really only bought what I absolutely needed or craved distinctly..no impulse buying. An no stress from the bagging thing..although they used many many plastic bags...drove me nuts anyway.

I shop online from Vons but I think they are related with Safeway, both stores signed an affiliation with me together when I was putting affiliates in the portal.

I've wanted to ask but after ordering a few times I'm embarassed, what if the answer is "yes you bastard and that's why I always spit on your beer".

Von's!

Forgot about Von's.

Was a Von's 2 blocks away. Useta go alll the time.

Not that it had such great food or anything. It was fine. I noticed the quality really depended on the neighborhood. Pasadena -- good. Van Nuys -- bad.

Hey, maybe you can tell me: what is the deal with Jewel/Osco? Have they never heard of green food? Is it verboten? Man, where we lived in Chi town you had to go six miles just to buy a damn vegetable. And you had to check your bags before you left to make sure everything made it in. What's up with Jewel, lady?

Actually, fridays are good for grocery shopping.

Jewel sucks.

Fine for name brand stuff, cheapish. But produce... nuh-uh.

Have you actually gone to the farmer's market yet? I mean, it's getting into slim pickens by this time of year, but it's Saturdays and Wednesdays too, and I got some great stuff when I arrived half an hour before closing time. (Though no beef jerky. They left early, I guess. Sob. Whenever I mention the farmer's market in conversation, sozlet breaks in and says in a dolorous tone, "But mommy didn't find the beef jerky..." and looks at me in a pitying fashion.)

Well Fridays are good to be ALONE in the grocery store. Depends on what you're going for there k...and I thought this was all about the men shopping.

You guys are cracking me up! This is a fascinating thread.

Yep, Vons aka Safeway are relatives. I started a trend here in the large apartment complex. I used to be their only customer and now I see them making deliveries to other apartments several times a week.

I get an occasional female driver. She's fun to chat with. She used to live here in the neighborhood so I pick her brain for referrals on service providers.

I get a kick out of some of the unit price calculation errors on the website sometimes. During the summer they had a sale on watermellons at $4.99 each but on the website it ended up as $4.99 a pound so it looked like that watermellon would cost me $30! Then there are the cherries. They were on sale at $1 a pound so I ordered 3 pounds. When the delivery came, I got a plastic bag with 3 cherries in it.

Those mistakes don't happen very often but when they do, they're hilarious.

Havenae been to the farmer's market. I'm telling you, Sat mornings are hard, and I don't know what this Wednesday thing you are talking about is. It must be in the middle of the week when everything is gray and nebulous.

One of these days I'll attack the winter squash at the co-op.

hummm...wondering now if that $10.00 bag of cherries was a mistake not all my own for not checking the price.

Nonono, Q, I often see people my age grocery shopping on friday nights. I'd bet no guy would be grocery shopping on friday night if he had a g/f.