random thoughts – Day 2,075 (Friday) – onions and more

Onions were needed. There is a recipe to be made Saturday morning for an event in the afternoon and on Thursday night it was discovered the lone remaining onion was soft with loose skin and seemed quite unappealing. Luckily, Friday was available for onion acquisition.

After wasting most of the day, I rallied, put on shoes, and headed out to Aldi mid-afternoon. The mission was to buy a bag of onions and some backup boxes of cornbread stuffing mix which were on sale for 79 cents. It should have been a quick in and out trip, barely a few minutes.

At the carriage area, an apparent newbie was yanking on the front carriage from one of the columns of carts with a force that might have dislocated a shoulder of a more frail person. Then he tried the second line with the same force and no luck. I told him he needed a quarter to release the cart and would get it back when the cart was returned. I offered my cart, already liberated by the magic power of a coin, knowing there was one more quarter in my wallet. The Aldi newbie fished a quarter from his pocket, handed it to me, and  grumbled that he “never heard of such a thing as needing a quarter for a cart.” I said “yeah, that’s Aldi, and it’s why there are no carts loose in the parking lot.” He charged forth into the store. I could only imagine the reaction to the merchandise and self-bagging. I didn't see him again.

Beyond the food items.

A stockroom u-boat loaded with produce blocked the first aisle and beyond the u-boat were Brussels sprouts. I grabbed a bag. There was a leisurely stroll through produce. Yellow onions were located. Chopped walnuts were on sale and bought just in case. The legendary Aldi Finds “Aisle of Shame” occupied a lot of time. Recent Facebook chatter in the Aisle of Shame group has had rave reviews about the plush lined leggings, goldtone stemware (with “Love is Blind vibes”), reversible holiday signs, and more. Before long, the seat of the cart held black platform “warm-lined sneakers” and a two-pack of black base layer shirts so I could contemplate them during the rest of the shopping. Disinfecting wipes were added. And sour cream.

By the end of the trip, one item had become 12 and an hour had passed. I had been to the “Aldi Finds” aisle four times, partly because an annoying woman yammering on speaker phone was blocking a section of the displays and it was safer to temporarily exit the aisle than ram her with the cart. No golden stemware was found. The alleged flannel pajamas and shirts were not flannel at all and I wish retailers would recognize that flannel is an actual specific fabric, not a marketing concept like “cozy.” The vision of the full closets and drawers at home led to the sneakers and base layer tops being put back on the shelf, saving me $25. Overall, it was a successful shop.