It just doesn't pay to be nice these days.
I stopped by Country Mart on Saturday to pick up some tortillas, corn chips, and bread. Somebody had left a cart in front of T-Hoe, on the sidewalk. Since I knew I'd need a cart anyway, I spun it around to push inside. Even though a windy mist was blowing around, and the cart handle was wet and chilly at 45 degrees. I'm a do-gooder like that.
The wind was whipping my lovely lady-mullet into a matted mom-mop, but I halted just before the door. A lady was walking in from the across the parking-lot thoroughfare. I figured I'd let her go on through the automatic doors first. She was striding purposefully, no doubt wanting to get out of the windy mist, and I'd have to maneuver my cart into a right-angle turn, and bump it over the carpet runners of the entryway. It would be faster for her to go in first.
And just then, that lady reached for my cart! I thought she was going to wrench it out of my cold moist hands, her pulling on the front end of it, and me at the push-bar.
"Are you done with this?"
"No. I'm bringing it in!"
"Oh."
Off she went, inside, to wrangle her own cart free from a stack of four. Man! Some days, it just doesn't pay to be nice. I didn't even bother to mention that I was trying to be nice, and let her in the door first. She just wanted my cart.
While I'm complaining about my niceness not working out for me, let me also complain about Country Mart's merchandise practices. I was planning to pick up some cheese sticks for snacks. They're good for Farmer H, not sugary. He has some pepper jack flavor, but I was looking at cheddar. Some brands and flavors were on sale.
I considered one pack for $3.99 (yes, Country Mart IS high on their prices, but convenienter than The Devil's Playground). That kind was a mozzarella/colby swirl, I think. Very similar to the kind we'd just run out of. Then I saw cheddar for $4.23. Not on sale, but not that much more. I had it in my hand, ready to put it in my (MY) cart, when I saw the expiration date: March 15, 2019.
THAT DATE HAS PASSED!
No way am I paying full price on March 30 for cheddar sticks that expired on March 15!
I might even reconsider bringing their carts in from now on.
4 comments:
Did you take that expired cheese up to the service desk and let them know they need to call their dairy department because they have expired goods on sale? Here in Australia it is illegal to have expired goods on the shelves and supermarkets can get fined for it.
River,
No. I've actually RETURNED expired cheese there before, some blocks that I bought for my Grandma's Christmas basket many years ago. THEN I saw it back on the shelf on my next trip. Or at least the same kind of cheese, with the same expiration date!
I'm pretty sure they would have just put those packs of expired cheese back. Don't even get me started on the green peppers I was contemplating buying. They were so soft and squishy that I changed my mind. I don't know what's going on at Country Mart. They seem to be trying to stretch their investment to the point of selling rotten food!
No law here like that, that I know of. Pretty sure I would have read about Country Mart's violations if we had one. I ALWAYS check the dates there, ever since Grandma's cheese!
No laws against expired and/or squishy foods? I'm glad I live here, not there.
River,
I'm sure there would be consequences from the Health Department if someone got sick, but I don't think just having the expired food for sale would trigger a penalty. Yes, you are lucky to have such sanctions there!
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