Yes, to me Sainsbury's grocery store is better than the mall. So?

WR and I did some grocery shopping on Saturday. Because I forgot my purse, he bought all the stuff and then gave me the receipt. When I started looking it over, I got a kick out of the differences in what we bought. See if you can decide which list is which.

List #1

£0.87 Cottage cheese

£0.64 Skim milk

£0.44 Canned soup

£1.39 Jar of pesto

£0.97 Green & orange bell peppers

£0.47 Bananas

£0.54 Granny Smith apples

£0.95 Cereal

£1.43 Mature cheddar cheese

£1.99 Strawberries on sale

£1.48 Cadbury chocolate trifle 3-pack

£2.69 Sainsbury's "Taste the Difference" pizza with mushrooms and mascarpone cheese on a focaccia crust

List #2:

£1.68 Two packages Butcher’s Choice sausages

£1.05 Sausage rolls

£0.87 Tuna Pasta Bake frozen meal

£0.87 Pasta & Meatballs frozen meal

£0.87 Tomato & Bacon Pasta frozen meal

£1.15 Cereal

£1.16 Skim milk

£0.34 Two cans sweetcorn

£0.28 Two cans carrot slices

£0.98 Two cans apple & pear cubes

£0.35 Ketchup

£6.99 Frozen chicken fillets

£0.69 Frozen Mixed Vegetables, which would make his mum so proud

So list #1 was mine--could it be more girly? I guess I could have added sanitary products or Midol for good measure, but really. Also I need to explain a few items because I sort of let myself go this time. The pesto was an indulgence because I was feeling Jamie Oliverish and had visions of fusilli pasta with creamy pesto sauce like they make at the Noodle Factory in Orem. I topped mine with fresh mushrooms, green & orange peppers, and grated white cheddar. Friends, it was good. The Cadbury trifles were for the kids (the kids being me, Landlady J, and me—WR didn’t want his once he saw me eyeing it like a slavering wolf).

I think that WR's list is so completely the list of a bachelor. All the sausage rolls were gone in 2 days, by the way. While in the grocery store, WR is a Man with a Mission. There is no browsing or staring at eclairs, although he will push the cart a bit slower while I stop and stare at eclairs. His system involves going up and down every single aisle, including the liquor aisle and the baby goods aisle. It's not that he needs Absolut Vodka or diapers, because I'm pretty sure he doesn't, but that's The System, by gum.

I become somewhat Attention Deficit in the grocery store. (The only clear focus I have is the need to not spend money, which is problematic in a place that sells fuel which is needed by the body to sustain life.) I skip the aisles I don’t need (like the cookie aisle) so that I can save time and avoid temptation, but then I always forget things like bread or eggs and have to go back to find them. Plus I tend to browse around because there's just so much to look at--visit the cheese section and you will understand. I like to stand in front of the nice posh things and imagine what my life would be like if I actually bought said things—like mortars & pestles and sea salt and profiteroles and all that Jamie Oliver stuff they have in stock.

And in the interest of cultural understanding and growth, there are issues that need pondering, like the following:

(1) Half an aisle is devoted to canned baked beans, which people will be eating on toast, or possibly with sausage on toast.
(2) All the cream cheeses (called “soft cheese” over here) are either flavored or low-fat. Blech blech blech.
(3) There is no such thing as alfredo sauce. There is only carbonara sauce, which is totally different, or this white cheese sauce that people pour on top of lasagna.
(4) You can buy about 8 million different kind of potatoes here.
(5) My strawberries come from Israel. How cool is that?