When I first moved to this country, they didn't even have grocery stores. At the rate of progress at the time, I figured it would be another 50 years before they would get any.
People bought food at the outdoor markets and/or butchers. The department stores sold crackers, Snickers bars, and Cokes. I would travel six hours away to a city where department stores sold Oreo cookies. There was no other processed food. Shopping was a nightmare.
My 50-year estimate turned out to be wrong when I saw my first grocery store open in Bedrock in the year 2000. (Can you imagine? All my life in America we had grocery stores, but they didn't come here until this century.)
People caught on to the grocery store concept rather quickly. The stores can sell produce cheaper than some markets, so they are popular. They are crowded too, and all manner of manners are thrown out the window when people are in these stores. Most of the stores are humongous, like Super Wal-Mart, but more crowded than any Super Wal-Mart you've ever been in, even if you've been on Christmas Eve.
I learned long ago not to go into one of these stores on a weekend. But when I went last Friday, it was almost just as bad. I thought I was going to hyperventilate or have a panic attack before I got out of there.
And as Chinese New Year is approaching four weeks from now, it will only get worse. The only gifts given at Chinese New Year are food gifts, so the grocery stores will get the impact of this shopping.
Grocery shopping looks different in the new century, but yes, it is still a nightmare.
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