Things I Hate About... Grocery Shopping

Peter: 28th Mar 2006 - 19:22 GMT

heh. i think this is sublimely city-related. i suppose i have a weakness for lists...

EvilGentleman: 28th Mar 2006 - 21:10 GMT

Sorry, hool. From what I have seen, I have been encouraged by a large group of the regulars here, including the other 4 of your fellow editors. I shall try to keep your wishes in mind, but only to a limited extent, as I wish to express myself much in the same way as Peter, whose Ithaca Is Gorgeous! post done today reminds me of my various postings about the Arctic. I also wish the freedom to express myself like you did here.

I am no longer taking pictures of the Arctic, but it may be a while before I have finished sharing the best of those particular photos. If you notice, my posts are becoming more and more urban every day, and I am really sorry if you do not like the lists, but they really do seem to strike a chord with many urban residents. (except possibly the Internet Chat one, which in hindsight, was a poorly planned one-off thread not too likely to be repeated) I hope my posts will continue to be welcome at citynoise, as I really enjoy the site, and it seems that I am becoming fairly well-accepted by the welcoming people here. It has the feel of an extended family, and I will really feel sad if I am forced to go elsewhere.

I must admit, I admire your work. You have this uncanny knack for converting the everyday into art, and I aspire to be able to emulate your technique with shadows one day. I know that you are a hard-core devotee of the urban form, and at that, you rank among the best of the best, while I am a rank amateur. Yet I feel the need to be heard as well. I took a long series of shots of the graffiti in the same neighbourhood you took the Montreal shots in, and I am just trying to figure out which shots need more cropping before I post that article (or articles). I also have Train Derails on Bridge IV: The Aftermath, Arctic Landscapes III and Borders, Part II to post soon.

I feel badly that someone whose work I respect does not seem to have anything good to say about my posts. This is my 58th post in the past seven weeks, and the first comment you make after all that is negative. I had hoped for better. And in the future, if you wish to communicate with me, you can do so at [[arcticmohawk@gmail.com]]

Have a nice day.

a'la: 28th Mar 2006 - 21:15 GMT

EvilG, for what its worth, yr posts are among my favourite ones here, and thats saying alot! Keep it up! I dont think Hool meant any offense. I think he just takes the editering (sp?) of this site pretty serious, which I'm sure it requires at times.

And by all means, lets see more of the Arctic shots!

EvilGentleman: 28th Mar 2006 - 21:20 GMT

yeah, you are probably right, a'la. I can be a bit touchy at times. I was just so disappointed, because I have been waiting for two months to have hool comment on something of mine, and this was not at all what I had expected. But sorry, hool.

Hobart: 28th Mar 2006 - 21:21 GMT

Ditto what A'la said. It seems to me that many new people are finding this site lately, and some are really giving it their all to add some amazing new content. I, personally, do definitely welcome the variety and new insights (and photos/text of new places!) that come with the "new blood" so to speak. I don't always have much to post, myself, but I've been lurking here for years, and some of the newer content finally managed to lure me out of lurkerdom recently, so I say bully for that!

Hobart: 28th Mar 2006 - 21:24 GMT

I'm sure Hool's comment wasn't intended to be as terse as you seem to think it is. Probably just a little gentle nudging, and thats ok, everyone's opinions on such are fair, especially in such an unmoderated comunity as this one. Don't take it personally.

I really need to get my own digital camera, by the way. I want to add more, and have felt so inspired by Hool's photos, which I think are wonderful.

EvilGentleman: 28th Mar 2006 - 21:38 GMT

The great irony is that it was hool's motorist vs courier post which grabbed attention on the CBC News website, and I followed the link here. After making an ass out of myself in that insane thread, I started browsing the site when the thread closed, and then I discovered how truly great this site was. I suspect that many of my fellow "new bloods" are also part of "Generation hool", too.

EvilGentleman: 28th Mar 2006 - 21:44 GMT

By the way, thanks for the compliments, a'la. I neglected to respond properly there, please forgive me.

Now, does anyone have any personal tales of woe re: Grocery Shopping?

chiamattt: 28th Mar 2006 - 22:19 GMT

Hate is so much a part of our thinking, we have forgotten to make lists of the things we love.

jack: 28th Mar 2006 - 22:25 GMT

26- brooklyn supermarket old ladies who take your cart and you have to go find out where they left it when they realized it wasn't theirs.

EvilGentleman: 28th Mar 2006 - 22:44 GMT

So true, chiamattt. Unfortunately, we seem to unite quite well in complaining about things, but seldom do we rally together to praise everyday things in our lives. However, there are two positive thing I would like to point out. Firstly, Micah has already posted a Things I Love About Public Transit thread, so there is a place for the good as well as the bad. Secondly, by complaining about the little details that annoy us (usually by way of the thoughtlessness and inconsideration of others), we also force ourselves to take a look at our own actions. I know a few of the comments that people have added onto my gripe lists really hit home, as I thought "Hey! I do that." This in turn forced me to reevaluate some of my own behaviour, and thus make life a little more pleasant for some of those I share the world with. By posting here in a semi-anonymous manner, people are able to let others know that certain behaviours are deemed unacceptable without actually offending any individuals, as is sure to happen if the same individuals were to be confronted directly in a face-to-face manner. Because we are all reading this silently, we can determine for ourselves where we may have been doing wrong and correct it, with no knee-jerk defensive reactions required. This allows for a more constructive process. Damn, I talk too much, even when I am typing! I gotta LMAO at myself sometimes.

hool: 29th Mar 2006 - 03:36 GMT

EvilGentleman - relax, it's not a big deal. i understand peter's rebuttal. your posts like this one have been good in encouraging response. i felt this one's particular topic was starting to float a bit beyond 'on topic', so i left a comment. it's not like i deleted the article.

i liked your arctic posts and think they fit perfectly fine within the citynoise scope. towns and villages are just as much citynoise as actual cities.

i simply felt that a list article about grocery shopping in general was heading in a direction that could lead to even more general list writing, which i don't think would be suitable here, so i left a comment to that effect.

keep writing. i'm glad to have brought you here.

EvilGentleman: 29th Mar 2006 - 04:49 GMT

Thanks, hool. Sorry for my overreaction. Boy, do I ever feel like an ass right now. Ah well, at least I have learned something out of it, so it pays off in the end. I know enough to know that everything I know is less of one billionth of what there is to know. We all have things to learn. Today it was my turn.

Stevo: 29th Mar 2006 - 05:31 GMT

hool has a point, but no one is complaining
about the wonderful arctic pictures.
How about people who put down stuff on the
checkout treadmill or whatever it's called and
then run off "to get one more thing I forgot" -and then come back and go in front of you? Do they do that where you live?

elaine: 29th Mar 2006 - 08:52 GMT

a citynoise storm in a teacup. i like it. it's charateristic.

EvilGentleman: 24th Apr 2006 - 15:30 GMT

Actually, Stevo - up north, they have this really bad habit of piling all their shopping on the checkout belt, and they keep dashing back for another armload, dumping it, and going off for even more. Some ppl up there seem to be allergic to shopping carts. Here is an example of shopping protocol up there:

I approach the till, to find a mound of groceries piled there, with the cashier patiently waiting.

Me (to cashier): Are you in a middle of a transaction?
Cashier: Nope.
Me: Whose pile is this?
Cashier: Louisa's
Me (yelling): Louiiiiisaaaa! Are you done shopping yet?
Louisa (from back of store): I still have a few more things I wanna get.
Me: I'm going ahead of you, then
Louisa: Ok.
Cashier: Wait, I'm going for a cigarette break. You got an extra smoke?
Me: Just ring my stuff through quick, and I'll give you a cigarette. Then we can go have a smoke together.
Cashier: Ok.

EvilGentleman: 23rd Jan 2007 - 14:19 GMT

I think you have gotten the wrong Idea there, Benjamin. This is not a Better Business Bureau complaint form, this is an interactive photoblog article about the frustrating aspects of urban grocery shopping, particularly those things related to hustle and bustle and the associated interactions of the people therein.