Wal-Mart Vs. Whole Foods
Thursday, May 21st, 2009It has taken me forever to write this post. I don’t know why. I guess I thought it was never really all that important, but the more I think about it, the more I get bothered. Also, since when have I written about only important things?
I would say we haven’t been to Whole Foods in about two months. The last time we went there, I got extremely annoyed. Also, a few times before that, Laura got really annoyed. Both times were really annoying, but my “annoyance” meter is a little taller than Laura’s.
Let me tell you what annoyed me first. Okay, the prices at Whole Foods are high. We knew that when we started going there. I kind of let it go because I felt like I was doing something good for society, whatever that means (you know, the whole organic, green, blah blah blah). The problem is that I always felt like the store was ratcheting up the prices just enough for us not to notice the increases. That is annoying in itself.
During our last visit, we picked up a few items and put them in the cart. When we got to the produce area, I took it upon myself to go grab some asparagus. When I walked over to the asparagus section, I picked up a bunch and then looked at the price. It said $4.99 per pound. I instantly felt my face getting red. I put the asparagus down and walked over to get some “Silk” creamer. When I looked at the creamer, it said something like $3.89. This was for the tall, skinny jug. I put the creamer down and went back to Laura all ticked off. I said, “This place is a freakin’ rip off.” She didn’t dispute that. I asked her if we couldn’t get this stuff someplace else for half the price. I got especially mad at how much this store was trying to charge for a brand name item that costs so much less in other stores.
We paid for what was in the cart and haven’t been back since. I really hate the feeling of being ripped off.
What Laura was getting angry at was the people, meaning the other shoppers. I am sure you can visualize the totally oblivious fellow shopper that walks right in front of you while you are reaching for something off the shelf. These are the same people who cut you off on the highway and when you try to chase them down to “talk about it,” they scurry off like little rats. Needless to say, we felt like the other shoppers were a tad bit on the rude side. I guess we don’t feel too bad for not shopping at Whole Foods anymore.
The other day, we had to go to Wal-Mart to get kitty litter. Wal-Mart is the only place that we have been able to find that sells the scent-free stuff. Our little kitty cat is allergic to the scented stuff.
While getting the kitty litter, we grabbed a few grocery items. When we walked up to the produce area, I saw asparagus for $1.77 per pound. I almost freaked out. Now, I’m not an idiot. I know that organic food costs more than “conventionally grown” food (as Whole Foods likes to call it). $4.99 per pound is a little much of an increase from $1.77 per pound, organic or not. I don’t care what it is, I’m certainly not a fool.
I asked Laura what would be so bad about doing our food shopping at Wal-Mart from now on, as long as it was in the morning to avoid the crowds. She couldn’t find any reason not to.
Since we stopped shopping at Whole Foods, I have gone food shopping at Wal-Mart twice. Both visits were fairly pleasant. I haven’t been annoyed by any fellow shoppers and have actually found them pretty friendly and easy to talk to. I also especially like toying around with the cashiers, something I could never do at Whole Foods because they just don’t do that.
Remember that time I told you about our first visit to Whole Foods? It was the time I walked out of the store after paying $89 for one bag of groceries. Well, I went shopping at Wal-Mart yesterday and got half a cart of groceries for $87. Now that’s amazing.
It seems like I am ripping on Whole Foods an awful lot here. It’s just that I am still annoyed at how they tried to take me for a ride with their absurd prices. I haven’t even mentioned the time that I saw a container of ice cream for $8. I mean seriously. Someone would have to be a moron to pay that much for one of those shrunken down half-gallon sized containers of ice cream. It was a regular brand name too, so you could easily compare prices with another store. I came so close to taking a picture of it with my cell phone to post here. I really should have.
When I got back from my last visit to Wal-Mart, I pulled out a half gallon container of juice. I held it up and asked Laura to guess how much I paid for it. She said $4. I said, “Wrong. One dollar.” Now that is neat.
So, what am I supposed to do? Continue shopping at Whole Foods and get ripped off or contribute to the Wal-Marting of America? I know there are stores in the middle, like Stop and Shop, but I have never really been a fan. I actually prefer Wal-Mart over them. You never know when you might want to buy a kayak and underwear while you are food shopping.
You know, I am starting to feel pretty good about going over to Wal-Mart. The people seem fun and they don’t cut you off while you are shopping.
