Whisky Hernandez by J. S. Mason | Author Guest Post

Grocery shopping, trying to zoom in and out of places, hard to do when hungry

Having a grocery list when entering a store that sells food is a necessity. And I will explain why. If you would like, you should get out a pen and paper, especially since you’ll need both anyway for your grocery list. If you say, “Well I can just type it out” – no, you need a pen and paper. I mean you could have a pencil, but…alright, let’s just get started.

Upon arrival into a grocery store, you would be hard–pressed not to be bombarded by the wide variety of food options. Now assuming you’re entering the store at its front entrance, which I fully endorse only out of practicality, you will be introduced or reacquainted if you have been to this abode prior with crates or some other compartments that house vegetables. The good stuff. The only thing that’s sold at these stores that a bunch of germ-ridden hands freely palm, and for some, tinker with. Why fruit and its shape are so fascinating to some I am liable to believe this is due to the artistic or scientific mindset. Others simply just see if it’s damaged or not (some even don’t do that) and then plop it into a plastic bag provided for tearing convenience (some even don’t do that). But as the argument being made here as to why a grocery list is necessary to have when shopping, I will conduct this from going off the rails. For the first point it is merely this – should you not have a grocery list, the magnitude of vegetables and fruit for that matter that scream their fibrous-and-or-sugar-encompassing selves to you can be a hassle. Does a person need to get a bunch of bananas or is more necessary? The same goes for vine tomatoes. Should you get a conga line worth of these ambiguous fruit or vegetable items or should you take one or two counteracting the image that comes to mind of a full vine of these juicy frui- vege-, whatever they are.

My second point brings me to the crux of the issue and that is breadcrumbs and croutons. Yes, these are overlooked items, especially the latter, but you’d be surprised how important they make themselves in the pantry or kitchen or wherever it is you decided to store these items.
While the crouton manages to weave it’s way into the jungle of lettuce that is named after Caesar it can equally submerge itself underneath a flattened tent of bubbled gruyere cheese awaiting to reveal itself like a hippopotamus. Either way they serve as a reward to the eater for eating their appetizers, only if one’s fanhood of salad and soup is seldom, and so the crouton is a delight to even those who don’t usually eat their greens or slurp their thickened broths. As for breadcrumbs, well, I don’t have to tell you the necessity of their envelopment around poultry for a dinner meal. So for this reason not having the items when it should be on the list or omitting when it shouldn’t is yet another reason for making sure you tag along your grocery list with you.

The third point regarding the requirement of having food words stacked on paper accompanying you to the grocery store is the sweet smell of the bakery. Yes, we have all been enthralled by its enticement. A sugary delight trucked in the night before and unloaded that very morning or even more still a loaf of sweetness made on the premises has its way with our tastebuds, with our nostrils. To look at the list that is before you and see that you have specifically told yourself to resist the dulcetness is almost an exercise in futility. But dare I say almost. I will do just that and it still takes just as much courage to say it the time after the initial one. For it is important to understand the very act of having beforehand told yourself, written to yourself really in a sort of romanticized-nutrition note to not indulge in the offerings of macaroons, scones, cookies, and cakes, some of which come in a cup, is not in vain. It is not an exercise in futility which is to me enough rationale to not go to the gym for a month. So having this list that urges you to stay away from the sprinkle–topped and cream-filled desserts is important, but equally is if you want to provide for yourself or others a good treat. We all deserve some, so it would be quite satisfying knowing that you picked up some of these sugary delectables that you wrote down to acquire.

As an advocate and proponent of the grocery list, I should like to think that for your next visit to the local food shopping repository in your area, you write down what you need. A pen and paper is a good place to start.