Shopping for food

Buying foodstuffs in a modern supermarket can be considered a sort of art. It is the art of combating a temptation. Supermarkets play a dirty trick on the customers: practically every shopper is tempted to buy things he or she doesn’t need or can’t afford.

The mechanism of this lamentable deceit is simple. Firstly, supermarkets are laid out tomake a person pass as many shelves and countersas possible. Only the hardest of souls can pass loaded racks indifferently and not collect all sorts of foodfrom them.

Secondly, more and more supermarkets supply customers with trolleysinstead of wire baskets:their bigger volume needs more purchases.One picks upsmall items, say,a pack of spaghetti, a jar of jam, a box of chocolate put them into a huge trolley and is immediately ashamed of its loneliness. He or she starts adding more.

Thirdly, all products are nicely displayed on the racks and all of them look fresh in their transparent wrappings with marked prices. A normal person can’t ignore attractively packed goods. And so one can’t but feel an impulse to buy. And, finally, supermarkets don't forget about those who look for bargains. The so-called "bargain bins" filled with special offers wait for their victims. No one can tell for sure if the prices are really reduced, but it is so nice to boast later that you have a very good eye for a bargain.

So when a simple-hearted customer approaches a check-out, his or her trolley is piled high. Looking at a cashier, running her pen over barcodes, he or she starts getting nervous while the cash register is adding up the prices. And, getting a receipt, he or she gives a sigh of relief if the indicated sum doesn’t exceed the cash he or she has.

Of course, one can give a piece of advice to the simple-hearted: compile a shopping list and buy only pre-planned goods. But is it worth losing that great sensation of buying? One can really wonder.

A lot of people prefer to do their shopping in small shops. The daily shopping route of some housewives includes visits to the baker's, butcher's, grocer's, greengrocer’s, fishmonger's and a dairy shop. In the end of the route their bags are full of loaves of bread, meat cuts, packs with cereals, fruit, vegetables, fish and dairy products. Only very strong women can call in at the tobacconist's after all that.

The explanation for this housewives' craze is very simple. In every shop their buys are weighed, wrapped up, their money taken and the change given back. Meanwhile they can have a chat with salesgirls and shop-assistants about their weak hearts and broken hopes. So, friends, go shopping as often as you can. Because the simple truth is: a visit to a good shop is worth two visits to a good doctor.