Because our family is pretty small, I seldom make a trip to BJ’s, the local warehouse club. There just aren’t that many things I wants huge quantities of, plus I don’t understand where people store all those extra rolls of paper towels, crackers and vitamins. But because we are having a few neighbors over for barbecue tomorrow, I decided it might be worthwhile to go there for Kaiser rolls and cabbage for coleslaw.
Our BJ’s is a dream. It’s seldom crowded, so the lines are short. There is always parking and I can easily find a shopping cart with four functioning wheels. After making it through the impulse vestibule with its tempting spring flowers, I then maneuvered through the muffin gauntlet located at the front of the store. I took a phone call while I was there and was easily able to find a quiet spot to talk where I wasn’t in anyone’s way.
I found the items I had come in for in short order, and even had a few of the samples that were at the end of some of the food aisles. This store is much more civilized than the local Costco, where customers seem to leave their carts any which way as they walk, in zombie-like bee lines, to the free samples.
I bought one bottle of wine, an impulse, and some low-cal, pre-portioned chocolate treats, but otherwise stuck to my list. This store has a very small clothing aisle, which I can usually just skip altogether. But this beautiful spring morning, some of the pastel and brightly colored clothing must have caught my eye and one pair of light weight slacks found their way into my cart.
I went to the check-out, where the only customer ahead of me had just vacated, and loaded my items onto the belt. The friendly clerk made a comment about my green sweater (St. Patrick’s Day today) and efficiently loaded my cart.
As wonderful as it is, I’m afraid this BJ’s won’t be around too long.