A conversation with a stranger…..

A very one sided one actually!

In the supermarket looking at the broccoli thinking those are nice big heads rather than the tiny little ones they had recently, which I don’t like buying because you end up with two lumpy stalks and not one when I hear….

“Oh the Reindeer Carrots are back…I’ll have to get some for the grandchildren”

“Oh my goodness would you look at that”

“Gosh that’s cheap, I’ll get two”.

I’m not usually a chatty person when I’m shopping but curiosity got the better of me and I turned round…..

My talkative shopping neighbour then went on to tell me $1.95 was an extraordinarily low price for cauliflower at the moment……who on earth would want to buy a coloured cauli (most likely full of chemical dye)…..and labelling the carrots as just the thing to give to Rudolph was stupid but her grandchildren thought he’d like them. And with that she plonked a bag of carrots in her trolley and moved away – but not until she’d rummaged around in the cauliflower section for the 2 largest ones she could find.

Oh dear I thought, she’s not going to be happy when she gets to the checkout and discovers the ticket actually said $1.95 cauliflower halves……lower down was a ticket saying $3.90 each.

I did pick up a nice head of broccoli even though it had gone up to over $7 a kilo but it’s the same everywhere (unless you grow your own that is) and am still wondering if anyone bought that manky looking purple cauliflower priced at $3.50!

(Also wondering if anyone else in Melbourne is having ‘eye problems’…..something seems to be playing havoc with my eyes. They’re red itchy gritty, weepy at times – which is usually what happens when it’s hot dry and windy not hot moist and muggy – so I’m limiting my screen time and using the occasional antihistamine)

12 Replies to “A conversation with a stranger…..”

  1. Ha, iI’ve made that mistake before, thinking something was cheap. If it is then always look for a why!! I’m going to buy a cauliflower tomorrow. I wonder how much it will cost.

    I aalways have eye problems when winds are blowing Saharan sand up from the south. I don’t think Saharan sand will be your problem maker yhough!

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  2. Those purple cauliflowers are actually all a strain from a happy mutation on a field in southern Denmark, same with the orangey-yellow ones, only it happened somewhere in Canada. I have grown some from seeds once 🙂 But that said cauliflowers – no matter their colour – are among the veggies to be sprayed with pesticides and other -cides the very most.

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    1. I was going to comment that the purple cauliflower is genetically trained to do that. The cauliflowers and broccoli are organically grown here in California but I don’t know about other places. California also ships produce all over the world, especially that grown in the San Joaquin Valley. Our tagline is, “we feed the world.”

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  3. Long experience of the wiles of French supermarkets means that I check the prices carefully these days. I buy cauliflowers here from a chap on the market…no pesticides. He can’t claim an ‘organic’ label as he can’t afford to jump through all the hoops.

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  4. Wonderful story! I was doing my weekly shop today and was highly entertained by a slightly older lady than me and her two 50ish daughters. She kept telling them all the things she was going to buy and put in her suitcase to take with her to America when she went for Christmas- vital things like marmite and cheddar cheese which she would wrap well!. I have a vague memory that America doesn’t permit loads of foodstuffs but I forebore from telling her to check the regulations!

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  5. Hey, Cathy….I have lots of fun interactions at my local supermarket. Only this morning when I paid a visit, a fellow customer I’d not seen before and I chatted and laughed…commenting how friendly this place is up here on the hill. 🙂

    And our local supermarket is filled with happy, helpful staff. They are always so helpful, and so very pleasant to me.

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  6. I hope your eyes feel better by now. That broccoli looks very healthy but what a price. Strangers do say the most interesting things in the stores. Guess it’s good to be friendly and have a bit of conversation.

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