comment for grocery clerk

[rawgirlie]

I travel alot with my job and I've been trying to stop by different grocery stores to see if I can find organic produce sales.

I walked into the Ralphs in Encino CA and oh my GOSH....they have huge organic mangos for 10 for $10.00. hehe....I bought 20 mangos plus organic plums, oranges, celery and tomatoes. I get soooo happy when I find organics on sale.

When I went to pay for my stuff the clerk said "you buy weird stuff.....your the only one that buys this weird organic produce.....and 20 mangos" I just smiled and said good more for me.

I highly doubt I am the ONLY one who buys this stuff. But how sad....he really did think my stuff was "weird".

I just had to post that b/c.... I have totally been struggling staying raw b/c of being labeled weird or believing this diet is too extreme. However on 7/10/06 I decided I did not care anymore.....I rather be "weird" and healthy and not worry what anyone thinks anymore. I am sooooo much happier when I am RAW.

AND.....the mangoes are so AWESOME....I should have bought more!!!

[lissomllama]

Good, I'm glad you've decided not to care about what other people think. there is nothing radical about a raw vegan diet, it is the most simple and natural of all the lifestyles you could think of. what is radical, is taking thousands of toxins into the body every day and chasing it with synthesized pills and vitamins and then getting extreme medical treatments once you hit old age and get degenerative diseases. processed, denatured and poisoned foods that fill our grocery stores are truly what is 'radical'.

[Lay-Lay]

LOL, I take great delight in someone saying the way I eat is weird. Bring it on! I LOVE IT! This is just because they are uneducated about raw like many of us were at one time. We are ALL experts on raw. No matter whether you have been raw a week or 20 years you ARE a expert. Why, because you are doing it and you know more about it then your friends and family, so as a expert share with them your expertise in a kind nonconfrontational way.

[fruit]

I also went to ralphs today,Im out in santa clarita.I got organic honeydew and cantelope for 2 for 4 bucks.Organic grapes for 2.50 a pound,Cucumbers for 99cents,and i bought like 10 mango for 10 bucks too they always seem to be on sale there.
Another great place to get lots of sale organic produce is vons.

[Gosia]

Fruit and weird? I guess the weirdness (for the clerk, not me, naturally) is perhaps the amount. One mango, or two, understandable. But twenty? ;)

Gosia

[rawgirlie]

i saw no cucumbers on sale :( . if i did i would have bought at least 20!

Gosia....hey couldn't help myself. it was 10 f0r $10.00. i luv a good sale....especially since they are so expensive at whole foods market. and i just noticed they make excellent greem smoothies.

oh no....i only have 19 left now.....time to hide it from guests. j/k

[Gosia]

I know what you mean. I would do exactly what you did. Sometimes I wonder whether people think that I shop for a restaurant or something like this. We eat so much. :D

Gosia

[Coriander74]

LOL I also bought 20 mangos today!!! The woman who was next to the mangos looking at avocados was looking at me oddly and said "You really like those huh" I just grinned at her :D

Also bought 15 avocados :p

Gotta love sales!!!

[Draginvry]

I get that a lot. My friend came over the other day. He took a look at my counter and said "Think you've got enough bananas?"

I can never have enough bananas :eek:

[wyjoz]

I was checking out @ Albertson's and had a bunches of kale, chard, mustard greens; organic! and the check out lady asked me if we have birds that we feed this to! I said no, we make smoothies with them. She said 'really?" WOW

Now that I buy cases of mangos or oranges and so many bananas they know me by now and ask if I want a 'by case' discount! I asked for a box of cherries (20 lbs) the produce person told me the price and asked if I still wanted them??? No we are not normal! But if they were checking out 20 Twinkies that would be 'normal' and no one would have said you eat weird stuff?

[chilove]

That reminds me of a great article that someone here (sorry, I forgot who) posted a link to not too long ago about what a "normal" diet is. It is a great article.

http://www.newstarget.com/019417.html


Enjoy!

Audrey
www.rawhealing.com

[Coriander74]

That reminds me of a great article that someone here (sorry, I forgot who) posted a link to not too long ago about what a "normal" diet is. It is a great article.

http://www.newstarget.com/019417.html


Enjoy!

Audrey
www.rawhealing.com

THAT was one of the best articles I've read in a long time. Thank you very much for this!

[Linda1970]

That reminds me of a great article that someone here (sorry, I forgot who) posted a link to not too long ago about what a "normal" diet is. It is a great article.

http://www.newstarget.com/019417.html


Enjoy!

Audrey
www.rawhealing.com

I love that article too, Audrey! I didn't know Mike is also a raw foodist, as I used to visit his site before I became raw. So good to know.

In one paragraph, Mike says, "Overall, people have a very bizarre idea of what is normal, and you hear this in another common myth, which is that all foods, even ones that are bad for you, can be eaten in moderation." My dad is like this, and almost every meal, he has to repeat himself and say that eating a little of everything is good, even the bad ones. It really makes me :mad:

[Arky]

I had to laugh at the tale of the grocery clerk.

I had a similar experience in Tescos recently, here in the UK. I'd bought nothing but raw fruit, veg, nuts, seeds and a jar of olives - all told, it came to just shy of £40 (about $85). Without any conversation beforehand, the afro-carribean lady at the checkout asked me what restaurant I own/run and despite my smile at her question, and my sincere rebuttal that the food was for no one but myself, she totally refused to believe that I wasn't joking!

Isn't it sad when people find it odd for customers to eat only raw, fresh produce, rather than refined, bereft-of-life, semi-synthetic foods? What a strange world we live in when a sentient race can become so blinded to, and so far removed from, the sustanance it has evolved, over millenia, to consume...


J.

[Pailani]

My dad is like this, and almost every meal, he has to repeat himself and say that eating a little of everything is good, even the bad ones.

My husband is like this. He even tries to make sure our kids develop a taste for processed foods because he wants them to eat some of everything in moderation, like "normal people."

[ljcoolj]

I LOVE it when people think my shopping cart is weird! I had a clerk the other day ask me if I was going to be making some banana cream pies. I just laughed and told her that I don't know how to bake....I really don't! We ended up having a great conversation on smoothies.

[konmai]

I loved that you just smiled & thought more for you! That's the best way to respond!!! hehe. :D

[dreamrawalwz]

haha, how long will those 20 mangos last you guys??

[kiwilime]

Coriander....20 mangos and 15 avacodos....lol. I hope your mangos are as good as mine.

wyjoz...i never thought of asking the produce guy for a discount on the case.

Does anyone know if whole foods will do that?

I am so happy to find the support here. Not only do I get a chance to seem "normal" here....but now I know to ask for a discount if I buy a case of a certain produce. LOL.


I don't think the 20 mangos will last long. hehe...they are so good!

errrrrr I hate it too when my fiance says "everything in moderation". And that there is nothing wrong with icecream, chips, chocolate, etc as long as you have small portions. i have given up...i will just do my raw vegan eating and hopefully one day i will be an example of how wonderful this way of eating is.

i love what you said lissomllama...there is nothing radical about a raw vegan diet.

hmmmm....too bad for the grocery clerk...he doesn't know how yummy the mango is!

[Lay-Lay]

hmmmm....too bad for the grocery clerk...he doesn't know how yummy the mango is!

Imagine if he/she did, there may not be anyleft for us since he/she works on the inside......LOL!

[RawFoodieMom]

I was in the grocery store the other day, and really had to restrain myself, LOL! I always hit the organic area first (not as big as I'd like it to be but at least there's ONE store here that actually has an organic section! :) ). So I'm attacking the organic section and seeing what items are on sale and within a reasonable price range, and there I am testing the oranges, and this teenager sees me and picks up one of the organic apples and checks it out. Her Dad says with a scrunched up face "no, no, that's organic!!"

That really threw me for a loop, and I wanted to react, but to be honest I was confused by his reaction, so I didn't respond because I was trying to figure out why he would react that way. I mean, I thought that people that don't buy organic just don't because they don't think there's anything wrong with conventional produce and they don't realize the risks with the pesticides and everything. Not because they think organic stuff is gross. :confused: :confused:

Someone please fill me in. I want to be able to respond to similar situations, with integrity of course. :D

[NuttyRawMom]

Shopping for my family of 5 can be quite a trip! Here in Austria, the stores are closed on Sunday and everything closes at 5 pm on Sat. What I have discovered, to my (and my wallet's!) great delight is that most stores mark lots in the produce section half off by 3 or 4 pm on Sat!!! I used to hate racing to the store so late on Sat if I had to, but now it is my standard shopping time.

Even when I am not stocking up on sale items, I always have a basket FULL of bananas, carrots (we drink 1 cup carrot juice a day, kids love it!), cucumbers, avocados, apples, oranges, you name, I buy it all in bulk!!! Vegetarian eating here is very new and hardly known, much less vegan or even RAW! I guess I am used to people looking at me and being nosy anyway since I speak English to the kids. That alone gets their attention, then they see what I am buying! :p

Today, one store had specialty items that are only available until they run out. It was all 'American' food: peanut butter, muffin mixes, choc chip cookies, pancake mixes, bbq marinades, macaroni and cheese, beans and rice, etc.... all the processed, in a bag, useless junk. Junk that, in a previous life, I called food. In the midst of this mess was my treasure: Pecans!!! Yeah! I haven't seen pecans since I have lived here and I am dying to try some of the recipes with them...I have always loved pecans. So what did I do? Yep, bought every last one of them...15 bags to be exact! :o Someone noticed the English I was speaking to my baby and asked if I am American and about the other foods. I said yes and that they really were 'typical' American foods, but that I don't eat them anymore! Once upon a time I would have raided the store for the junk and not just the nuts! I felt so good being able to share with them that just because most people ate this way, doesn't mean I have to also! I left the store with my 15 bags of pecans, 4 kg (8.8 lbs) each of bananas and carrots, 2 kg (4.4 lbs) nectarines, 3 kg (6.6 lbs) apples, 10 cucumbers, and 6 avocados with a proud smile on my face!

[Pailani]

this teenager sees me and picks up one of the organic apples and checks it out. Her Dad says with a scrunched up face "no, no, that's organic

Maybe the dad was thinking "organic=outrageously priced"?

[Revvell]

I revel in my organic aliveness. :)

Revvell

[SNMB]

Shopping for my family of 5 can be quite a trip! Here in Austria, the stores are closed on Sunday and everything closes at 5 pm on Sat. What I have discovered, to my (and my wallet's!) great delight is that most stores mark lots in the produce section half off by 3 or 4 pm on Sat!!! I used to hate racing to the store so late on Sat if I had to, but now it is my standard shopping time.

Even when I am not stocking up on sale items, I always have a basket FULL of bananas, carrots (we drink 1 cup carrot juice a day, kids love it!), cucumbers, avocados, apples, oranges, you name, I buy it all in bulk!!! Vegetarian eating here is very new and hardly known, much less vegan or even RAW! I guess I am used to people looking at me and being nosy anyway since I speak English to the kids. That alone gets their attention, then they see what I am buying! :p

Today, one store had specialty items that are only available until they run out. It was all 'American' food: peanut butter, muffin mixes, choc chip cookies, pancake mixes, bbq marinades, macaroni and cheese, beans and rice, etc.... all the processed, in a bag, useless junk. Junk that, in a previous life, I called food. In the midst of this mess was my treasure: Pecans!!! Yeah! I haven't seen pecans since I have lived here and I am dying to try some of the recipes with them...I have always loved pecans. So what did I do? Yep, bought every last one of them...15 bags to be exact! :o Someone noticed the English I was speaking to my baby and asked if I am American and about the other foods. I said yes and that they really were 'typical' American foods, but that I don't eat them anymore! Once upon a time I would have raided the store for the junk and not just the nuts! I felt so good being able to share with them that just because most people ate this way, doesn't mean I have to also! I left the store with my 15 bags of pecans, 4 kg (8.8 lbs) each of bananas and carrots, 2 kg (4.4 lbs) nectarines, 3 kg (6.6 lbs) apples, 10 cucumbers, and 6 avocados with a proud smile on my face!

What is the deal with those specials bins? I was an exchange student in Denmark for a year and one store (Netto) always had what you're describing. And they were products that were really American, with the American labels that had just been covered with a Danish translation. They had things like Goldfish, Aunt Jemima's syrup, muffin mix, like you're saying. I always wondered why.

[Live Free]

My husband went back to Vietnam a year ago and said that they had built an inside mall, similar to a Walmart I am guessing.

The shelves were stocked with foods that were all American. Although not too many Vietnamese people can afford to shop there, it was still importing all of Americas junk food.

Milano cookies, canned hams, canned vegetables... ect

My husband said a can of vegetables were about 10 cents. American money. If you were to buy that same can here in the states it would be nearly $1.00 a can.

I dont know how the company can afford to sell it in Vietnam for so much less, unless it was an American reject. Who knows? Now, that I am thinking about it, maybe the food was packaged in Vietnam. That would make sense then.

I cant wait to go back to Vietnam and see what this store has in it. Perhaps, I can find some nuts or vanilla at a much more reasonable price.

[codajess]

This thread kind of reminds me of something. Last night a coworker of mine IMed me here at home and asked me if I wanted to buy a $50 Trader Joe's (a specialty/gourmet grocery store) from her. She got it as a housewarming gift. I told her I went to Whole Foods, and have only been to Trader Joe's once. Neither is close to my home. Then I asked why she didn't just use it. She said she could put the $50 to better use elsewhere. Then I just realized it's because she'd rather go buy crap at a regular grocery store, because Trader Joe's has the "stigma" of being a healthy/organic/vegetarian type specialty store. Instead of actually going, and seeing what they have. I mean, EVERYONE has to buy food somewhere. Everyone takes showers (well, normal people) and they have bath products there.
That really irked me.

[Draginvry]

Then I just realized it's because she'd rather go buy crap at a regular grocery store, because Trader Joe's has the "stigma" of being a healthy/organic/vegetarian type specialty store.

Yeah, because if anyone saw her there, then they'd know that she's one of those freaks who actually cares about health.

Am I right?

[NuttyRawMom]

What is the deal with those specials bins? I was an exchange student in Denmark for a year and one store (Netto) always had what you're describing. And they were products that were really American, with the American labels that had just been covered with a Danish translation. They had things like Goldfish, Aunt Jemima's syrup, muffin mix, like you're saying. I always wondered why.
Well, the food we got here were all off-brand imitations. Like macaroni and cheese on the label, but not with cheddar cheese! (Or even the nasty powder they refer to as cheddar!) Most of the discount stores here have twice a week special items that can be anything from more food to houshold, car, office, and gardening supplies, or appliances of any kind, computers, etc...very strange to me at first, but now I can't live without checking out the advertisements! :o

As far as the stuff you saw, it was probably just imported items and, at least in the EU, they are required to label everything in the country's language and to make sure that all labeling requirements (like nutrition and ingredients, etc...) fit the laws here.

Sorry, didn't mean to change the thread topic...just wanted to answer this question!

[Arky]

I see the random-and-unexplained post-deletion fairy has been at work again. I'm getting sick of this forum because of this attitude from mods. Such a pity because there are some really decent contributors here.


J.

[Arky]

I LMAO earlier today - I went back to the same store and yet another checkout girl asked me if I own a restaurant!! :D :D


J.