Shopping wasn’t much fun if you grew up during the WWII years of 1939 to 1945. Coffee and meat were rationed, as well as sugar and most other good food. Besides the rationing, money was scarce. After the war finally ended, I became a teenager, earning my own money at last. That was the start of my love for shopping, which continues to this day. When the Covid pandemic hit , I masked up, wore gloves, and persisted with my trips to the grocery store. But one freezing day last February, my arthritis flared. My heart wanted to shop, but my shoulders and knees rebelled. With trepidation , I ordered groceries online to be delivered. To my surprise, it was easy as cake. Grocery delivery changes the game for seniors.
A lot of people love to shop. In fact, over 80% of people prefer shopping in physical grocery stores. It’s fun to wander the aisles looking for unexpected treats and new products. Sometimes, you stop and visit with neighbors. Maybe glance at the tabloid headlines while in the checkout lane. And if you’ve been shopping the same place for awhile, you enjoy talking to your favorite cashier.
Delivered groceries seemed to me an extravagance reserved for spoiled, wealthy people, too lazy to shop, too snooty to mingle with the common folk. In the old days, stores that delivered groceries catered to “the carriage trade”–that wealthy upper crust who belonged to the country club and employed household servants.
And yet, when I looked at my receipt that first day, I found that I had saved enough money to pay for the delivery cost and tip for the driver. Because I was logged into my own account at that store, they automatically gave me all of their weekly discounts and coupon savings. Better yet, I saved on gas used while driving back and forth to the parking lot.