This is for you youngsters out there - just so you know, here are some differences between grocery shopping today and from around thirty years ago. Things have changed quite a bit at the old Publix and Kroger. Let's take a look at few glaring changes (for better or worse).
1. They were rarely open on Sunday. Believe it or not, Sunday is now the supermarket's biggest shopping day of the week!
2. The bag boys used to help you get your bags to your car. This still happens on occasion today, but don't rely on it.... in fact, I often end up even bagging my own groceries.
3. You would rarely if ever catch a male customer in a grocery store.
4. By comparison, grocery stores were pretty small - even in the larger cities. You didn't have to walk twenty miles to buy toilet paper.
5. Green stamps were common. If you don't know what green stamps are, just move on to the next item - it's a long story.
6. People smoked in grocery stores. There were ashtrays in the produce section.
7. You felt like a valued customer, not cattle. The butcher actually knew your mom (hopefully, not in the Biblical sense).
8. The carts were SMALL!
9. There was the old familiar "ka-ching" of the cash register. No barcodes - things were typed in by hand, and people paid with cash.
10. There was no "paper or plastic?" question at the checkout. You got paper.
Leave a comment if you remember another glaring difference. I'd like to hear your recollections.
