Long Live King Joe!

Trader Joe's works, doesn't it?



I was there today (Central Ave, Hartsdale) in the pre-storm chaos. The shelves were practically bare, there were too many customers and more than a few were just too rude. The carts couldn't pass one another peacefully. The lines were long (but moving). The place was great!

Who knows how they do it but hats off to the folks at Trader Joe's. The place actually works. The prices are right. The food is decent if not often far better than decent. Most of all, they seem to find stuff that won't kill you in a slow drip over time. It's worth the trip.

I've taken to buying just about any grocery item I need at Trader Joe's. Depsite the small appearance of their stores, most of the stuff you need is there. It's just that they don't have 1400 varieties of crappy cereal in 9 different size boxes. Were you missing that? (By the way, they must actually sell a great deal of cereal because I've noticed that dedicated an entire isle, which must be the gold coast of real estate for them, to Puffins, Friends, etc, etc.)

Anyway, there I was with my canvas bags and recycled TJ paper bags and behind me in line were one of these well-to-do looking couples with nice hair and teeth, everything held up tight and tanned, and shearling covering every inch of their bodies. The "storm warning" had the two of them dressed up for an Artic adventure or a trip to Trader Joe's to pick up the ubiquitous Chocolate Cats (wow...they really are chocolatey crunchy!). Anyway, they were giving me the stare: "Oh No! We are behind a vegan weirdo with recycled bags!!! How do we bail this line??"

After realizing that they were indeed already on the best line, they decided to stick it out. That meant quietly staring at the downtrodden, uncomestically altered and just back from a wintry romp through the nature preserve with her dog, woman (me) packing her own, recycled Trader Joe bags with her Joey Oh's (Fantastic!), ginger carrot soup (emmm.....), cranberry harvest rolls (yowee...lots of cranberries), Nuts About Antioxidants (whatever...it's the nuts I'm nuts about) and all the while they are trapped in this panic of "how we we get here among the hoi-polloi?"

Funny thing is a) I am not a vegan and b) IT FELT GOOD. Folks, it feels good to not trash your own home, your own shopping center, your own stomach, your own planet. It feels good to take a few ounces off the C02 waistline. Those Trader Joe bags last a long, long time and you could probably use them a dozen times without much wear at all. (By the way, you aren't doing anyone any favors if you think that by selecting paper bags at check-out, you're reducing waste. Apparently, they take a bundle of effort and fuel to produce, transport and get rid of when you're done with your frozen rolled chicken tacos ((also excellent!)). Nice of old Joe to offer them as an alternative to the usual plastic but if YOU DON'T RE-USE THEM, YOU AREN'T DOING ANYONE A LICK OF GOOD.) For more info: http://www.reusablebags.com/facts.php?id=7)

As for the guys/gals at Trader Joe's -- just keep doing what you're doing. Even in the heat of today's frozen warning stress, you were remarkably funny, friendly and helpful. I hope the people who pay you know what you're up against here in the New York area and folks, you set an example for the rest of 'em!

Thanks so much!

Double Bag Me, PLEASE!

It's a hateful proposition, I'm sure, but I have come to think you have got to STOP double bagging your groceries in those plastic bags at Stop and Shop. Yes, you know what I mean. You've got the vehicle parked out front in the closest spot you can find. You've loaded up, gee, I don't know, maybe 20-25 bags of groceries. You've got the diet drinks and the regular drinks for the kids and the two orange juice for $5.00 special and the flavored sparkling water and the organic "Friends" cereal. Anyway, the point is this; you really don't need to carry those bags at all, do you? You've got a large enough vehicle waiting for you out front, you've got a shopping cart to carry it all out there and when you get home, chances are it won't even be you alone who carries it all back inside. So, why do you need the double bags?

The plastic bag was originally intended as a tote bag. Note the descriptive in there - "tote bag!" Some people speculate it will take a plastic bag hundreds of years (for emphasis, 100 years) to stop being a plastic bag. You'll use it for about 15 minutes. Someone please do the math. A product designed to last hundreds of years is used for 15 minutes on average. Shocking. If you want to learn more, follow this link: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/09/0902_030902_plasticbags.html. Please also see: http://www.grrn.org/resources/bag_reuse.html.

Despite the horrid long term prospect of a world full of used plastic bags with the Stop & Shop logo on them, you don't mind using them. In fact, you find them so useful, you'll use two of them when one would probably be enough. If you don't stop them, sometimes the people who pack our groceries sometimes put each item in a separate bag! Is there really a way to justify this? I can't wait to hear. Your driveway is long? You have to carry the groceries up a flight of stairs? You don't like the groceries spilling about in the trunk? Two of something is always better than one of something?

You don't need two plastic bags for every bag of groceries you pack. Tell the cashier/packer kid that one will do. Better yet, bring BACK the plastic bags you've got stacked up in that closet and use them again. Yes! Imagine that! Carry something back to the store and use it again! You know, they're just as good the second time around.

Folks, we're (each Westchester family on average) spending thousands of dollars and lots of time at our favorite food source Mecca, Stop & Shop. They will provide the services we are willing to purchase -- that's it! If we ask for double bags, they'll pack them! Even if we don't ask for double plastic bags, they'll do it out of courtesy because they think it's what you want! Therefore, it's up to you to bring about a change in habit. I noticed they're now selling green, attractive, reusable shopping bags for 99 cents! Yes, 99 cents! Can you resist?