Why grocery retail outlets are the most productive parks to fulfill: NPR

If you treat grocery shopping like a chore, all you’ll notice are bruised apples, long lines, eerie yellow lighting, and the bitter cold of the frozen driveway.

But grocery shopping isn’t as tedious as you make it. Disneyland also has long lines and hellish parking, but you probably don’t treat your visit like a chore – you go there wide-eyed and open to magic.

Think about it. Your deli is a place of fresh fruit, birthday balloons, Skittles, live lobsters, flower arrangements, and hot and ready fried chicken. It’s kind of the perfect place for a date.

Breaking the rules imagined

The first grocery store date I went to was in 9th grade with my grandparents. After visiting all of Costco’s free sample stations, we checked out and followed the lit billboard of an 8-foot hot dog, our North Star, to the cafeteria.

“It’s Pop Pop’s and my favorite date,” my grandmother and siblings told me as we parked our cart next to two white plastic picnic tables. There, along with several of their grandchildren, Bob and Ellen sat under a Kirkland red indoor umbrella and shared a cup of chocolate-vanilla ice cream. My siblings and I spilled over onto the next table, enjoying our own ice creams and making the table a little stickier.

I remember looking at my grandparents and trying to imagine them at their local Costco, eating ice cream with no kids. In my mind, ice cream was mostly for kids. The meetings were reserved for hot 30-year-old actors who played high schoolers on television. They were breaking these two imaginary rules.

Their while ended with them serving to us blank up our mess. I left Costco that while figuring out very minute about relationship. However I clung to this inclination {that a} while might be one thing easy and at all times unexpected.

Bring excitement to something ordinary

I knew my girlfriend was a babysitter when we met at a Safeway on our third date. We just needed a place to meet before we hiked, but Safeway became the main event. We wandered around for over an hour and left with a slice of rainbow cake to share.

Thus began a long tradition of grocery store cake grading. Grocery stores have become a go-to spot for a late-night snack, an air-conditioned break from the summer heat, and a not-so-quick pit stop while traveling. Nothing beats a spontaneous picnic in a parking lot.

If you think a grocery store date sounds like a Mr. Krabs move, that’s right. Maybe my girlfriend and I define a date too broadly. We also like to dress fancy in a restaurant with white tablecloths, candles and menus filled with French words that we have to look up on our phones. But a classy vibe can sometimes get in the way of getting to know someone, especially on those first dates. You might find yourself spending more energy trying to match the setting than being yourself, since your restaurant is tucked away and buttoned up.

You can tell a lot about someone from what they add to the cart. Does your date consider a protein bar as a to treat? Do they opt for the generic cookies or do they poke fun at everything under the Milano shelf? Do they pair an energy drink with a can of cheese spray? This information can save you a lot of time sifting through potential partners.

And of course restaurants come with the inevitable awkwardness of deciding who will pay. Auto-pay makes paying for the date less like a test. Scan and go. And if you’re nervous about letting a stranger into your home, the grocery store serves as a neutral ground almost as intimate as hanging out in your kitchen.

But the most important information you can glean from a grocery store date is whether that person is willing to contribute their energy and enthusiasm to something very ordinary.

When we met, I had never been to Whole Foods and my girlfriend had never been to Wegmans, so we debated blindly which one was better. Pinning groceries against each other like Pokémon cards is a dumb thing to do in any setting, but especially when we only had half the facts. So the account had to be settled.

The day we went to Wegmans, their forest of a veg section took over the sidewalk and nearly overflowed into the street. I knew I was about to win.

My girlfriend walked through the automatic doors already holding two plants on her hips. Once we got a cart, she got even harder to follow, doing tricks in the bakery and fresh herb section. We explored the wine cellar and the cheesemonger’s display as if we had just landed in Paris.

After walking around and learning the layout of the store well enough to give directions, we left. I bought the plants from him and we ate our cake and kombucha sitting on the sidewalk by his car. The orange and pink sunset slipped behind the dark blue silhouette of the mall. With her head on my shoulder, she told me it was the best date she had ever had. We laughed because she was half joking, but only half.

So when you get the chance, get off the road and into any old Kroger parking lot. Show someone around your local Trader Joe’s as if you were showing your private art collection in the Tuscan countryside. A red umbrella inside a crowded Costco warehouse can be your tropical getaway if it makes you slow down and sit down. Do romantic things in regular places. Because what could be more wonderful than ordinary love?

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