The Joys of King Market

I like to shop here for fruits, vegetables and little deli items like roasted red peppers and olives. The produce prices are half those of other local markets and the quality here is better. One problem. It is usually extremely crowded. I went this afternoon and was surprised to find the parking lot only about two-thirds full.  I'm not sure why unless it's that time of the month where people don't have much money.

Due perhaps to the low prices this store attracts a lot of pushy shoppers. They reach for the produce as if it's the last cucumber, apple or eggplant in the store, whereas in truth the place has a huge produce section with workers continually bringing out big pallets of fresh fruit and vegetables. The management even stocks the same item in different places so customers don't need to bunch up to get what they need. All I can figure is that  some customers come here from countries where they have to use their elbows a lot. (There are a lot of Russian or Armenian shoppers. I know this because their 60 foot long deli counter is stocked with all kinds of imported Russian salami, sausage, bologna and such).

Another thing a lot of the shoppers do is pick through a dozen pieces of identical perfect fruit or vegetables  before they put one in their shopping bag. I can't figure out what criteria they are using to reject so many apparently blameless apples or cucumbers. I was standing next to a well-dressed woman today who handled  eight or ten blood oranges (all of which looked perfect to me) for every one she put in her bag. Finally I told her, "It's hard to find a good one, isn't it?"

I don't know why people shop like this unless they feel they feel wimpy for not handling ten times as much as they buy. I tell you one thing. I carefully wash everything I buy these days (something I never much thought about before.)  I also don't put anything in the upper cart tray (where people put their kids while they shop) due to what hear is fecal contamination from leaky diapers.

Well that's the bad news. The good news is that even without using the upper cart tray I got tuna salad, chicken salad, eggplant salad, seafood salad and hummus. Also fresh pita bread and a huge jar of roasted red peppers. Tomorrow I'm going to make scrambled eggs with red peppers for breakfast.