Stumblings in a Supermarket

When I pictured myself doing the groceries in Jordan, it was in a small supermarket with limited options or buying fruit and veg from the markets. Similar to how it was in Egypt when I was there many years ago, I suppose. I did not picture a ginormous supermarket- double storied with 19 aisles on each level with spice and nut counters, and enough variety to make a mind boggle. 

Spice counters in the supermarket. You can choose the amount you like and an assistant packages it up for you.

On our first full day here, a friend took Ana-Laura and I to her favourite supermarket to help us collect some groceries and show us how it's done. In the produce section, there is a counter where you line up to have assistants weigh and label the produce you have chosen. It happens in a flurry- people handing their bags of produce in over yours and the bags getting jumbled. You just hope that what you put back in your trolley is yours, and then head over to the checkout counter to pay. Our friend recommended putting everything in plastic, even single items and bananas, so that the sticky-label with the price can be stuck to the bag. 

Now, those who know me well know that in the past few years I've done my jolly best to reduce the plastic in our lives. I've shopped in bulk grocers (where you bring in your own containers to fill with non-perishables) and use reusable mesh bags for produce at the supermarket. I use shampoo and conditioner bars to avoid plastic bottles. You get the idea. So, my little brain got to thinking about how I could reuse the plastic bags that the produce is purchased in. 

First, I tried to remove the sticky-labels from the bags. No luck- they are stuck fast and the bags ripped if I pulled too hard. Second, I searched the apartment for a black marker to blot out the stickers. Couldn't find one. Lastly, I turned the bags inside out so that the stickers faced inwards, leaving a fresh outside for a new sticker for the next grocery shop, which was today.

Even with my inside-out bags, I couldn't bear to put bananas or the whole melon or the single eggplant in a plastic bag. When I went up to the produce weighing counter with my load of fruit and veg, the label lady politely instructed me to "please ma'am, next time, all in plastic", and as a work-around she added the stickers for those naked items to the plastic bags of other items. "Asfi/sorry", I said, and loaded everything back into my trolley, ready for the checkout.

Well, little did I know what confusion I was about to cause. The checkout lady was putting aside the unlabelled produce and indicating that I couldn't buy it without a label. I showed her some of the extra labels the produce assistant added to the other bags and so she started scanning those through. But then she discovered the stickers on the inside of the bags and started scanning those in too. She couldn't find the label for the bananas or the coriander, so we lost those from our load. But oh! here is that label, so the coriander can come back in. Oh gosh! What have I done?

I felt so guilty for the fluster I had her in that I didn't dare try to explain that the stickers on the inside were from the last shop. Besides, how can I when we each only know a handful of words in each other's languages?

The receipt is written in Arabic and English, so later I could see how many extra items we paid for today, including the confiscated bananas! And yet it had me giggling as I was reflecting on it afterwards and thought you might enjoy the story of my stumblings too. 

The dreaded receipt

Who dares me to try blotting out the stickers to reuse those plastic bags again next time?