I don’t know what’s going on here, but now, not only is there no bread, there’s also no milk on the grocery store shelves.
Where’s the milk?
What looks like half gallons of milk on the shelves is actually oat milk, apple milk and a bit of chocolate milk. I’m OK with the chocolate milk, the apple milk is not appealing and I’m not sure what nutrients are in oat milk. What I need is good old fashioned whole milk from a cow. I have four growing boys and this little grocery store is my only option in our little village.
I found the other items on my list and checked out, where, as usual, the young cashier asked, “Yao dai zi ma?” Which means “Do you need a bag?” I am in the habit of taking my reusable bags to the store with me, as I was in the US, but I sometimes forget. I stopped at the store immediately following my morning run and I did not have a bag with me, so I answered, “Dui, wo yao. Xie xie.” (Yes, I want. Thank you.) In Taiwan, if you need a plastic bag, you have to pay for it. I think it’s about 6 cents, but I’m not sure. Whatever it is, I don’t like to have to use plastic bags or pay for them, so I was pleased when, after I dug the money out of my SPIbelt,
I saw that the cashier had neatly packed my groceries into one bag.
I thanked her, gave her a thumbs up, complemented her packing abilities, and then turned to pick up the bag and head home. That was when I saw the problem. The bag was so full, I could not grasp the two handles with one hand. The carton of liquid yogurt, butter, oranges, kiwis, bananas, etc. made for a heavy bag that I had to carry with both arms on my 1/3 mile walk home.
If I’d been able to buy the milk, I’d have needed two bags.
I should have bought some ice cream.
Lesson learned.
The Deployment Diatribes 