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Grocery Shopping While Single

Single shopping

It was a perfect Sunday. After a 3-hour lunch with a friend at a favorite restaurant, we browsed a chic neighborhood store and tried on sunglasses. Winding my way home, I stopped at Trader Joe’s to grab ingredients for the Citrus and Spice Chicken I’d be grilling later that night. I was feeling comfortable and satisfied in my single skin. With one errand left, I breezed into the supermarket to pick up a few staples. And then I came into contact with this giant sign. What a buzz kill.

Discussion

25 comments for “Grocery Shopping While Single”

  1. Deborah says:

    Wendy, ouch! Nobody wants us to be happy with the way we are living right now. I have discovered, this late into the game, that there are times when I am single and times when I am not single…both these times can rock and/or suck. Now is a single time, and I feel the messages (from within and without)to partner up pretty strongly, even when I look around and see the terrific life I am building for myself. Ah the ups and downs…we can’t allow anyone to kill our buzz! Deborah

    • wendy says:

      I heartily agree, Deborah. It’s about making the most of every day regardless of your marital status. It’s just that on Sunday, the last place I expected to be hustled about dating was at the entrance to the supermarket. It threw me off for a moment. But I recovered.

  2. Lauren says:

    My first thought is that I would so much rather grocery shop alone than with any of the men I met when I was in the online dating scene.

    My second thought is that the fact that this ad is on a hand sanitzer dispenser somehow makes it darkly funny, but I’m not sure why…

  3. Lew says:

    As a former ad sales guy and current marketing/biz dev consultant, I am always tickled and sometimes ticked off when I see new frontiers for brand messaging crossed. I understand the bummed out feeling but maybe the disaffected, cool teen “whatever” shrug is what’s needed.

  4. mary c. says:

    Hah! This sign is merely a portent of the unsanitary experience that is Match.com

  5. wendy says:

    Good one, Mary. I’ve definitely needed to disinfect myself after Match.com

  6. RS says:

    Of course, the real thing match.com is selling (along with 90% of other consumer products) is a promise of release from anxiety. It is the most common marketing pitch of all – and also the least deliverable. Sounds like you were living in the Best of All Possible Worlds on Sunday – who could be in less need of a fake promise of “luck” than a person who has just enjoyed a luxurious 3 hour lunch with a friend at an awesome restaurant followed by browsing a charming neighborhood for sunglasses or books or what have you? That is about as lucky as it gets!

    • wendy says:

      YES!! Best of all possible worlds indeed. And to top it off, the grilled chicken was divine!

      • RS says:

        Inspired by your day, I just returned home from a 3 hour dinner with one of my oldest, closest friends at our favorite pizza place. So it seems that I am also living in The Best of All Possible Worlds. However, I did not see you there. I guess The Best of All Possible Worlds is bigger than we generally think it is. . . .

  7. Chris says:

    Well, they would say that, wouldn’t they? A dating site, I mean. I feel like putting a sign over it saying “SHOPPING MARRIED? Change your luck, 30% off from J. Smoe & Co, Divorce Lawyers.”

  8. Carolyn says:

    …. I would say something to the manager or write an email. It’s easy for us to post our reactions here. More difficult, and more important, to start speaking up, to help shift the assumptions made about single people. (Love this site, btw…)

  9. CH says:

    LOL!!!! All I can say to Match.com and their sign on the hand sanitizer is that;

    Misery Loves Company.

  10. Latarsha says:

    One of the pluses of being an unmarried shopper is you can be a lot more adventurous in your cooking and food choices with less of a financial commitment. There’s no “s/he doesn’t like lentils/broccoli/salmon/whatever” to limit you in the kitchen and if you see a great recipe you want to try out, you can do that without worrying all this fancy meat/cheese/fish is going to go to waste because your other half doesn’t like it. I find that I’m having a lot more fun in the kitchen because I’m willing to try new stuff out and I’m not certain I would do that if I were partnered up.

    • wendy says:

      I so agree. When I have a craving, I go right ahead and make it. Over the weekend, I made red beans and rice. Yum. Can’t wait for leftovers tonight. (My father, an otherwise great husband, would never eat leftovers. I love them.)

  11. Emily says:

    I know this is an old blog but this got me thinking…the word they use is luck, change your luck. Match.com and others,like it are likely the culprits propagating this inaccuracy that being with a partner involves primarily CHOICE, not luck. Well done on the grostesqe marketing which is so prevalent now that ecourages feeling inadequate. Ok. I’m done.

  12. Emily says:

    I know this is an old blog but this got me thinking…the word they use is luck, change your luck. Match.com and others,like it are likely the culprits propagating this inaccuracy that being with a partner involves primarily CHOICE, not luck. Well done on the grostesqe marketing which is so prevalent now that ecourages feeling inadequate. Ok. I’m done.

  13. Mark says:

    Wow. This blog post is about 5 years old. A year ago, I would not have even noticed that sign. Even if I had, I would not have thought anything of it.

    Now … my how things have changed. If I saw that sign now, I would need to look away fast and try to put it out of my mind. In fact, ever day there are reminders that I am single and childless. I spent this summer avoiding places where I’d likely encounter families, unsuccessfully of course because it’s impossible. The best I can do is keep the TV off and read instead.

    I really hope to get to a state of being desensitized about this stuff. I don’t want to feel like I am only “safe” when in my house with the TV off.

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