Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Grocery Store Adventures

Call me naive.

Call me too trusting.

I can take it.

The other day I was cursing all the (almost 1 c. of) water that poured out all over the counters when I pulled out the veggies that I had bought at the grocery store.

That's when Mike said, "Y'know. They do that on purpose."

Me: "Do what?"

Mike: They spray the veggies so they weigh more when you check out.

Me....in stunned silence.....no way....why would they do that? Why would they want to possibly charge me more for eating healthy?

"Come on" sez I, "Next you'll be telling me that bags of chips have gotten smaller over the years."

Mike: I'm just telling you.....

********
Of course, this little conversation stays in my head all day. Since I go to the store every other day for veggies and fruit, I wondered if he could be telling the truth. If so, think about how much money I'm wasting.

I decided to test his theory.

Every day when I get veggies, as soon as I step up to get them, the sound of thunder plays and then the sprinkler system comes on....soaking not just the veggies, but my arm as well.

Today, I put two and two together.

What are the odds that every day at different times, I just so happen to arrive when the sprinklers are coming on? hmmmm.....not likely.

That's when it hit me. The sprinklers are on motion detectors!! As soon as I get close, they wet down the veggies, so the veggies weigh more!

Time to test my theory.

I go to the store. I check out the produce section.

I look left and right to make sure there are no other customers are around who might disrupt my experiment.

I stand 5 feet away from the leafy greens. I identify the one that I want to buy. I run up to the greens, I grab it....the thunder rolls, I back away fast....the rain comes down.

My arm is dry and so are my leafy greens.

I stand back 5 feet for about 5 seconds when the sprinklers turn off!

YES!

My theory has been proved correct!

I must retest it.

I walk over to the brocoli. I stand back. I run up, grab the brocoli and step back. Thunder starts and the rain comes down.

My arm is dry and so is the brocoli.

5 seconds later....the rain stops.

Why those nasty little buggers! I think to myself.

Now the true test...the cost savings.

I go up to the register. The items that I bought today were approximately the same size as the ones I bought on Monday. Therefore, they should weigh within a few ounces of Monday's veggies.

Monday's leafy greens weighed 1.5lbs.

Today, they weighed 1lb. Now, you don't have to be a statistician to understand that a half pound difference is WAY outside the bell curve.

AND in fact, my veggies were almost $2 cheaper.

Mike laughed at my little story, but all I know is that I'm $2 closer to buying my tri bike.