What is the latest at the Tummy Temple?

Glad you asked that. They now have “ClickList” but I can’t figure it out.

CONVENIENCE is the word at the Tummy Temple. Get ‘um in and get ‘um out as fast as you can and don’t forget to get their cash.

If you have watched the video it seems we just don’t have enough time to wander the aisles to procure our nourishment cravings. All that struggle to pack up the kids and get into the car to drive to the lot and try and find a parking space and then unpack all the kids (special note: don’t leave them in the car in this weather!) and then find a rolling wire cart, drop the kids in, then search the football field size floor for tonight’s dinner while your kids are screaming and pulling whatever gets their attention. Marketing 101 is you will buy items you didn’t expect by exposure or persuasions from some snotty nosed rug rat pleading the need for an attractive package. Beside if you are not exposed to new items how can you not know to switch your desire for pizza or pasta? What about that cake? It looks pretty good?

So now with “ClickList” you can sit at home (or at your job) and log into a database to view items on the screen and ‘add to your cart’ without getting up and walking around. Way cool, huh?

There still seem some flaws in this “ClickList” process. What if the product you are looking for is not in the database? You could scroll for hours looking for that special Captain Crunch chocolate cereal that Timmy loves but it is not on the list. You would still have to pack up, drive to the store and wander the aisles to see if they still stock it, because you are a good mother. More time wasted?

What about produce? You can’t choose the size of the cucumber or thump the melon. Are all those tomatoes ripe or over-ripe? Is that bread old enough to be showing mold? Does that slice of salmon look better than the other one? Is that can of beans bent?

Of course this plan of action does avoid all the interaction with the elderly in bumper cars and the grazers and the phone calls and ingredient examinations and the conversations parties that go on everyday, but that is part of the adventure.

Technically you have a personal shopper who will decide which product on the shelf meets your needs. Does that make you feel empowered or useless?

Following the instructions, you place your order and then give an approximate pick up time. There are several well marked parking spots that look like handicap parking and then you wait. Haven’t dug down enough to see if they will recognize your face or car on the security cams or if you have to give them a call and say, “I am here.” Then one of the purple shirted deacons will roll out your request, plop them into your car (just like Ukrop’s) and then ask for your debit/credit card. Why can’t you pay online and then just drive thru? Do you tip for this service?

When were the items requested, maybe hours earlier, bagged in plastic (oh, they are getting rid of plastic bags?) and stored until you arrive. As we all know, our schedules change and some appointments we do not make on time. Will the ice cream become soup or the lettuce wilt?

For a couple of years I used a delivery service that delivered food to my doorstep. The food was already prepared in Styrofoam containers. Open and eat. It was fairly expensive like eating out with extra fees for delivery but you do the same for pizza.

I could use the ‘ClickList’ because I basically purchase the same items everyday. I could just log in and click “List#1” and I’d be done. Well, not really, I’d still have to climb on my pony and ride to the assigned parking space to have Chris or Katy or Kandi roll out my request and pack my saddle bags with plastic bags and then after checking my ID to make sure I was old enough to have all that beer, then I would have to turn around and ride back home to unpack. What if it rains? This is getting complicated.

No one remembers going to the corner grocery the size of a garage to choose either Campbell’s Chicken Noodle or Tomato soup and then stand in line while the woman at the register looked at the markings on every item and rang up punching numbers and if there was a question would ask the bag boy to go and confirm the price while everyone waited. CONVENIENCE?

That was a time when people went to the grocery hoping to meet other members of the neighborhood. It was a gathering place. The grocery was a meeting place to discuss the latest sermon or newspaper editorial (before social media) while squeezing the oranges.

Seems back then people still had jobs and kids and responsibilities and somehow still made time to go shopping without panicking to get back on the latest Tweet?

Maybe the next ‘ClickList’ will be more than just delivering groceries to the doorstep instead of those folks too lazy to climb out of their cars.

Now if they can cook it and eat it, I don’t have to get out of bed.

That is CONVENIENCE.