Shopping Day in Italy.

11/12/11

A shopping day today...not sure if I’ve asked before but...

1. Why aren’t the eggs refrigerated, they are just sitting on a shelf, in the US they are always refrigerated? They are even stamped with an expiration date (each egg), that’s like a couple weeks away??? Could we just leave our eggs out??? Then why do refrigerators have the slots for eggs...even in Italy.
2. Why is the beef so blood red here...not very appealing to me (for some reason)...everything is cut very thin, but its the color of it that seems off??
3. Why haven’t we adopted the push cart system like the Italians have...you insert a coin (1euro) into a slot and it releases the cart (from a chain) for you to use, when your done you simply replace the cart, insert the chain, and it gives you back your money...simple, no charge, and there aren’t carts everywhere in the parking lot...and every homeless person isn’t walking around with your carts...this really is a good system.
4. Same with plastic bags...bring your own or they charge you...everyone brings there own...easy and good for the environment. I know Whole Foods does this, maybe Vitamin Cottage and the State of Oregon...but in Italy everyone does it and its just the way it is. It’s like their approach to recycling, its just a way of life here.
5. At every store we’ve been to there are people outside, on the grounds of the store, trying to sell you socks, boxed drinks, tissues and a wide assortment of junk...why don’t the stores simply tell these people to get off their property...unbelievable   that they allow them to harass their customers???
6. Same at the churches and monuments...so many people trying to sell you junk...a hundred with scarves, a hundred with camera tripods and a hundred with balls you throw on the ground that look like pukey slime and then reform themselves...go to any huge monument and you will find these characters...I just don’t get it???
7. And then there are the fake Roman Legionnaires who are after you to take pictures...these guys look like over weight accountants who have lost their jobs. I haven’t seen one that looks like what I envision a Legionnaire to look like.
8. When you stop to get gasoline there are 2 pumps...1 is self serve and it’s cheaper, the 2nd is service provided and about half the people choose this option even though its more expensive...and believe me when I tell you that gasoline is at least double in Italy what it is in the states. Customers like the service...this should be a wake up call for US service stations.
9. 2 Whoppers with fries and a drink at Burger King cost me almost $20 in Italy...are you shitting me!! And they sucked! They even charged me .20 cents for each packet of ketchup...what??? I think the BK people need to take a hard look at this...to much$ for this heart burn. Trust me that the taste is not the same as the US version.
10. How could anyone make a frozen Tuna Pizza...it just goes to show that you can sale anything these days. Trust me this is one puppy you want to stay away from (yes I bought one).

These days at the grocery store are entertaining and fun...some things better, some worse...funny planet we live on.