Come Along With Me

One of my weekend chores in NJ is grocery shopping. We don't eat a lot of meals here, but it's not possible to keep milk, bread, and a few other things fresh for a week. So here are some of the sights you would have seen if you had come along with me to the grocery store last weekend. I always think the mundane task of grocery shopping would be more fun if you did it with a friend.

First we would drive along the road with candidates' signs everywhere. This is just a sampling; there are literally hundreds of them along this half mile thoroughfare. I've already voted by mail so I don't pay much attention to them, except to note how many there are. I've noticed a trend towards candidates using just their first names, and this has caused some confusion for me. I didn't know who Jack was for a while, but he's the Republican candidate for governor. I don't know much about his politics, but he proposed a ban on profanity and insulting remarks during his term on borough council in 1994. It passed (unanimously!) but I don't think it was enforced. You can probably imagine the Democrats have been having a field day with this. “Let’s show Jack how New Jersey f*cking does it. Vote November 2."

This sign has been on the front door of the store for almost a year, since they started giving covid vaccines. It has bothered me since then as it looks like they might be advertising Free COVID, rather than vaccines. It reminds me that in the early days of the pandemic it often felt like being a customer was a chance to get Free COVID.

The intersection of multiple holidays has finally happened. In this aisle we have Christmas, Halloween, and fall combined for easy one-stop shopping. 

If you would like more variety, there is a huge amount of Christmas candy available on the other side. I don't even buy Halloween candy too far ahead of time as it's far too tempting. I'm definitely not buying Christmas candy in October.

Here comes that pesky robot, heading straight for me as usual.

I have more than 12 items, but I always admire a grammatically correct sign.

We can take some time in the parking lot to admire the one tree in NJ that is showing some fall foliage color. The majority of trees are still green or just barely starting, but that may change by next weekend.

I took the long way home and was rewarded with this dragon decoration. We have some seizure-inducing flashing ghosts across the street that are disturbing, but I quite like this dragon. I could imagine leaving him up all year long. 

We've arrived back at home and there are only three bags to carry in. Thanks for coming along with me!