Shopping for Decaf

I was standing in the coffee aisle the other day, looking at teas actually when a nice older gentleman asked if I could help him find instant coffee. He had been looking at the jars but couldn't find the word "instant" on any of them. Seems they have removed that, maybe the people who decide such things at Monday Morning Meetings said it kept the product from reaching the masses. Like prunes for instance...they are now dried plums. They're still prunes but that's no longer foodifically correct!


Anyway, he had his list and told me his wife wanted Folger's Decaf, for company. "Those poor old people that come to visit that can't take the real stuff," he says to me! I would guess he was most likely close to the vicinity of 90, maybe a little on one side or the other. He begins to tell me he has trouble shopping these days. Walmart no longer carries the things that he's always bought.


He had worked for Smucker's for 45 years, so was dismayed when he could no longer buy cherry preserves on his weekly shopping trip. So upset, he called the company that had signed his check all those years to complain. They told him simply to tell the store manager that he would like for them to order some. That didn't work, so he took the matter into his own hands and ordered a case from a wholesaler. $5 a jar, but can you put a price on the cherry preserves that put a smile on your face every morning?


I am a devoted Walmart shopper, probably the only reason I would ever change my buying habits is the irritation I now feel not being able to buy the products on my shopping list. Saving money, getting it all in one trip and the fact that it's an Arkansas company are the main reasons I shop Walmart. The Recession has changed what stores offer us, they have simply crossed the items off their lists that set on the shelves and take longer to sell.

So as we visited we walked down the aisle and ended up right in front of the Smucker's Jams. There set two jars of cherry preserves...they were $2.12. He bought one jar and I bought the other. I take it as a good sign that things are looking up, the Recession is losing it's hold on us!