Friday, March 13, 2009

The grocery store renovation conspiracy

When my Dominion was renovated into a Metro, the aisles were made a bit narrower. Now to get two carts and a pedestrian through the same space is a slow narrow squeeze, where before it was completely neutral. This means that every display that protrudes into the aisle, every party with two or more children, every pile of boxes of stuff to be stocked onto the shelves, every couple debating what kind of soy sauce to buy, everyone to stands next to instead of in front of or behind their cart to pick something off the shelf, they all cause minor gridlock. It's extremely frustrating because I could totally finish my shopping in half the time if they had reasonable traffic flow.

It occurred to me that maybe they're doing this on purpose so people will spend more time in the store. Once upon a time I read somewhere that the muzak in grocery stores was specifically chosen to make people walk slower so they'd spend more time. Maybe they're doing the same thing with their aisle width. Problem is, it raises my blood pressure. If there were another equally convenient grocery store with wider aisles, I'd go there in a second. Unfortunately, this is one is literally right on my way home - not even a step out of my way.

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