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    Posted by Admin


    Friday, September 30, 2005

    Candian Obsessions
    by Expat

    Yep. I know. Misspelled "Canadian". Been in America entirely too long! :P

    When my husband first came to Canada, he wanted to explore all that was Canadian. High on his list of things to do, was a stop at Tim Hortons and shopping at the Great Canadian Superstore.

    (I know, I laughed too.)

    He was quite taken by Tim Hortons and soon became addicted to Double Doubles and Dutchies like a good Canadian convert. Superstore, however, left him cold. He just could not get his mind around having to put a quarter in a cart or having to pay 3¢ for a grocery bag. It was the first time that he had ever encounter either of those supermarket phenomenons.

    It has been a few years since then, and now the grocery store where we shop has implemented the same measures. It is a quarter to rent a cart and 5¢ for a paper bag - 10¢ for plastic. My husband was not amused with either.

    We were taken off guard the first time that we went to the store and realized that we needed a quarter for the cart. Like most people in these modern times, we rely heavily on plastic. Since the creation of the debit card, we have not had a great deal of change clinking together in our pockets, and did not have any change on us this particular day. Not wanting to have to go all the way to the bank and then to a gas station to get change, we searched the car - my car - the Nukmobile.

    I keep a stash of Canadian coins in my car. They have been there since the day that I crossed the border. They are my constant reminder of Canada. I know it is silly, but they make me happy just by being there in the console of the Nukmobile. My husband spotted the cache and went rifling through it to see if there was a quarter.

    "Those are Canadian coins, you know." I said, hoping that he would move on to look elsewhere.

    "Yeah, I know. But the cart doesn't," he said. "It is not like it will do a currency conversion and realize we shorted it."

    I snickered, but the worry remained. I did not want to lose my last Canadian quarter.

    "Maybe we should just go to the bank and pick up a couple of Diet Cokes? We will get some change if we do that," I feebly proposed.

    "Nah, this will work." He sounded determined.

    There I was left to either speak up about my silly coin obsession, or see my one remaining Canadian quarter - the vestige of my heritage - lost to the cart.

    "What the heck," I thought to myself. "I can get the coin back when we return the cart."

    Little did I know that my coin would be forever lost when the cashier switched carts on us as she rang up our groceries. She had an empty cart set up at the end of her line and filled that up with our bags rather than fill our own cart.

    When we left with the foreign cart, the cashier took our cart and filled it up with the groceries of the people who had been behind us in line. As such, my Canadian quarter ended up in the hands of the people behind us. I wonder if they did the currency conversion and realized that they had been shorted?

    *snicker*






    Posted by Expat at 9:14 AM







    Times are definatly changing!




    Love Tim Hortons! Hate Superstore!!
    I have a small stash, consisting of a quarter and a loonie on my car console just for grocery carts. It is a golden rule not to use these for anything else. Currently we are paying 4cents for a plastic bag at Superstore. I admit they are cheaper than Safeway... but it is always sooo crowded .. and do not expect any assistance. Just driving into the parking lot gets me riled.. but you can not beat their prices.


    Posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 10:21 AM, September 30, 2005  



    When I spent my last 100 Euro, I felt a bit of something missing. And I lucked out in bringing back about 40CHF with me that I can still keep an eye on...




    Those poor people behind you won't know what hit them. What is this? I've never seen one of these before? Maybe they'll send the quarter off for scientific testing.

    simply coll - you don't like the Stupidstore? Aw come on, there's nothing like driving around the world looking for a parking spot, then walking forever to get to the store, then bumping into people crowded in the store, then waiting in long lines to pay, then PAYING for bags, then PACKING your own groceries while everyone glares at you for taking too long.

    Ya, I think I'll stick to paying more.

    Nobody beats Tim Hortons!


    Posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 6:21 PM, September 30, 2005  



    Is "Superstore" what I know as "Loblaws"? Remember, I haven't been home in a long time!


    Posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 1:37 AM, October 01, 2005  



    "Superstore" is one of the Loblaws store brands (see loblaw.com), along with Loblaws, Fortino's, Zehrs, No Frills, Provigo, etc).

    In-store, Loblaws offers their own products under the No-Name and the President's Choice labels. The latter is also available in various US markets (e.g. Jewel should carry it in the Chicago area).







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