Car(e)less Shopping?

This is the determined face of a man, casing his natural habitat, and in a tireless fight to provide for this family. That was more or less Matt's caption for this picture of his, serious, waiting for the tram to come and carry him home with his Carrefour loot. The supermarket is about 15 minutes by tram from where we live, and that is usually the time when we can be heard saying: "Wish we had a car..."

Or yesterday morning, when my uncle was driving a 40-ton truck returning to Spanin from England, and was passing close to our city--could we go see him where he would stop? He would come, but they won't let him with that monster of a truck, approach the city. The bridges are too low. Sure, we would come, but carless? Much less easy. In fact, it turned out to be impossible on the spur of the moment. Had we had more warning, we may have been able to strategize a bus itinerary, as public transporation here is pretty good.

Except for the times when they are on strike. But we will not count those.


So with reusable bags in taw, four of them in total, we do our shopping with a differnt mindset than what we used to--will I be able to carry these bags to the tram and then the 7-minute walk, slightly uphill to the apartment? That is a crucial question when the canned tomatoes are Buy 2 Get the 3rd free (the kind of sale we get excited about around here) and, the most exciting of all, one 10-pound bag of potatoes for 1.2o Euros. That is an amazing deal. But you have to decide if you want both the tomatoes and the potatoes--or you can come tomorrow as well. Matt has been checking items off our shopping list for the last two nights, on his way back from work. That way he can carry them in turn and we will not miss the deal. And, most of the times, he does not look like in this picture, carrying a pillows in plain view, as well as a comforter and a blue toilet seat under his arm. No, those of the days of "Wow, our first guests are coming and we have no extra blankets and the toilet seat slides and bends upon seating." That was the time we found out toilet seat quality is evaluated by ... weight. And that the exact one we found in our apartment upon receiving the keys was the lighest and cheapest one possible. Yes, we recognized it in the Carrefour aisle and kept away from it. We went for a few hundred grams heavier. And blue, to match out 70s shower curtain. And Matt carried it proudly under his arm all the way home.