the difference in –

Grocery shopping.

There are pros and there are cons to both the Dawson-style of grocery shopping and the St.Paul version of grocery shopping.

Tonight, I was very annoyed by the St.Paul version.

It’s impossible to run out and grab anything.  First, drive through approximately ten stop-and-go lights.  Ten minutes if you’re lucky and they’re green; fifteen if they’re red.  Second, wait to check out in lines at least four customers deep.  Third, it just takes too long.  I had a list of ten, maybe fifteen things to grab and it took me an hour.  Gross.

And I kept looking up at people as they passed.  Do I know that person?  No.  Of course not.  If someone cut me off suddenly with their cart, no acknowledgment or apology.  Just a continued run to where they were headed.

I’m disenfranchised with city grocery shopping.  Months ago, I would have told you that I disliked shopping in Dawson because of the lack of options.  And the fact that you couldn’t go in and out without finding someone you know and have a five minute conversation with the traditional Minnesotan goodbye would sometimes get to my introverted self.  But a run to Tim’s now sounds very favorable.  (Even better if they would carry hummus.  Because I bought good hummus tonight.)  After my hour outing for Craisins, coffee necessities, and a few other things that ended up taking an hour of my night, I think I prefer the Dawson version at the moment.