Wild Tesco

For a people who love their queues and orderliness, Brits are wild when it comes to the grocery store. Navigating aisles becomes a game of frogger as you try not to get run into by someone swinging blindly around a corner with a trolley. It's survival of the fittest, much like driving in Los Angeles. You have to be aggressive if you want to get anywhere. You'd think it was announced that there was going to be a shortage of food coming and everyone was rushing to stock up. People wander about oblivious to their surroundings and to other people. Equally frustrating and oblivious are those who stand three across in an aisle chatting, blocking the way for anyone who might want to pass. Children run around screaming. Trolleys taking over slower trolleys in the long middle aisle. An alarm goes off in the electronics section. Keep your head down, your eyes open, grab what you came in for, and get out as quickly as you can. Makes me miss American grocery stores. Even in the narrow aisles of Whole Foods aren't as mad as 3 trolley wide aisles of the Hythe's super Tesco.

(ASDA over by North Station is much calmer, has wider aisles, and is less irritating, but it's also owned by Wal-mart. Dilemma. I might take to shopping at Tesco in the middle of the night when I've heard it's much less populated with oblivious trolley pushing nuts.)