For my convenience.

I stopped at the grocery store yesterday to find that Acme was rearranging the store "for my convenience," which made me laugh, because really, do you know a single person who appreciates it when the grocery store moves the bread from aisle three to one and the granola bars are no where to be found?

My trip should have been quick, but i ended up taking about 15 or 20 minutes longer than it should have. The best part is while I had no idea where to look for things, the store was not totally rearranged yet - it was in the process of - so some items were not even in their new home. Therefore, asking employees for help was sometimes futile.

There is an entertaining part about the grocery store reorg - watching everyone meander about and become more and more disgruntled every time you pass them (because you're bound to pass everyone at least three times during the course of your trip, unless you're one of the lucky ones who just has to pick up milk or eggs, because those things can never be moved far due to the refrigeration). I was slightly annoyed last night, but not enough to really care all that much because it was 7 p.m. and I was a little tired, but there were plenty of funny characters cruising through the aisles.

I heard one woman's adult son ask her several times, "Ya find it yet?!" She huffed in response each time and loudly declared how she didn't have time to wander the grocery store. (Where she needed to get to after 7 on a Saturday, I don't know. Then again, I don't have a social life and maybe she does?)

Another woman kept excitedly calling her teenaged daughter over every time she saw a section of sale items (that's another thing with the reorg - tons of random stuff goes on sale because they need to clear it out). The daughter would stare indifferently twirling her hair as her mom enthusiastically pointed out nacho cheese dips and fiber bars.

Then there's the sad-smile-and-eye-rollers. These are the people you've passed so many times that they feel a reorg-hate intimacy with you, and start to add a little smile, eye roll or quick comment to your passing. It's like this: Pass in new bread aisle... fives minutes later pass in new soda aisle... three minutes later pass in new paper goods aisle... four minutes later pass in bread aisle again, where passing is accompanied with, "Hello again!" and an eye roll. Once the first eye roll is initiated, any more passings with this person will be accompanied by some type of exchange.

There are also the very, very angry shoppers - these are the ones who are cursing and talking to themselves under their breath when you pass. Often their words don't match the aisle. They may be staring blankly at a wall of canned soups cursing under their breath about fruit snacks. (These people, I imagine, abort the shopping trip before long.)

I know why the grocery stores do the reorg. I get the whole concept of making your customers walk the aisles in search of what they need so, hopefully, they'll end up tossing a bunch of items they don't need but happened to come across into their carts. It's probably a good tactic. I guess it must be, since the reorgs continue to happen and I imagine they're just as annoying to the employees who have to first carry them out and then listen to the customers complain to them about it for a solid three weeks.

Anything to stimulate the economy, right?