Getting Nebby at the Grocery Store

It seems only appropriate that I ramp up my usage of Pittsburgh slang (Pittsburghese) as a tribute to my city of birth. I love all of the weird words and pronunciations that Pittsburghers are unashamed to use and therefore mispronounce. I'm only hoping that Buffalo has a little bit of that same character. Unless it comes from Canada, eh?

 When I get my buggy/cart at Giantiggle/ Giant Eagle, I get nebby/nosy.

This might be one of the top reasons I love grocery shopping. I could spend hours looking at new products and reading labels. However, I also love to see what YOU are buying. No one's buggy is safe. I watch what moms or dads get suckered into buying for their kids. I see how little produce most people have. I shudder at the beef jerkies, frozen pizzas, Captain Crunch, value packs of Mountain Dew, bologna, you name it.

Am I judgemental? A little bit. It's not that I don't eat those foods on occasion. You know I'm hungry when I've put Oreo's and Entenmann's in my own cart. Everyone is entitled to their food choices; but sometimes the link between what's in the cart and how unhealthy the person pushing it looks... well, it can be pretty obvious. The worst is when you can tell that the hyper 8 year old shopping with mom has picked out every item.

LUNCHABLES. Those are disgusting. And I ate them growing up! I also had full calorie Pepsi, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Blennd (anyone remember that super sweet lemonade mixer?), Klondikes, Tang, Sunny D and countless other nutrient-devoid items. If I passed my parents in the supermarket in 1986, I would have judged them too. :) But we also ate many, many homemade meals with fresh, healthy ingredients. I learned about foods we take for granted (bread, jelly, popsicles) by preparing them at home.

It's all about the balance of good and bad; and it is really lacking. So many people have "Diet" products right next to the Hormel Mac & Cheese and donuts.

I once saw my neighbor in my local Giant Eagle and was so excited to see what she was buying! This particular neighbor lived in the run-down condemned dump that is behind my house. Surely enough, she was buying the grossest stuff for her kids. I think they were having Cheetos and scrapple with gravy on top for dinner that night.

As a disclaimer, I know that we have the freedom to buy whatever foods we want. Sometimes our choices are dictated by finances (I've been there) or lack of initiative on a weekday night (been there too!). But I still like to get nebby. As personal as our food choices are, we have to parade them around the grocery store for an hour before we can get to the privacy of our homes to stuff our faces!

 C'mon, admit it- you do it too!