Introducing...Aldi

Introducing…Aldi.
This weekend, my friends took me to Aldi. For those of you who don’t know what it is, it is a German grocery store…with most everything off-brand. So, it’s already cheap because it’s off-brand. But then, the store doesn’t give you bags. So, they aren’t having to buy bags in bulk, which means that they can charge you less. Also, all carts are looped together by a fancy chain-like lock that only opens when you deposit a quarter (basically a deposit-don’t worry, you get it back!).
I knew none of this when I first visited Aldi. My friends took me. As we turned into the parking lot, Tabitha goes, “Oh no! I forgot bags.” And this led to the first confusion….why in the world would we need bags??? Because they don’t give them to you. You can buy them for real cheap…something like 6 or 9 cents…but that can also add up fast.
We decided to rent a cart and just share it. So, we put in our quarter deposit, took our cart, and bravely stepped into the store. And there was bargain shoppers paradise. Coffee bags for $3. Spagetti in bulk for $2. A bag of apples for $2. Olive oil for $2. And much, much more. Beans, whipped cream, meat, chocolate, etc. And all for much much cheaper. I spent $30. I probably would have spent something like $60 or $70 anywhere else.
But then came the problem…we had four girls sharing a cart and no bags. We split up. Those of us who could went to another line. The man behind the counter I was at watched us and proclaimed, “Car-pooling on the quarter, huh?” So here’s what happened. The man checked us out and instead of bagging up our food, simply put the food back into the cart after he scanned it. So, we walked out of the store with a cartful of unbagged, free food. And then we deposited the unbagged, free food into the car trunk. And there it sat in the trunk-unbagged and free.
And then we went to walmart. When we got out, my friend Hilary got of the car and ----ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh-found not one, but two paper bags which could hold our priceless treasures from Aldi. And she said, “The Lord hath provided.”
The end.