Beer Me, Safeway

Today, like most Tuesdays is grocery day. In the Saucyhome, grocery-getting is elevated high above the status of chore, a trip to the store is part entertainment, part promise of meals to come and maybe because a clean, well-lit provisioned store is about the opposite experience of my solitary, dusty apartment - it's something to look forward to. I enjoy shopping for food so much given a choice between seeing a movie and getting groceries, because it's less loud and the plot is generally more coherent (man enters, fills cart, pays and leaves), and because there will be a good meal at the end of my trip, I'll take the grocery every time.

But this might also have something to do with how I shop. I mostly hit smaller, privately-owned stores; this dramatically different from how most people get their food. In the States, we spent around $550 billion in grocery stores last year. The 3 biggest chains, Wal-Mart, Kroger (including its regional divisions like the Pacific NW's Fred Meyer & SoCal's Ralph's) and Safeway pull in about half of that take.

It's been over a decade since I've been inside a Wal-Mart. There is a Kroger's/Fred Meyer in my zip code but their combination of soviet-style displays coupled with indifferent service at an inconvenient location means I almost never set foot in it. Safeway does get a few of my food dollars and even though I can't say I'm sorry every time I go into one, I can say a good trip is when nothing goes wrong – the store has the advertised product, my Safeway card works (the fail rate is about 30% and don't even ask for help about why it's that way) and I don't wait more than 10 minutes in a line.

Safeway was the first store I ever set foot in on the west coast. 11 at night, apartment unpacked, my brother and I went to get some food. I still remember being amazed at the bounty of fresh produce available in January. Coming from the land of potatoes, iceberg and onions, everything was so green, technicolor green. I now realize this has more to do with Oregon's adjacent location to California but at the time, it made me crush on Safeway.

If only they had this sign

When I moved out of downtown, Safeway and I parted ways, but we'd still see each other now and then. About 8-9 years ago, I stopped off to get a 6 pack of beer on my way to see friend Evan. I don't drive, so I almost never have a government issued ID. This time I was carded, I was well into my 30's with prematurely gray hair, (now it's just gray).

I was willing to walk away, that is the price of not carrying ID, you occasionally don't get beer...when the cashier took it upon herself to tell me I should have known better, they card everyone in who buys alcohol, it's the law. It was on. I calmly pointed out that wasn't the law and if the store has special restrictions placed on it by the OLCC (the state agency overseeing alcohol sales) that has little to do with me trying to legally buy a 6 pack on a Saturday afternoon. More words were exchanged, my cashier intimated, and by intimated she pretty much said, that I didn't understand how things work in this part of town. I responded, you mean the part of town I have lived in for 7 years? This did not deescalate the situation, in fact, we exchanged a few more less than pleasantries and then I asked her to page a manager.

A series of things transpired to keep me out of Safeway for a long time: She didn't page a manager, instead she shouted across 3 aisles to her cashiering friends, “Did you hear that, this white man wants me to get a manager for him, I guess we're not good enough to take care of him.” So now we have bad service and racial tensions. She said this loud enough to get the attention of everyone including a floor manager or at least a pasty dude in a white shirt, black work pants and a Safeway tie who looked at me, looked at the cashier and then looked like he was going to wet his pants and rather than deal with this, he actually, walked away. I left the store beerless and not angry, just confused where it all went wrong. When I called the store on the following Monday, to register a complaint, the 'manager' ignored the crux of my complaint and said that was their alcohol policy and I should call corporate if I had a problem. Corporate didn't return my call.

The word boycott has a noble lineage, it implies a sacrifice for a greater purpose. I didn't boycott, I avoided. Eventually, I couldn't ignore some of the ridiculously low prices, but I still avoid the store closest to me, opting instead for one between work and home for my 2 for 1 cough syrups and weekly beef sale. Plus, that store has cashierless checkouts.

As soon as this gets posted I am off to the Portland based New Seasons Market, self-billed as the friendliest store in town, it's if not true at least far more than a slogan. People seem to care about what their doing and we see each other enough that I don't need to bring my ID in order to buy beer