There's a grocery chain in the South (and oddly enough, in Wisconsin!) called PIGGLY WIGGLY. This chain was supposedly the first series of self-serve grocery stores.
People from the South often have very strong feelings for this chain; since many of the stores have been going out of business, an upswelling of local support is being mustered in the form of bumper stickers that read:
"I'M STICKIN' WITH THE PIG".
Let me tell you right now darlin'--it's a lost cause.
The pig must die.
And here's why...
On Mondays--the day when I usually realize that certain foodstuffs or sundries are needed for my upcoming week--the military grocery store on base is closed. Why Monday? Who knows? Anyway, I needed a few items and on the spur of the moment, drove into the Piggly Wiggly parking lot in the town surrounding the military base.
Snap decision.
I'd never been to a Piggly Wiggly before, having spent most of my life in the Upper Midwest (not Wisconsin) and SoCal, so all I knew was that A) PW was popular with the locals and B) They were going out of business for some reason.
Here's the 'some reason'. As I walked into the Piggly Wiggly, I was panhandled by three crazy indigent guys for change. (Not fun and a little scary because all crazy bums are usually over 400 lbs--you never get accosted by a 72 pound insane guy.) They were big, and threatening. I gave them a polite brush-off and sidled inside. They glared at me and I was a little nervous, especially since I was holding Thing2 and it's difficult to sprint for your life while holding a 30 pound toddler.
It was DIRTY! ICKY! SMELLY! Some of the frozen food cases were empty/broken and there were no workers around to help me find what I wanted. There was trash in the isles, under the shelving units, and some of it was NASTY TRASH. The fruit/veg section was wilted and sad and minimally stocked. And the AC didn't seem to be working at all, and the air inside the store was heavy and still. Sweaty, even. WHAT A HORROR!
I finally gave up and just left. I couldn't take it any more. Never even SAW an employee or manager-type to make a comment. Didn't buy a damn thing and I'm glad I didn't give The Pig my money.
THUS... I'm not stickin' with the pig. Kill the pig! Die, pig, die!
(Apologies to XCircMan, MonChiChi and MonChiChiChick, who all may have fond feelings for The Pig. Just stay away from our J-Ville Pig!)
6 comments:
Ugh! What a vile experience!
It sounds like you're describing something out of a horror movie. You know--after the zombie plague has passed and the last remaining humans reappear to gather unspoiled food from the rotting leftovers...
Yeesh.
Apparently, I should have sent my maid out to Food Lion instead of trying to "experience" the Pig all by my little lonesome. (We call Food Lion "Food Robber" because they overcharge for everything!)
Is Fowler's like Whole Foods? Nicer? There's a place called Lowe's Foods near Emerald Isle that is very snooty-patooty, but it doesn't hold a candle to Jensen's. I miss Jensens' chill-your-wine cooler machine that they have in the wine aisle. I think if they had that gizmo on a military base, the jarheads would be putting their Colt 45 wide-mouths inside to chill, not their chards! Ha!
No apologies needed here either. I only have vague memories of Piggly Wiggly from back in the 60s when we would go down to my Dad's parents in the SE corner of Kansas. And those trips were pretty much scary since Grandpa and Grandma lived in a railroad car that mice and rats ran through at night plus the toilet was the little shed out back. And then there was the water that we didn't drink because if you let a bucket of water sit for a few minutes little white bugs started coming to the top. YUCK! Thankfully my Uncle John had a Pepsi delivery route so we lived on Pepsi.
Infomatrix, my comment to your last comment here:
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
I've never liked Piggly Wiggly either. They've always seems dingy and dirty. I've lived in J'ville for 26 years and maybe set foot in that store 5 times. LOL
I do my shopping at Food Lion (only because its so close to my house) or Walmart.
oh... and the commisary being closed on a monday... I think it has something to do with Federal Holidays (they usually fall on a Monday).
Hope you dont mind my two cents.
Beth-- feel free to comment any time! You're lucky you survived your 5 trips to the Pig. I applaud your bravery.
Post a Comment