Why shop in a giant supermarket?

JAKARTA (JP): Remember the days when shopping in a supermarket was considered prestigious? How proudly the customers walked through the aisles and then up to the cashier and from there a porter would help them to carry their shopping to the car.

There were only a few of those supermarkets then, shopping was really pleasant. It was a pleasure to see merchandise on the shelves and to be able to inspect them without having to climb over sacks of rice or sugar or boxes of onions, soap powder etc. I may have been one of the first to abandon the toko where I used to shop regularly.

The present situation is very different. The number of these kind of shops has grown hand-in-hand with their size. And what is more, the number of clients of each shop has also increased.

Let me tell you what I experience every time I go shopping in my usual supermarket, where they advertise that the client is king. First, I have to hunt for a good shopping trolley.

Usually, the old ones have very obstinate wheels, so the trolleys either stall from time-to-time, or pull you to the left or to the right, so you have to hold them back to go straight.

Once I found a new one loaded with empty boxes. So I moved the boxes to an old trolley, but was stopped by the supervisor. It was only after some arguing that I could walk away with the trolley. But getting a new trolley is not my only problem. Usually, I have to navigate through the aisles where many boxes filled with merchandise are placed in the middle, leaving little room to pass.

Where no boxes are placed, people just park their trolleys haphazardly and I have to push them away. Sometimes there are a number of extra salespeople trying to promote some new brand of coffee, tea or soup. When they are around, the best advice is not to get your favorite brand from the shelves. They are sure to persuade you to use their brand, which, according to them, is better, lasts longer and is healthier for you. Never is your choice the best. Or they may stand there spying you, wondering whether you are not a shoplifter.

Fed up with this situation I tried online shopping. That did not work either. How is it possible that people are able to do their shopping by ticking names on a list? I have to see whether the boxes or cans are in perfect shape. I have to enjoy the orange color of the oranges and I have to be seduced by the redness and the roundness of the apples in order to buy them. They may promise to give you a monthly present or a birthday present, but no, online shopping is not for me.

Recently, I suddenly got an urge to go to my old pasar (market) again, which I had abandoned some 30 years ago. The road was in bad shape and muddy and puddles had formed in the holes. But I braved them all and finally reach my old toko.

I had the right to be surprised to meet Meta in the shop. Meta is not only a career woman, she is also one of the top executives in her company. But it seems that she still has time to go shopping in the market between her travels to foreign countries.

"I can go to supermarkets anywhere in the world," she told me, "but there are only a few places where I can shop with friendly people around me."

I agreed when I saw how she did her shopping. Sitting in a plastic chair, she gave her orders: 2 bottles of soy sauce, 10 kilos of sugar, 2 tins of oil and so on. The boys ran for the orders.

At most, they would ask her: "Don't you want to try Bimoli cooking oil, they give 10 percent off this month." Or they may say: "There is a new brand of sesame oil, from China" no more, just suggestions.

When they are out of stock for some products, they would run to the next door shop or the one opposite to get her the same product for the same price. Sometimes Meta would scold them: "What? this soap for Rp 3,000, my maid only pays Rp 2,500 in the warong" and sure enough she gets it for that price.

When she had finished, the boys packed everything in boxes while the boss did some sums on his abacus and then mentioned a sum. Meta looked shocked and protested, saying that it was too expensive. And again, the boss gave her some discount for paying cash.

Yes, Meta is certainly a shopping wizard. She knows where to shop and still be treated like a queen. And now she is not the only one anymore. I, too, have returned to shopping the old- fashioned way and I come home without stressing about defective shopping trolleys, impertinent supervisors and shoppers without regard for others.

-- Myra Sidharta