Last night I went to a nearby Fred Meyer, which has been under major reconstruction for a few weeks now. Large segments of the store are walled off with sheets of plywood, other walls have been knocked out, floor tiles are torn up all over the place, aisles keep moving around. It's a little confusing, but not really a big deal.
This time, though, things were different. I mean, really different. Walking in, I got such a strong sense of the surreal that I had to do a mental check to make sure I was really awake.
A blown transformer down the block was the culprit: the store was running on generator power, which meant no climate control, no music, minimal lighting. Registers were up, but the freezer aisle was cordoned off. The store was dim and quiet, despite the many customers wandering around. Someone had replaced my mass-produced shopping experience with Plato's cave while I wasn't looking. The place even smelled different, faintly musty in an out-of-doors way, reminiscent of rain meeting dirt.
"Grocery shopping has never seemed so post-apocalyptic," I told the cashier. He laughed, then said, "It's a nice change of pace; makes you realize how much we rely on electricity.... The really fun part will be when the generator runs out in a couple of hours." I asked what would happen then, but he had to admit he didn't know.
I'm actually kind of sad that it won't be that way next time I visit.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
3 comments:
I had that same eerie thing happen at the Jantzen Beach Target during a storm this winter. I enjoyed shopping in the peace and quiet. There was the issue of two-story shopping that I hadn't considered early enough and had to carry loads by hand down the escalator to my waiting cart. The only part that creeped me out was the parking lot - pitch black and spooky.
anything that has to do with not getting ice cream can't be good
Basically similar to shopping at Gracie's in Jericho, Colorado.
Post a Comment