Great employee

[cactuswatcher]

I was in the grocery this morning when I heard a woman about my age speak to one of the folks picking products off the shelf for pickup or maybe delivery. She asked where the horseradish was. Then I saw the guy start off down what I was pretty sure was the wrong aisle. They've been moving things around in the store so maybe I was completely wrong and didn't say anything.

I head up the nearest aisle (with the condiments, where I thought the horseradish probably was) where I was going anyway. I glance at a few things for myself, then notice the horseradish (grated and sauce) toward the end. I turn the corner into the next aisle and the lady is alone looking perplexed at the Mexican section.

I ask if she was the one who wanted the horseradish, then tell her it was on the other aisle. The next time we passed she had two jars of grated horseradish in her cart and said thanks to me.

I guess the guy thought "Horseradish is hot. It must be with the Mexican food." Actually, it's almost always closer to the mustard and the ketchup! Well, I shouldn't judge too harshly. He might not have been working there very long. But it does reinforce why I am reluctant to ask for help finding things in stores. Better I find things myself and learn my way around than depend on the employees.

Comments

[jesuswasbatman]

Yeah, horseradish is either Northern European or Japanese. (If you didn't know, the Japanese are really enthusiastic about horseradish. It's been theorised that heavy horseradish consumption might be why Japan has oddly high rates of stomach cancer.)

[atpo_onm]

Getting decent customer service and knowledgeable employees was always a prime reason why I shopped any store, but for sure grocery stores. A nice, clean deli department is a must too. In our later years my sister and I always shopped at a local independent store just a short distance south of the city (I drove south, my sister north). Nice clean store, friendly helpful people. (The store was founded somewhere back in the 30's). A bit over two years ago, faced with expanding to handle newer things like on-line orders / delivery, they finally sold out to the GIANT chain, who has since bought up two other old, independents here in the county.

It was a sad day, I loved shopping there, and while I have since migrated to two other independents within a 15 minute drive who are similar to the demised store, the loss of any of these smaller stores is still annoying. Of the big stores in the area, only two are ones I'd consider shopping at, with decent management and employees.