Good Times at the Commissary

I'm not particularly thrilled with grocery shopping. I don't know why, but the whole process just annoys me. Perhaps the monotony of it all makes grocery shopping feel like a drudgery. How about you? Do you loathe the very idea of going to the grocery too?

I had no choice but to make the trek to the grocery yesterday as we were out of a lot of staples. I decided to go to the commissary on the local military post. Now, for you non-military types, allow me to explain that a commissary is simply a grocery store located on a military installation. Why they don't just call it a grocery store is a mystery to both you and me.

I don't often go to the commissary here because it's just not convenient for me. I know I can save some bucks by shopping there, but my time and energy is worth something, right? I usually go to the local Giant (occasionally I'll hit Safeway or Shoppers) because it's very close by and I'm all about convenience. So I normally only go to the commissary when I have "big" shopping to do.

Anyway... the commissary parking lot was crowded yesterday, but no more than usual. Let's face it... the commissary is ALWAYS a busy place! For the Thursday before Memorial Day weekend, I didn't think it looked too crowded, therefore I decided to continue on and brave the crowd.

I made it halfway through my shopping when I heard an announcement over the store's intercom telling patrons that only cash and checks were being accepted because of some kind of problem with the debit/credit system. They have an ATM in the lobby, so folks could use that if necessary. The checkout line snaked up, down and around two aisles, but a commissary employee told me they would accept credit cards, but they had to do them manually and it might take a little longer. No worries. I had plenty of time.

I finally made it to the checkout lane, and in all honesty, the time went by quicker than I thought it would, and I had a nice conversation with some folks along the way. The employees were, I'm sure, doing the best they could do to correct the problem and meet the needs of shoppers at the same time. I wasn't going to be upset over something that was just a minor inconvenience.

So the checkout clerk scanned all my groceries and I handed her my credit card and she called another employee over to help her. The second lady told me they were no longer accepting credit cards. WHAT? I told her that another employee had assured me they'd accept my credit card and that I could have gone to the ATM if I'd known there would be a problem. So she asked if I would please go to the ATM instead. I headed toward the ATM only to be told it was out of service. It was probably out of cash!

I went back to my checkout lane and explained that the ATM was out of service and the lady ended up using the manual credit card method (AHA! So you CAN still accept credit cards!), although the lady told me she wasn't sure what she was doing since she'd never had to do it that way before. Lord only knows what our VISA charge might end up being.

Come to find out, the problem in the commissary had been going on all day, since early morning. I'm wondering why no one thought to post a sign outside forewarning shoppers of the situation inside. I don't carry a checkbook because I never use it when I'm out and about. I find I only use it for bills or writing checks to my kids' school or our church. It's one extra thing to carry, so I leave it at home. Had I known the situation, I could have made a choice to either get cash at the ATM first thing (while it was still in operation) or I could have gone elsewhere.

So I'm sure I probably saved a few bucks shopping at the commissary, but was it worth the money saved? Hmmm... I'm wishing I'd just gone to Giant like I usually do.