Adventures in Grocery Shopping

So. The things I like most about living in a foreign country are:

1. Forgetting which way I pronounce words like chamomile and via
   
2. Weird flavor combinations, especially in potato chips, excuse me, crisps. Who wants lamb and mint crisps? Anybody???
3. Discovering that I have no idea how to perform a previously very simple task

Case in point: Grocery Shopping. Specifically, getting a cart. Or trolly. Or trolley, whatever.

So. I went to Sainsbury's. A big chain here. The inside looks like many other grocery stores I've been to in my life. A little like Meijer's, a little like Busch's, or even Super Wal~Mart (which I've only been to once, against my will).

Anyway, everybody else was walking around with carts and I didn't see them anywhere. And I looked. Trust me. I asked to two security guards (!) sitting at the front of the store where the carts were.

"Excuse me. Can you tell me where I can find the shopping carts."
"You mean, trolleys?"
"Umm..yeah. I guess so."
"They're outside."

OK, no problem. I can go outside. So I did. And I saw all the carts. That was easy.

Or so I thought.

Because they were all locked up. Chained to each other...like, a chain gang of shopping carts. And I didn't have a key!

Thankfully, there were two people getting their groceries out of their cart nearby. So I asked them how can I get a cart.

"How can I get a cart?"
"You mean, trolley?"
***They didn't actually say that - I just thought it would be funny. What they did say was...
"You have to pay a pound."
"You have to pay to use a cart?!?!"
"Yeah, isn't that a rip off!"
"I'm not going to pay to use a cart!"
"Well, you get your pound back when you're done."

WHAT??? It turns out that each cart has a little notch that a one pound coin fits into snugly. And when you insert the coin - your cart is unlocked from its fellow cart-prisoners.

Except I didn't have to do that because the nice people just gave me their cart with a pound coin in it already and I in turn gave them my pound coin.

But the entire time I was shopping I was so worried that somebody was going to come by and steal my pound! That' like a $1.62 right now - the right to shop with a cart doesn't come cheap here.

Turns out that you can only release the pound with the key from another cart. Even though my cart has its own key - the chain is too short to reach around and release the coin. I hope this makes sense...not a spacial thinker, which means I'm not a spacial writer either.

Anyway - it all worked out - I passed on my cart to some lovely ladies in exchange for their pound coin.

Fast forward to this week when I went to the store. I am now a shopping cart PRO! I know where they are. I have my pound coin. I.AM.READY. And I did fine. Got my cart, did my shopping, took my cart back outside, and put it away. There was no one there who was ready to take over my cart, so I was excited to lock it up! And I did. So. My cart was locked snugly with the cart in front of it. I had my coin back, but...

I had locked my groceries into the bellies of the cart prisoners. And I couldn't get the bags out. I tired. A couple of times. Turns out, I had to put the stupid coin back in, pull the carts apart, and free my groceries.

Duh.

Look at all those guilty carts!
Lock 'em up!!!