Source: clipartpanda
We have a really “nice” supermarket nearby. It has fabulous produce, ready-made food and a bistro. Shopping is nice. I would even call it fun.
There is a nice drugstore section with enough cosmetics to keep me busy for hours. (What are all those jars for anyway? There is nothing that removes wrinkles that you can get from a jar!)
Lots of nail polish colors and hair stuff. There are hair appliances that I’ve never seen before. (Perhaps they are sex toys and I’m in the wrong aisle!)
Their organic section is huge. Even for pets.
You can spend a day in the yogurt section. Why do we need so many choices?
But there’s something about that store.
Every time I go there, I have to go. Every. Single. Time.
Today was no different. The beloved husband was on his own errand so I went by myself. He is the cart watcher as I do my bathroom run. Today I had no one to “guard” my cart.
I was perfectly fine entering the store. I wasn’t thinking about it until I got a funny feeling. A “spidey” sense that something was going to happen. Like a volcano erupting.
Wait! I live in Pennsylvania. There are no volcanoes!
Of course it must an earthquake or maybe a tornado. We have had funky weather lately. Nothing would surprise me.
Nope, no earthquake except in my stomach.
Where do I park my cart so no one thinks it’s been abandoned? I had selected the best produce and found my favorite stuff. I didn’t want to start all over again. Parking it outside the rest room seemed disgusting in a weird way.
I always prefer that no one know where I’m going as I slither my way to the potty.
I tucked the cart in an out-of-the-way place (the hard-core health food aisle which doesn’t get a lot of traffic) and made my trip.
Everything was fine when I came back out but my interest in shopping was gone. It was flushed along with everything else.
I finished the shopping I had to do and left with a sadness. I love to shop at that store but for some reason it requires at least one bathroom trip. And a volcano eruption.
Fortunately their “facilities” are top-notch especially for a public one.
Views and Mews by Coffee Kat 
Prefer to wait, rather than use public amenities, but I guess if you must you must and and even happier customer is one that does not take fright in the public toilets, so they must tick all the boxes it sounds like Kate.
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Yes. Some of us don’t have the luxury of waiting.
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Indeed.
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Do you think your system responds to all that good organic produce simply at the suggestion of it? I have a favorite store that sounds very much like the one you’re describing and I can spend a lot of time and a lot of money enjoying it very much…fortunately, I haven’t experienced any volcanic eruptions! You poor thing!
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Looking at fiber does work for me.
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Supermarkets make it so hard to find their facilities. No big signs. I hate it when you have to go into the stock room to get to the restrooms. Since I go shopping by myself, I have no trouble leaving my cart. I’m used to it.
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The restroom in all stores is always at the opposite corner from where you are!
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Kate, I thought that I was the only person in the world that has that experience! So reassuring that you do too. Thanks for the laugh.
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No! You are not alone. There are more of us than we think!
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I pee constantly. It’s a pity we couldn’t just leave our kidneys home.
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and the other part too!
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Yes, they’re a set.
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Go Go . . . Go Johnny Go
It’s such a relief to find facilities we need when we need them.
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Yes and fast!
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Sounds like you were at Wegman’s a/k/a “the Mecca” by me. I had that same problem back in the day with Woolworth’s. It got so bad I couldn’t even walk past without an eruption.
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It’s funny how it’s “activated” by certain stores. Bed, Bath & Beyond is another one. They also have nice clean facilities.
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I pretty much know where the bathrooms are wherever I am. I get nervous if I don’t know. Never know when there might be an emrrgency. I have been known to tell the management if the facilities are not clean. I sometimes make courtesy visits, too.
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We would get along just fine. I went strawberry picking at a farm last year. First thing I asked was where the bathrooms were. The woman pointed them out then said she would wait until I was done to give me directions to my rows. I said I didn’t have to go, I just like to know. Sometimes there is no time to find someone to ask!
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Sometimes peeps think it is odd to ask if you don’t need. I have friends who tell me where the bathrooms are if we are some place they have been to but I haven’t. Now those are good friends.
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The woman seemed surprised that I asked but I always do.
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Clean bathrooms are important!
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Especially for those of us who….umm….”go” a lot!
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I had a traumatic experience in a Walmart restroom that scarred me for life, Kate. I will never enter one of their bathrooms again.
I love Wegman’s. We had one when I lived in Fairfax, Virginia. I’m still waiting for one to open in Charlotte.
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I love it too. We don’t have a Trader Joe’s although there is a Fresh Market about 20 minutes away. I had one traumatic experience at a supermarket (not Wegman’s). I opened the door and a man was doing his thing. Don’t they know to lock it when it’s a single seater? And unisex too!
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We do have TJ which I love. Oh my gosh! That’s a blog post in itself, Kate. 🙂
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I am not joking when I say that I choose my grocery stores based on their bathroom facilities. Most are really vile. With Crohn’s it’s rare that I don’t have to go. But I never worry about folks stealing my cart — as long as they pay for it!
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Hi Elyse, I agree with you. I’ve lived with Crohn’s for close to 30 years. I hope yours is under control. I started Remicade infusions over a year ago and for the first time ever, the disease isn’t spreading.
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We have much to talk about!
Remicaide is wonderful. I’ve been on it for 2 years and the difference is night and day. I’ve had it for 40 years, with a 22 year hiatus after having my large intestine removed in 1982 (because they thought it was colitis — Surprise!).
As I told my doctor just yesterday, this disease is a serious pain in the ass.
Stay well!
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I’m thrilled that your disease is under control with the Remicade, Elyse. Initially, I was misdiagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis too. If you say you had an infusion yesterday, I’m going to freak out…because I had my 6 week dose yesterday. You take care of yourself too!
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Nope. It was a checkup. My infusion was Thursday. I’m on every 6 weeks too. So we are probably in about the same boat. Well, a different type of vessel, more likely.
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It sounds like it. By week six…I need it. My energy really starts to drag.
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Oh brother. I just saw that you used to be in Fairfax — I’m sitting in my office in Fairfax, right now! Small world.
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You’ve got to be kidding me! How long have you lived in Fairfax?
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I work there, I live elsewhere (I won’t say where in the comments — I have learned that my first name and the town name gives out my address, etc.)
I’ve worked at this company for 12 years, and here in this building for just over 1.
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I certainly understand, Elyse. Wow, I’m continually amazed how WordPress can make a big world seem so small.
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Funnily, I just today had lunch with another blogger from this area– Eleanor from How the Hell Did I End Up Here. She, too, is moving away though. Soon it’ll just be me!
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I chose restaurants based on their bathrooms too. I usually know where the nearest rr is.
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Me too. And I try not to go back to any restaurant with a “single-serve” bathroom. I don’t need performance anxiety!
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I guess you know where to go if you ever have an issue and can’t go. I am the same way about bringing stuff into the bathroom with me, as in I never bring anything into the bathroom with me.
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You can’t take unpaid merchandise in but I don’t like to take paid merchandise in there either! I know where all the restrooms are. If I go to a new restaurant, I’ll ask. Sometimes I’ll make a courtesy visit. Pizza places have the worst restrooms.
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We don’t have a Wegman’s here, but I have that reaction to Cost Plus World Market. I think it’s the standing and focusing entirely on something else. I read an article recently about how Western toilets are designed all wrong, since our large intestine kinks up when we sit.
I wonder what lucky folks got to be the guinea pigs for THAT study? And how would an MRI work for that?
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My intestines are as kinky as they get!
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Must be a Wegman’s. Love going to that store.
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It is. I love that store too. I was able to find Srachacha (spelling?) seasoning on this trip. Something I have been wanting to try for a while.
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