Shortages and disappearing goods

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I think you brought up something important. The shopping habits in BA seem to focus more on small neighborhood places that specialize in one type of product, which is a throwback to how it used to be decades ago in the US before the "get everything in one place" model took over. I live near the "ocho esquinas" of Chararita and Colegiales and within a two-block radius, there are no less than 5 corner produce markets with lines outside every day. This is in spite there being both a Jumbo (this one has a pitiful produce section) and Carrefour, and a half dozen Chinos nearby.

(As a former Whole Foods employee, whenever I see large selections of beautiful produce like in those pics, all I can think about is how much of that will end up in the garbage.)


This is great if you have the time to deal with going to 10 different stores. Also good if you can walk everywhere. If you have a job you just want to go to one place and get your chores over with and get back to living your life. I'm surprised this flys here with the importance that the culture puts on spending time with the family. All this running around and waiting takes away from family time.
 
One aisle of mayo
One aisle of dry pasta (various types here)
One aisle of coke (and I mean only "coke", not coke like a southern says)
One aisle of cooking oil
One aisle of fernet
At the back of the store where the carneceria is, a massive jumblefuck of people waiting for their number to be called.
Can't shop any of the home goods stuff because the lines from the register reach all the way through them to the food aisles.

When you stand back and look at it, there's little variety of the items. They could save money and fit all this stuff into a small La Anonima type place. I would even argue that some of the Anonimas have more selections than the jumbo. Being in Neuquen we don't get the imported stuff like those in BA do, so when there's espresso or cheese I load up on that. One day there was mexican salsas, bought 10 of those. Cans of blue diamond almonds for 10 bucks a can. Another favorite is when they have pretzels, been burned here a few times with super stale bags.

And for my produce, why do I have to wait in a line for one person in the entire store to weigh it? The first thing I do is look at the produce line to see how long it is and then I decide if I'm buying produce there.

One of my favorite interactions at Coto was during checkout the checker goes to scan a power strip I wanted to buy, of course there is no barcode on this particular one. I tell him the price of the item as I remember it from the shelf, 480 pesos. We look at each other for a second as I'm expecting him to call someone over to go get one with a code on it. He keeps looking at me and finally tells me that it has no code and asks if I still want it. I waited in line for 45 min already so hell yes I want it. So he says it again "there's no code..." motherfucker I grab it from him and swim upstream like a salmon through 30 yards of people and baskets to try and remember the location where I picked this thing up. I get another one and verify it has a code and swim yet again through the lines of people and baskets and give it to him. All the while he sat there on his little chair and looked off into the oblivion. He scanned it and asked "un pago". It might be excusable though because he looked like he may have been learning challenged but here you're never certain.

How do people live like this?

My best experience was at the Carafour (not in anyway relatable to the Carafours of Europe) in town. With a kid named Dennis. This go getter chugged right through 12000 pesos of groceries in about 2 minutes and then didn't hassle me about a 5000 pesos transaction limit like everyone else does. I don't know how he did it but he charged the whole thing on one transaction. I told that dude thank you and that I was really impressed with his attitude and effort.

100% spot on here, i have the exact same complaints. it's all absurd.

people here just don't know how good we have it in the US :) my argie gf even acknowledges how awesome HEB is.
 
One aisle of mayo
One aisle of dry pasta (various types here)
One aisle of coke (and I mean only "coke", not coke like a southern says)
One aisle of cooking oil
One aisle of fernet
At the back of the store where the carneceria is, a massive jumblefuck of people waiting for their number to be called.
Can't shop any of the home goods stuff because the lines from the register reach all the way through them to the food aisles.

When you stand back and look at it, there's little variety of the items. They could save money and fit all this stuff into a small La Anonima type place. I would even argue that some of the Anonimas have more selections than the jumbo. Being in Neuquen we don't get the imported stuff like those in BA do, so when there's espresso or cheese I load up on that. One day there was mexican salsas, bought 10 of those. Cans of blue diamond almonds for 10 bucks a can. Another favorite is when they have pretzels, been burned here a few times with super stale bags.

And for my produce, why do I have to wait in a line for one person in the entire store to weigh it? The first thing I do is look at the produce line to see how long it is and then I decide if I'm buying produce there.

One of my favorite interactions at Coto was during checkout the checker goes to scan a power strip I wanted to buy, of course there is no barcode on this particular one. I tell him the price of the item as I remember it from the shelf, 480 pesos. We look at each other for a second as I'm expecting him to call someone over to go get one with a code on it. He keeps looking at me and finally tells me that it has no code and asks if I still want it. I waited in line for 45 min already so hell yes I want it. So he says it again "there's no code..." motherfucker I grab it from him and swim upstream like a salmon through 30 yards of people and baskets to try and remember the location where I picked this thing up. I get another one and verify it has a code and swim yet again through the lines of people and baskets and give it to him. All the while he sat there on his little chair and looked off into the oblivion. He scanned it and asked "un pago". It might be excusable though because he looked like he may have been learning challenged but here you're never certain.

How do people live like this?

My best experience was at the Carafour (not in anyway relatable to the Carafours of Europe) in town. With a kid named Dennis. This go getter chugged right through 12000 pesos of groceries in about 2 minutes and then didn't hassle me about a 5000 pesos transaction limit like everyone else does. I don't know how he did it but he charged the whole thing on one transaction. I told that dude thank you and that I was really impressed with his attitude and effort.

"It might be excusable though because he looked like he may have been learning challenged but here you're never certain."

Wow. Just, wow.

Perhaps if you knew to spell "Coke" with a capital "C"...
Perhaps if you knew how to spell "Carrefour"...
Perhaps if you had put the needed comma in the sentence above...

Then, and only then, we wouldn't have to wonder if you are learning challenged. But here you can never be certain, can you?
 
"It might be excusable though because he looked like he may have been learning challenged but here you're never certain."

Wow. Just, wow.

Perhaps if you knew to spell "Coke" with a capital "C"...
Perhaps if you knew how to spell "Carrefour"...
Perhaps if you had put the needed comma in the sentence above...

Then, and only then, we wouldn't have to wonder if you are learning challenged. But here you can never be certain, can you?
That was a cheap-shot. I don’t think he meant to be offensive. Plus if I start analyzing your grammar... coke does not have to be capitalized if it is used as a synonym for ‘soda’. Only the brand Coke is capitalized. Also you have yourself used “can” to express a “possibility“ when it generally anotes an “ability”. “You could never be certain could you”. So just relax.
 
"It might be excusable though because he looked like he may have been learning challenged but here you're never certain."

Wow. Just, wow.

Perhaps if you knew to spell "Coke" with a capital "C"...
Perhaps if you knew how to spell "Carrefour"...
Perhaps if you had put the needed comma in the sentence above...

Then, and only then, we wouldn't have to wonder if you are learning challenged. But here you can never be certain, can you?

I guess I can make some mistakes when I'm fast typing on my keyboard. I try to stay positive but from time to time I need to let off some steam.
 
While reading this thread in its entirety, I came to the conclusion that all the posters must be Americans who have never experienced lack of material things, and are accustomed to getting what they want, when they want it. MSM covered the run on toilet paper and other items at the beginning of the quarantine in the USA when people bought more than they needed and caused shortages in doing so.

Last Monday, a family of two couples and a three-year-old girl brought their mattress to the entrance of a building on my block as their refuge during winter after they were told to move out of the pension room they shared. They probably couldn't pay the rent. They use the bathroom in the local COTO grocery store two blocks away. All they own is stored in a few backpacks. I greet them when I walk by. They have nothing, yet they are always smiling and have a good attitude. They live in the present moment.
 
That was a cheap-shot. I don’t think he meant to be offensive. Plus if I start analyzing your grammar... coke does not have to be capitalized if it is used as a synonym for ‘soda’. Only the brand Coke is capitalized. Also you have yourself used “can” to express a “possibility“ when it generally anotes an “ability”. “You could never be certain could you”. So just relax.

Nice to know you completely missed the point.

BTW, as he was clearly referring to the brand Coke...

Mind ya business.
 
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