Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Holiday Hunt

Why does this keep happening to me? Last year, I had to accost a stock lady to get my Holiday Teas who graciously did not report the crazy lady in aisle 9 until after I left with my precious boxes giddily in hand. This year... it was the butcher.

That's right. Well, technically it was the meat department stock boy. And his manager. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

So our hunt started out at the usual superstores. None of them had the Holiday Teas in the tea section! Go figure. One store offered an end cap display hanging at the end of the... get this... baking aisle? Ok. Maybe people like to drink tea while they are baking. Apparently so because the display was completely empty save all the Sugar Plum Spice you wanted which definitely wasn't (that's why we had enough to dye eggs last March). The other superstore also had none in their tea aisle but did say that it was on the schedule to reorganize that section this week so maybe it was coming. Yeah. That's helps me now!

So then, on the way to the library, we pulled into a regular grocery store, the same chain that my friend Liz purchased all the Holiday Tea she wanted from just this past weekend. We checked the tea aisle first, although I'm not sure why, and weren't surprised to find no space for Holiday Tea. So we
accostedapproached the first store employee we could find. A nice young man stocking the meat department... who had only been working there 2 days. As nice as he was, he had no idea what I was talking about, but he did offer to go get his manager who listened attentively as I relayed our adventures and then offered to page a grocery manager to assist me in my quest since he was only in the meat department. So back through the big white swinging doors he went while the children and I amused ourselves with kitchen gadgets and pretty party plates.

Sunshine had the eagle eyes today. She tapped my arm and said, "Mom. They're over there." but my mind was heavy from the fatigue of the chase and I only responded "Huh?" So she pointed and my eyes slowly followed the line of her arm until I saw the stand alone frame displaying the complete assortment of precious teas standing... wait for it... right next to the big white swinging doors. That's right. The same doors both men had gone in and out of to try to help me. Nestled right in between the big white swinging doors and the butt roast were my teas. Why? Do people like to drink tea while they are braising short ribs? Mmmmmmm, nothing beats a nice hot cup of Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride while trimming the fat off the brisket. Dee-lish!

7 comments:

  1. That's so funny! You wouldn't believe what I went through to find pureed pumpkin last week. The locations that my grocery store chooses to display things boggles the mind! Thanks for the morning chuckle!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am so glad to find out it is NOT just me. I have the hardest time finding the holiday tea. I thought there was something wrong with me. Glad to know I have company! Trish

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't know what is wrong with these stores. Last year I looked all over and finally found those teas in the aisle with the LAUNDRY DETERGENT. Isn't that insane? I couldn't find them at either kind of superstore or most of the grocery stores I checked.

    Maybe they think that if they have people look all over for them they will have more impulse buys. That is silly though because the normal tea buyers who might not know about the holiday teas probably would impulse buy if they saw them in the tea aisle.

    Something I have not been able to find anywhere are the Bigelow holiday teas like Pumpkin Spice and Eggnog'n. I would love to try those. :(

    ReplyDelete
  4. Too funny! Glad you finally found your teas.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You have a way with words! And, I was chuckling to myself the whole time. Only because I have been there myself. Which is why I refuse to go to any other store for my grocery needs.

    One particular store was terrible. They were rearranging their shelves nearly every week. They would split their canned tomatoes into three isles, the sauces, the pureed and the *exotic* Rotel and Italian. I kid you not. I finally stopped going when they split their *gourmet* baking chips into a baking isle and a candy isle.

    Not to steal your post ;P But, I wish they would read this!!

    And, as a tea-a-holic that tea sounds super! I may have to hunt for some, lol.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think I need to try this tea... if it is hunt worthy of hunting down as doggedly as you do.

    ReplyDelete
  7. We have some dear friends who last year found out how much we love the Candy Cane Tea. They bought out the entire stock of Candy Cane Tea at the local grocer as a Christmas gift to us last year, so if anyone needs some, just shout me your email!!!

    We'll have to tell them how much we love the Sugar Cookie Tea this year. :)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and yourself!