Frugal Shopping

Yesterday I went to Smith's case lot sale and had a wonderful time! It's been my experience that when people are shopping for food in bulk they are very kind to others. Why is this? The other folks looking for cases were just so friendly and helpful. It's like a group effort to get each other a little food storage. "Have you seen the corn anywhere?" "I couldn't see the price for tuna. Do you know what it is?" "Is that your cart? I'm sorry! I just took your beans. Let me return them!" ETC. It's awesome. Sometimes when you hit the sales you get looks from other people. Like when I stock up on cereal. I've had several people tell me why that wasn't such a good idea. It would make me fat, I'd never go through it in time, who eats that much cereal? Ryan does:). He does. So not everyone feels it's a good idea to buy extra food. But the shoppers who do, have always been so nice to me. It makes the shopping trip pretty fun.

After getting home I was thinking about this. You don't always get that reaction from others when shopping frugally. Black Friday. I have only gone once or twice. But each time I saw people being terribly rude. It's like there's this totally selfish attitude to get the good deals before anyone else. One year I was holding a baby and was pushed like crazy as I walked through the entrance. No one cared if the infant got hurt. And every year we hear about people being trampled to death during those sales. Unbelievable.

So what's the difference? You'd think around Christmas time people would be more giving and helpful and kind. Maybe it's just the limited amounts of product. Case lot sale quantities don't seem as limited as Tickle Me Elmos in November. Or is it the materialism? Buying food versus buying toys? I don't know.