Shopping and stealing

Before to go into retreat at “Estero del Tomate”, Baja California Mexico with the Fuso Szulc, supplies need to be purchased.

The large water tank and propane tank need to be filled.
Vegetables and fruit must be bought.
As well as all those many other little items a human being needs when on the own for a period of over 3 weeks.

Most fruits like mangoes and oranges are bought from a fruit stall.
This because so many of them are needed that a shopping cart loaded with mangoes and oranges and everything else needed would be too full too quickly.
Also, the friendly fruit stall vendor brings the 25 kilos (55 pounds) of oranges to the Fuso Szulc to put them gently inside.

All the other products are bought from a supermarket called “Soriana”.
A large grocery and department store belonging to a chain with 204 supermarkets all over Mexico.

“Soriana” is supposed to be a cheap supermarket.
To check here follow some prices paid for products this week.

One kilo of Avocados 28,90 Pesos
2,2 Pounds - 1,87 Euro - 2,71 Dollar

One kilo of fresh garlic 48,90 Pesos
2,2 Pounds - 3,17 Euro - 4,58 Dollar

A cauliflower 18,90 Pesos
1,22 Euro - 1,29 Dollar

Carton containing 2 litres of apple juice
19,90 Pesos - 1,77 Euro - 1,86 Dollar

One kilo of red apples 19,90 Pesos
2,2 Pounds - 1,77 Euros - 1,86 Dollar

One kilo of bananas 12,90 Pesos
2,2 Pounds - 0,83 Euro - 1,21 Dollar

One kilo of tomatoes 14,90 Pesos
2,2 Pounds - 0,96 Euro - 1,39 Dollar

One kilo of grapefruits 8,90 Pesos
2,2 Pounds - 0,57 Euro - 0,83 Dollar

One kilo of carrots 12,90 Pesos
2,2 Pounds - 0,83 Euro - 1,21 Dollar

Notice that most prices of the products in Soriana end in 90…

Shopping in Soriana is neither a catastrophe nor a pleasure.
It is simply getting supplies.
A rational and unemotional event and the way the interior of the shop looks helps a person to feel that way.

For one thing a shopper must be careful when getting supplies in Soriana.
The cashier girls are friendly and efficient.
Like Grecia Del Rosario Rese a few days ago.
There are also people in Soriana uniforms who have as a job to put the groceries in plastic bags and in the shopping cart.
After the groceries have been scanned by the cashier girl.
These persons handling the groceries are the elderly.
Very old men and women.
Often looking so frail and weak that one gets embarrassed to see them to have to work at their age and in their physical condition.
But every customer never forgets to give a generous tip to the old man or woman.

But unfortunately it has happened twice now that later it turned out that a purchased item was missing.
Because the cashier girl works more swiftly than the old person can put the things in plastic bags, an accumulation arises at the end.
All the purchased products in one big heap and the old person slowly taking care of them.
And meanwhile the stuff of the next customer comes from the scanner.
In this confusion and jam it is impossible to control if all the purchased items actually do land in a plastic bag and in the shopping cart.

This time a bottle of Nivea body cream was bought.
48,42 Pesos - 3,13 Euro - 4,54 Dollar

But after the location “Estero del Tomate” was reached and the supplies taken out of the many plastic bags, there was no bottle of Nivea Body cream.
It is on the receipt and on some wrinkled skin.