Grocery Lists Essay

In Amanda Hesser's essay "Shop Write", she enumerates the different ways people write their grocery lists and how one can infer a person's character based on a small piece of writing. People write a list of their neccesities, and sometimes their vices, then go to grocery stores to buy them. Some people write on their list the word "food", as if it were like getting a gas or picking up a dry cleaning as Hesser's says (97). People usually buy the same kind of products everytime they shop. When they see the word "food" on their list, they will automatically get their usual brand or kind of food they buy, as if it is a routine. As an example, one always buys Dove as a brand for their soap. Everytime he sees soap on his list he will always get the Dove brand, unless someone changed it and specified a specific brand. However, some shoppers are too specific on their list, as Hesser's observes, many shoppers are brand loyal (97). They have to buy whatever is written on their list. Each shoppers organize their list differently. Some of them start on how each grocery is arranged in every aisle of the store. If they have been shopping on the same store, they know what kind of groceries they will find in aisle 1, and start their list from there. Others arrange it depending on what come into their minds first. They write it in random order, starting with food products, then writing cleaning supplies, then go back to food products again. Hesser also describes some shoppers as meticulous, as they note the price for every item they put on their list. Most of the people budget their income, and there will be only certain amount which can be spent for groceries. There are times on which shoppers buy more or less what they needed to, and end up having complains from the household. Chances are, messages appear on the list or not wanting the food anymore. Hesser uses Bill Keaggy's