We came back from Belgium, but then I got sick. Yuck. Strep throat. There are a few tendrils of euw still clinging to me, but mostly the sickness is gone. My daughter got sick too (but with just a cold, luckily).
Belgium was great. We spent the holidays with my husband’s family. Every time I go to Europe I’m struck by how different the culture really is. One thing in particular I was struck by on this trip was how the grocery stores in Belgium have gone “no bag”. You either have to bring your own bags, or you have to buy their bags to sack your stuff. I thought it was cool as hell. I’ve tried to use my own sacks many times, but I always revert to forgetfulness and laziness at some point. If store provided bags weren’t an option AT ALL, I would be forced into the behavior.
Since I don’t foresee that happening in the U.S. for a long time, I’m going to start to try and bring my own bags again. We’ll see how long I can keep it up. It’s one of those things I always mean to do, yet never quite am able to succeed at. Like giving up coffee in the morning in favor of tea. Or walking on the treadmill more. Or eating more broccoli. Uhm, well, anyway. But I really am going to try once more to bring my own bags.
Also, in some some grocery stores in Belgium, they also have this coolio electronic scanner thing. You scan each item as it goes into the cart and then just hand the device to the cashier at the counter. No offloading of all the groceries onto the moving carpet thingie. There’s some sort of safe guard, though, to protect against stealing. If the safe guard is tripped, you have to offload. I have since discovered they have this in the U.S. too, but I haven’t seen it anywhere yet.
Only a couple more months until Witch Blood releases!! EIYEEE!
Now I’m off to get some writing done.
Glad you’re feeling better and the trip was great!
I try to remember my own shopping bag, too (a gift from Pedal Pittsburgh last year), but man, do I get dirty looks from the store’s baggers (I use the self-checkout) when I do.
We’ve got a LONG way to go before some of these changes take hold, sadly.
by Susan Helene Gottfried January 9th, 2008 at 12:25 pmOh, I know it! I get the same dirty looks from our baggers. It almost makes me want to bag my own groceries.
Er. Almost. 😆
by Anya Bast January 10th, 2008 at 10:56 amWow, great to know you visited Belgium. i’m the owner of Euro-Reviews and I live there. Funny you mention the bags lol. I find it pretty irritating because I can’t go shopping unless i thought about bringing bags along before i go to work (if i want to go afterwards). but luckily the bags you can buy arent that expensive.
by Eveline January 18th, 2008 at 12:21 pmI guess it’s a Delhaize you visited with the electronic scan thing? Never used it although I’m into the latest gadgets lol.
Glad you enjoyed your visit!! 😉