Vietnamese grocery shopping

July 7th, 2009 by Elizabeth

I almost forgot to tell you about my least favorite experience I have had so far in Vietnam…

So, it appears that FAMILY is very important to the Vietnamese. Everyone is included in every activity. I doubt there is such a thing as babysitters or “date nights” for Mom and Dad. EVERYONE does EVERYTHING together. I think this is a great component of Vietnamese culture, except when grocery shopping.

For instance, Sara and I went to “Big C” (the big huge supermarket downtown) on Sunday night to get some fruit and snacks. We gathered our things in about 10 minutes, and went to stand in one of the 3 checkout lines. Sara said “it feels like shopping on Black Friday” but the crowds were worse…PEOPLE were everywhere. In “Big C” there were more people than in all of Ridgedale Mall at one given time on a Saturday in December, but in a space the size of a regular Target. Then they only had 3 checkout lanes! THREE! So, we chose a line and waited. It was 4:15pm. We waited…and waited…

4:40pm: Finally we were up next to check out, with a family of 5 in front of us. Little hands and feet would creep in front of me and place another item on the checkout counter. Then another person would sneak in front of me. Then another. Then another. Sara and I look at eachother, “What the heck is going on?” The family of 5 was actually a family of 13. And while a few people would stand in line at the counter, they would send the others to grab items and bring them to the counter for checkout. So the small basket of items the woman initially had, turned into 2-3 grocery carts full of items.

4:55pm: Vietnamese women are quite small, and Sara and I were taller than all of these people. So they can slide into much smaller spaces. The tiny amount of personal space I had in front of me and to either side, was quickly taken by these family members who brought arm-fulls of more groceries. Sara and I were squeezed in so tight, I couldn’t look down and see my feet. Then the family members would maybe go back and grab another item. OR they would stand around the checkout woman, eyeing her every move, chatting back and forth about the price, and bagging the items into dozens of plastic bags (Vietnam has yet to go GREEN – no such thing as paper bags or recycling). So before we knew it, Sara and I were farther away from checking out than we were 45 minutes prior.

5:03pm: We bolt. We dropped our 10 items on a shelf behind us and walked out. ENOUGH! We left empty-handed.

Now, I consider myself a fairly patient person, and can handle most stressful situations (I might get pissy, but I can handle them). Sara and I had been standing behind that family while they checked out more and more items for nearly an hour! It was possibly the most frustrated I have ever been in my entire life.

So, I consider it another experience in Vietnam, one that I wouldn’t want to repeat, but glad I could learn more about shopping in Vietnam! You live and you learn.

P.S. Sara and I found a roadside market on our walk home and bought some most excellent watermelon and plums. Twas a happy ending after all.