Aldi - the weird supermarket

We just ventured into a new world of grocery shopping. the Aldi store. I saw a few of them around in Nashville but never had to go to one since the Superwalmart catered to our every domestic whim. Also, at the Walmart I picked up on some Spanish, which I had lost over the preceding years. It was always educational. Anyhoo, the Aldi is a spare blue and white building which has lines of carts you have to put a quarter into, in order to get inside the store. Yes.
Then, the glare of white gleaming tiles and bad overhead flourescent lighting meets you as your cart meanders through the high boxes of dry goods, some produce, and odds and ends. They have the generic brands you've never heard of like "Mill Meadow" or "Green Goblin" canned goods. Other brands sound like some senior citizen townhome communities, "Sunny Horizons" prune juice, or "Haven Fields" fresh eggs. The produce is not cheap, and we get ours cheap at local produce markets every week. Everything else, however, is a good deal...provided you come with a list and stick to it. We were the only ones under 55 there, but that's not unusual here in Clearwater during the day. The coffee cafes and hip places for us younger folks are around, but we already knew where those were before we moved here. It can be dangerous, by the way, living in Pinellas county. Lots of Seniors get in car wrecks here, and going to the Publix shopping centers is like playing Frogger with your life. I tend to go do errands after about 6 pm to avoid any hazardous drivers....
Back to Aldi, they don't have shopping bags, well they do, but you have to pay 10 cents per. We didn't know this, and our cashier was chunking our food into our cart like an SEC quarterback...a quick flick of the wrist and barely a side glance, and boom- there went our bread, our yogurts, our cereal boxes. So- in all the Aldi experience was fine. We got alot of food for only $41.00 and although it was mostly for breakfast food and a few packs of frozen veggies...that is a good deal for us. I had to get syrup- lately I have had a craving for homemade French toast and therefore had to get eggs, more wheat bread and syrup (I've got the cinnamon at home). Aldi is a little - weird. Like any off-food brand place it will take some getting used to. If you have one near you should check it out sometime....just be ready for the bland landscape and shopping carts in chains. Aldi's motto should be.... "Aldi -Absolutely Nothing but Food."