1. Shop alone
Grocery shopping or a supermarket excursion in company is, no matter how you look at it, a diluted version of the universal experience. Go alone, conquer your preconception of loneliness, overcome need for help or people to talk to.
2. Make sure the wheels of your cart move smoothly
Worn out wheels or obstructing duct tape make driving a cart difficult and often gets on people’s nerves. Potential pleasure stands against potential peeve. Choose your cart as if you were choosing a new car. Test your cart and do not go for second best or good enough. Only perfection is acceptable.
3. Play supermarket games
‘The price is right’: try to guess how much you will pay. Give yourself a 10 percent error range. ‘What queue goes faster?’ And participate to win! Look left and right to who arrives at more or less the same time as you do. Keep your possible cheering sociably acceptable. ‘puzzle your groceries’: display your groceries on the conveyer belt in such a way the cashier notices the anomaly. Do though not pester these people, make them smile, not roll their eyes.
4. Listen to music with headphones
Of vital importance is listening to evocative music, or at least to music that does not limit imagination. Avoid music with words, especially when they are in your mother tongue. Instrumental music, preferably music you don’t know. Try to become one with the music. Can’t think of anything? Here are some winners: missa papae marcelli (Palestrina), Rocket to Russia (Ramones) Goldberg Variations (Bach).
5. Order your groceries by colour (rainbow-wise)
Richard of York gave battle in vain, an easy way to remember the colors on the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet). And how to order your groceries. Apart from being an exercise, the result is rather satisfying. Looking for colors more than products allow you to see the shop from a new perspective. Although much depends on your commitment, the experience is mind widening.
