Monday, March 14, 2016

Grocery shopping in Beirut - Thank heavens for Spinney's Online Delivery

It’s a beautiful Monday morning, and somebody just had the last of the milk that was in the fridge. But not to worry; my Spinneys delivery is on its way: 16 bottles of milk, 8 bottles of juice, four boxes of cereal, 6 packages of pasta, four baguettes, three dozen eggs, four kilos of meat/fish, three bags of flour, and a ton of veggies and fruit. We should be all set for the next week or so, with the help of frequent trips to the local produce guy.

I am so thankful for the convenience of online grocery shopping. It has transformed our lives! Since we don’t have a car here, getting large quantities of food (I have four growing boys, remember?) into our home would in the past involve dealing with taxi drivers in Arabic (not my strongest language), trying to figure out the correct address, paying large taxi fares, handling carts full of grocery bags, etc. not to mention the taxi driver's remarks when he'd see how much we bought (They must be really rich, right? Hello! We don't even have a car, and you do!) It wasn’t fun. Sometimes I would be able to go shopping with my neighbor, who has a car, which was like heaven. Mainly though, we had to spend an unpleasant afternoon every two weeks or so, getting out food.

Now, I order online, and the next day, groceries are delivered straight into my kitchen. Although I can’t get everything – there are certain things I like to get that this store doesn’t carry – I can get most things, and whatever else I need, I can walk up to one of the shops in Hamra for. Or go with my neighbor to get. I don’t even have to have cash in the house, because the delivery men bring a remote machine for payment by credit card. It’s simply perfect!

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