The pandemic introduced me to Trader Joe and he’s now a best friend

I know. You’re tired of reading grocery store reviews. “Stop trying to get me into Trader Joe's!!!”…I was there too. Here’s my story.

Image of someone who is not my wife and not my house by Roberto Nickson from Unsplash

When it comes to grocery shopping, I’m a pretty loyal person. I have a Vons down the street that I’ve been going to since I moved into my house. I know where everything is, I recognize the check-out people, I know when my preferred coffee is at a good price, and I found some comfort and security in that.

Enter Trader Joe

Early on in the pandemic, my wife and I decided not to order food from restaurants. I was in rocky times at work and we were fearful of contracting Covid. When I was going to the office, I would go out to lunch every day and now my habits had to change. For a couple of months, I got away with eating hot dogs with mustard, hot dogs with sauerkraut, hot dogs with chili, boiled hot dogs, grilled hot dogs…I soon tired of hot dogs. Dinners were burritos/tacos/enchiladas, spaghetti, chicken (my wife cooks it three ways), or grilled hamburgers. Being stuck at home was bad enough, now I had to eat the same foods on repeat.

My wife is very social. I’m not. She’s active on mommy groups on Facebook, has gigantic text chains with friends, and talks with her sisters daily. I used to do most of the grocery shopping so…