I feel things. I get all teary and lemon faced over the simplest of things. One of those is shopping at Aldi. Shopping at Aldi isn’t for the faint. It’s busy and hectic, full of children and long lines. However, there are so many things I love about Aldi. Sure, I love the cheap prices and the high quality food. It can’t be beat. But what I love the most about Aldi is the community. We’re all there together, working for the good life. We wait patiently for the person re-shelving, we wait patiently for the kid laughing and dancing in the isle. We wait patiently for the mom trying to pick out yogurt for the coming weeks. And we smile. We smile because we know it’s the right thing to do. We smile because it eases tension. We smile because it makes us all better people.
I love people who shop at Aldi. It isn’t easy. Aldi is out of the way for many. The hours are limited. You need a quarter to rent a cart and also need to bring your own bag. Aldi’s rewards those who are self-reliant. Bring your own bag, deal with your own cart, scoop items straight out of boxes, and bag your own groceries. Aldi is promotes self-reliance and a DIY philosophy. However, the experience of the every human for yourself of Aldi makes me want to give, and I don’t think I’m alone. It’s weird because we all flock to Aldi to have more for ourselves, but I swear most of us are just looking around, aching to give a little more. I can see us all eying each other thinking, “Does that person need a quarter?” “Oh, you just have two items, go ahead?” “Would you like an extra bag?” We drive across town to receive, only to want to give.
I’ve only paid it forward twice in my life (unless you count all these words of wisdom I throw around every day 🙂 and they’ve both been at Aldi. The first was in the parking lot during a 100°F day. I had a giant watermelon in the cart. Next to me is a family loading up and one of the many kids starts saying, “I didn’t know they had watermelon. I want a watermelon.” The mom basically shuts him down. Without thinking I asked, “Can I give your kid this watermelon?” She smiled and accepted. It was just a watermelon, but dang, I was high on that for a week. Of course I hope that family had sense of community and have more love in their heart, dada dada dada. But, really, it just felt good to give.
Today was the second time. I was at the check out babbling on about how much I love Aldi and I remembered the lady at the yard sale this morning who unprovoked gave me $7 worth of goods for $5. Actually, that five dollar bill popped out of my wallet. I gave it to the cashier and asked her to choose someone who could use a boost and apply it to their bill. Preferably someone with kids, but really it was up to her. I trust those Aldi cashiers. They know goodness. She smiled and I felt better than ever. That five bucks improved her day and with it she will improve someone’s day. And I think that is what it’s all about.
So, my point: I think we should all visit Aldi. Experience it for all it’s worth. Take a deep breath and listen to our community talk about food and think about feeding family. Feel that sudden desire to give a quarter or a bag or a watermelon. It’s an interesting sensation. Make the world a better place by shopping at Aldi. It may even make you lemon face.