Le shopping. Helen

Shopping – do I love it or hate it? Helen Moody

Until recently I was working full-time and shopping was another of those tiresome chores which had to be fitted into a very busy schedule. Every Friday evening, after work, I would go to one of the large supermarkets in Middlesbrough, for example, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsburys or Tesco, and there I would stock up with all the groceries I needed for the week. By necessity, a lot of the food I bought was frozen, or ready-prepared for convenience. An advantage of the large supermarkets is that their opening hours are much longer than the smaller, local shops; thus enabling me to shop after work. However, I hated these excursions after a busy week at work.

In contrast, since giving up work, I rarely visit the large supermarkets. Now, whenever I need to shop, I leave the car at home and walk to our local high street in Stokesley (a small market town about 10 miles south of Middlesbrough). This lovely little town is full of small, specialist shops where you can buy practically anything you need. There are butchers, greengrocers, gift shops, high-quality clothes shops, bakers, a jewellers, a delicatessen, an electrical shop, hairdressers, an art gallery, estate agents, solicitors, banks and a couple of small supermarkets. There are also many cafes, pubs and restaurants to meet friends and get a bite to eat. Many of the shops and businesses are family-run and offer a friendly face and a more personal service than you might get from the large supermarkets or departmental stores.

In short, shopping has now become a pleasure. I enjoy the daily walk into Stokesley, often bumping into people I know for a quick chat. The food we eat is fresher and locally sourced so our diet has improved (convenience food has become a thing of the past). A further benefit is that my food and petrol bills have also gone down!