Yes !... there is such a thing as a free lunch.

terra

terra

Member
Location
Southern Highlands Australia
Now listen up you folk... ever wanted to have a free lunch ?.... Let's face it, we are all seniors and for many of us, our income and lifestyle sure ain't what it used to be.

Well this is how I do it..... every week when I do the grocery shopping, usually in woolworths supermarket, I try to arrive there about mid-day. :)

I usually head for the greengrocery section and whilst buying my various fruit & veggies, I always try them first. :p... nothing like some grapes, cherries, mushrooms, mandarins and pears. When I'm done there. I go to the deli section and this is where the good stuff is.
I ask the guy behind the counter if I can try some ham, salami, olives, and so many different cheeses. They are always happy to oblige and the bonus for me is when I finally leave the shop, I'm chock-a-block full... yep, it's a free lunch ! :)

Now before you accuse me of shoplifting, I'll let you know that I do actually buy a lot of their produce. My weekly bill is around the $150 to $200 mark. Next time you feel peckish around lunchtime, head on into Woolies.
 

Here's a comprehensive list of Aussie sayings Pappy:
SEVeyesB08_th.gif


http://www.sunburntcountry.au.com/sayings/aslist.html
 
Most incomprehensible and many untranslatable. Some even not repeatable in polite company.
smiley-laughing002.gif


I have noticed over the last few years that many of our sayings are creeping into TV shows and movies. May have something to do with the numbers of Aussies now working in Hollywood. We have a mass exodus of cameramen and other film industry dogsbodies drifting over there. They are corrupting your language,your shows have been doing it to ours for decades. Beware America! Revenge is nigh. Bwaahahaha.
smiley-laughing002.gif
 
We used to have Woolworth's here in the Colonies, not sure if there are any left, but I never remember my local one having a grocery.

Lunch counter, yes, with great grilled-cheese and club sandwiches, but not a grocery. Interesting ...

As for the free lunch, I have no problem with the guys behind the counter giving samples. I'm just kind of squeamish when it comes to, for example, buying some grapes that someone has already handled and munched on.

I'm not saying I'm a perfect person or a saint - FAR from it. But owe-up to the fact that what you're doing there in the produce aisle is retail theft. SMALL retail theft, yes, and nobody probably cares, but call a spade a spade.

When I used to shop at our large grocery stores I used to see little kids (and sometimes big ones) opening up a box of cookies they picked from a shelf, devour the whole thing, then toss the empty box back onto another shelf. That's a far more egregious act, granted, and I always wanted to smack them in the head for doing that. That's one of the reasons why grocery prices have spiraled upward - "shrinkage". So by their act they're making me pay higher prices.

Now if you end up buying the same bunch of grapes, etc. that you munched on then my apologies for getting on my vertically-enhanced equine. :playful:
 
Most of our grocery stores set up sample tables and when you walk buy, the employee asks you to take a sample in the hope you might buy the product. They do that in the liquor stores all of the time too.

I'm with Phil though on not tasting the grapes or whatever until I get them home and wash them.
 
I'm outa this, I'm allergic to grapes.

Phil the American Woolworths and the Australian one are totally different companies. Just a coincidence of name from a previous century. Wouldn't happen now, there'd be lawyers lined up a 10 paces.
 
Anyway, our shops are actually pronounced Wool-ees even though it is spelled Woolworths.
Be sure to remember this if ever visiting downunder, otherwise people will pick you as a tourist.:cool:
 
Diwundrin said:
Phil the American Woolworths and the Australian one are totally different companies. Just a coincidence of name from a previous century. Wouldn't happen now, there'd be lawyers lined up a 10 paces.
Click to expand...

Ah, thank you - I wasn't aware of that. Doing a quick Google on "Australian Woolworths" was enlightening!

Warrigal said:
Anyway, our shops are actually pronounced Wool-ees even though it is spelled Woolworths.
Be sure to remember this if ever visiting downunder, otherwise people will pick you as a tourist.:cool:
Click to expand...

But if I ask for the closest Woolies won't they direct me to the nearest flock of sheep?

... not that that would necessarily be BAD, of course, just saying ... :eek:

terra said:
"try before you buy".... would you consider buying a car before you drove it !
Click to expand...

Oh, come now - you KNOW that isn't the same at all ...


Would you consider trying out your coffin before you buy it?
Would you consider trying out a knee / hip replacement before you buy it?
Would you consider trying out a sex toy before you buy it?
Would you consider trying out a man / woman before you marry him / her? (Well, OK, yeah, maybe that's a bad example ...)
 
Here is our Woolworths counter although it was taken in the fifties. Favorite place for grandma and me to get a BLT and a hot fudge sundae.

Just noticed the card says Fishmans. Oh we'll, we had a Woolworths too and it had a counter too.
 
I always sample grapes before I buy them. In the past I've bought grapes that looked good but when I got home and ate one they weren't fit to eat.

Soooo, is me trying a grape stealing or the store selling unfit produce the guilty one. If the grapes are good I buy them, if not I leave them there.

I haven't tried sampling watermelons yet, but I have bought bad ones before.
 
It seems that many of you aren't familiar with our Australian Supermarket called "Woolworths", .. or "Woolies" as most of us call it.

Here's a few pics to give you an idea:

Now you know why it's my favourite place for a free lunch.... it's not stealing or shoplifting,... in the greengrocery and deli section, they encourage people to "try" their produce before buying. :)















 
rkunsaw said:
I always sample grapes before I buy them. In the past I've bought grapes that looked good but when I got home and ate one they weren't fit to eat.

Soooo, is me trying a grape stealing or the store selling unfit produce the guilty one. If the grapes are good I buy them, if not I leave them there.

I haven't tried sampling watermelons yet, but I have bought bad ones before.
Click to expand...

Trying A grape, no problem; picking up a bunch and munching on it for lunch? Problem. It all depends upon how far you take it.

Since the title of this thread is about a "free lunch" I'm assuming that more than one grape is eaten. Perhaps my assumption is wrong - I hope it is.


terra said:
It seems that many of you aren't familiar with our Australian Supermarket called "Woolworths", .. or "Woolies" as most of us call it.

Here's a few pics to give you an idea:

Now you know why it's my favourite place for a free lunch.... it's not stealing or shoplifting,... in the greengrocery and deli section, they encourage people to "try" their produce before buying. :)
Click to expand...

It looks like a wonderful store - unfortunately the photos don't show the signs that say "EAT ME" ...

Eat_Me_Cupcake_Sticks_-_green.JPG

... but I'll take your word that they actually encourage you to do that. In our local stores here (at least the last time I went to them, some time ago) they had stopped giving free samples and even prosecuted one kid who was eating bananas in the produce section, so hopefully you understand my views on this.

only-good-cops-get-banana-holsters.jpg
 
I never wash my fruit before eating... ya gotta eat a little dirt before ya die !

Seriously, the only fruit on sale that has a warning sign advising that chemicals may be present are the grapes... still, I eat them !

The sales staff in Woolies are very courteous and friendly. If I ask for instance, "how are the mandarins this week"?.. quick as a flash, I'm handed one to try. Same thing in their deli... hams, salamis, cabanossi, cheeses etc are all on offer to try.
On another occasion, I bought a punnet of strawberries. When I got home, I served some for desert after dinner. Some of the ones on the bottom were over-ripe and squishy with mould present. I phoned the Woolies shop and told them my sad news.... no problems !
On my shopping trip the next week, I saw the store manager who I spoke to by phone and he gave me two punnets of guaranteed fresh strawberries for free. as a goodwill gesture. The government in Australia have a department Known as the Dept of Fair Trading. They are the watchdog that ensures that shoppers are not ripped off and because our store-owners know this, they always treat us right.

So SifuPhil,.. maybe you should ask the same questions when you go shopping. Maybe your stores aren't as friendly as they could be.
 
terra said:
So SifuPhil,.. maybe you should ask the same questions when you go shopping. Maybe your stores aren't as friendly as they could be.
Click to expand...

Voted as "Understatement of the Week" ! ;)

If I asked "How are the kumquats today?", the 18-year-old clerk would just shrug and give me that stunned-cow look.

blank stare.jpg

Then he'd go back to texting on his iPhone 5 or whatever number they're up to now. Meanwhile the old ladies would be ramming their shopping carts into my keister and the bratty little kids would be tearing packages open next to me because their 500-pound mother is too busy reading the salt content on the bag of Cheetos. :mad:

I'm envious that you have such a friendly place to shop. :D
 
They shut down the Woolworths many years ago by me, here's a photo of an old lunch counter from the 40s. I shop sometimes at Costco, which is a club membership store. They have quite a few samples they give out on certain days and at certain times. I've seen people with no shopping cart, just walk from sample stand to sample stand, and do it all over again. I heard one guy saying that he just worked a block away, and had his "lunch" there almost daily. Guess that's one way to get back your $50 a yr. membership fee. :playful:



A Woolworth's lunch counter in the 1940's.
 
I usually test things like grapes and cherries before I buy it. They are small, and easy to try one first. Somtimes, you can pretty well tell just by looking if something is ripe and fresh, but you can't really tell if it is sweet or sour .
Some stores put out samples of items to try, and I do try those, but I don't just munch my way through the store. I love the free coffee samples the best . I try to treat it like I would want people to do if it were my store, I guess .
The Woolworths stores look almost identical to our Super Walmart ( called Walleys usually) , and the Safeway name is definitely familiar. I haven't seen one here in Alabama, but we had them all over out West.
So, you have your Woolies, and we have our Walleys...
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top