Another Reason I Love Trader Joe's!

I could go on and on about all the reasons I love Trader Joe's - the freshness of the food, the low prices for organic, the unique items (e.g., spicy dried mango or dried mangosteen), the cheap wine. But the best reason by far is their outstanding, boundary-breaking customer service.

I've told many of my friends the story of a time when I was in the checkout buying an unusual item, and the checker asked me if I had tried said item. I replied that I had tried a similar item, but didn't like it, so I was going to test out this new option. She promptly rang her bell and received approval from the manager to give me full credit for the item I bought previously - I had no receipt, no box, no proof whatsoever that I had ever even purchased the item! Further, she informed me that I could always ask a Trader Joe's employee to open any item and let me try it there in the store before purchasing! Wow!

Here is yet another story about their outstanding customer service - they gave a woman a free turkey simply because they felt sorry for her!

Don't Get Me Started

...on nutrition!  Ah, one of my favorite topics, and one of the least favorite topics of those who know me.  I admit, I can be a tad (no need to be brutal with me here people, I know what you will say) preachy about the need to have a healthy diet.  It has not helped that I recently caught the tragic story, Half-Ton Mom, on TLC and the disgustingly graphic special Science of Obesity on the National Geographic channel.  I almost had to turn off the Science of Obesity during the part when they showed an MRI of an obese woman with 60 lbs of rotted food in her intestines.  The Dairy Queen hot fudge sundae suddenly felt very heavy in my stomach (I admit, pregnancy has robbed me of my normally fastidious diet - count me in as one of the guilty, gluttonous Americans).

Thank you to my colleague at work for giving me more fodder with which to torture friends and family.  New York Times author Michael Pollan wrote an article in which he makes the case for taking a more pointed look at eating habits in America as part of health care reform.   Here, here!

Which reminds me of another favorite I need to add to my list.  Although I am not a big fan of juice (try to push water or milk on my poor child whenever possible), I do like the concept behind this product, The Switch, which is apparently being advocated as a soda replacement in some schools.  Still as many calories and nearly as much sugar as soda, but at least it is natural and has some redeeming qualities.

Now where did I put that Aspartame infused, Venezuela-declared "health threat" Coke Zero of mine?