Shopping in New England is strange to me

I acknowledge that most of my readers are not from my hometown. Even still, I can't help but notice these few differences between the west and east coasts every time I go to the grocery store.

It begins when you enter and grab your shopping cart. But wait, it is not a cart on the east coast, it's called a "carriage." I had always thought a carriage was one of those things a horse pulled.

The first section is the produce. Not only is everything twice the price, but identical items are called different things. For example, what would be called a zucchini on the west coast is called a green squash on the east coast. Will hiding its true identity truly cause children to like their veggies any more? No indeed. On the west coast you buy the entire ear of corn and "shuck" it at home. On the east coast, you take the husks and silk off of the corn and leave it to sit in the midst of the rest of the unshucked corn. On the west coast you can buy entire "flats" or "trays" of vegetables. On the east coast you get a little 3 oz container for the same price as the flat. Okay, a slight exaggeration there.

On the east coast there is no "China Express." You west coasters know what I'm talking about.

Proceed to the snack foods. When you reach the carbonated beverages, you'll find a difference in assortment and terminology. First, everyone on the west coast knows that carbonated beverages are called "pop." Duh. Other parts of the country call it "soda," which is acceptable. (Those in the south call all varieties of pop "coke" but we don't need to go there :-) But an east coaster (or, shall we say a New Englander) would call is "soder." Why they add extra "r"s on words I will never know. Most New Englanders don't drink this so called "soder." Rather, they drink seltzer water - flavored or plain. G-R-O-S-S. As a result, half of the "soder" aisle is full of seltzer water.

One thing the east coast does better than the west is its seafood. Sorry, Ivars fans.

Another strange Massachusetts thing is the sale of alcohol. Did you know if you want to buy a bottle of wine for your risotto or beef stew, you have to go to the liquor store to get it? Grocery stores don't sell alcohol in MA except for a select few. I don't know why this bothers me, probably just my pride, but when I go to the liquor store sometimes I hope I don't run into someone I know. When the wine is already at the grocery store and you don't have to make a separate trip, there is something less "shameful" (albeit self imposed) about picking up the wine as just another ingredient for my dinner list. I don't know if anyone else here feels the same way.

My mother tells me that ground beef on the east coast is twice the price of that on the west. I only bought ground beef once or twice on the west coast so I will just take her word for it.

In my hometown, there are free standing espresso stands outside of the grocery stores. So if you want a latte while you shop, stop by the little espresso stand before. The only thing the east coast has resembling this is Dunkin Donuts inside the grocery store. But Dunkin Donuts does NOT know how to do espresso.

This leads to another difference, but not so much with grocery stores. On the west coast, people drink espresso beverages daily. On the east coast, people are more apt to drink black coffee on a daily basis. They might have a latte once a week as a treat (although during my time as an employee at Starbucks, I would say this is rapidly changing). In my hometown the free standing espresso shops are not just outside of grocery stores, but in parking lots and along side busy roads. Starbucks is the most popular chain, but there are more of family-owned shops than Starbucks stores. I miss that.

Also in my hometown, there is a grocery store where the baggers also take your cart out to your car for you, and they even help load your groceries. Let's just say friendliness and going out of the way to be helpful is not the east coaster's strong point.

I am sure there are more differences but these are the ones that come to mind. If I lived in a different country, this list would be ten times as long. But alas, living on the west coast and east coast can be a micro version of living in different countries as far as grocery shopping is concerned.