I’m devastated! I’m crushed! I’m so disillusioned! Before I explain why, let me give you some background:

Today is April 13th, Friday, April 13th to be exact and it started out being a “Lucky” day! Michael and I winged our way from Kansas City to Rochester, New York to attend Krista and David’s renewal of their vows (aka an official wedding post Iraq!). I blogged about Krista and David on March 25th (once again, I present the Cliff’s Notes version of a past blog: Krista is our niece; she met David in the Reserves; they got engaged; Krista’s unit was called up to Iraq; they were married by a priest prior to deployment; Krista is back, toting Purple Heart and Bronze Star; now we’re having the “official” wedding; Krista is being redeployed to Iraq…). It is very cold in Rochester—still not an unlucky thing—we left brrrrr cold KC. We attended the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner, and we planned to go to…………….drum roll, please…………WEGMANS!!!

You remember Wegmans, don’t you? (See Feb. 23 blog) I salivate just saying the word, Wegmans—-Wegmans, Wegmans, Wegmans—oooohhh! Six of us plan this exciting outing–Michael, me, Sandy and Chuck (Michael’s sister and brother-in-law), and John and Diane (cousins). Six normal looking adults, of apparent sound mind and body, headed out to Wegmans. You may know Rochester for Eastman Kodak, Rochester Institute of Technology, or proximity to Corning. I think Rochester’s biggest claim to fame is being the birthplace of Wegmans! Based on a recommendation from a local Rochesterian, we eagerly drove (thank you John for having a GPS) to the food mecca. We raced inside and there it was…

…a not particularly clean, boringly stocked (i.e. no pretty displays), large supermarket. Greeting us at the front door was the produce section with a display of broccoli remnants and a few tomatoes. Nobody was stocking the display. It just sat there–forlorn, neglected, alone. “Oh no!” cried the grocery goddess and food know-it-all that lives in my head, “Tell me this isn’t so!” “Not to worry!” the hopeful child inside admonished, “Let’s look at the yummy pasteries in the bakery!” Off we went to explore the bakery section. Adults, please, if you have a child reading this, you may want them to look away because the next words may be offensive and graphic—-the doughnut trays were half *#h)ptH  *#)$& empty!!! Okay, there I’ve said it. I’m not proud of my reaction and yet I have to be honest! Even the flower section was paltry by Wegmans standards.

The average person, not already used to the high quality of food and displays at the Wegmans in Hunt Valley, MD, may have been impressed (except for the barren broccoli display). After all, we were still in a very large, well stocked supermarket, but it just wasn’t that over the top, oh my God I want to shop there, aesthetically spectacular experience I remember. It was just another supermarket and who wants to roam around a grocery store after dinner on a Friday night? Wegmans, what happened to you? Are you experiencing PMS (plain, mediocre supermarket)? Is this a temporary situation or is Thomas Wolfe correct, “You can’t go home again?”