...

 CS> The 'freshness' aspect expected by the shoppers is *much*
 CS> higher here and one buys in smaller quantities and uses the
 CS> fresh up to get more.  From pure observation, I'd say the
 CS> average Japanese person shops for groceries 3 times a week
 CS> and 2 other times will drift by the local grocery corner
 CS> sites to 'see whats there' and get a little something.  If
 CS> you want 'fish on friday' a USA person might get it 2 weeks
 CS> ahead and freeze it.  A Japanese person would buy it no
 CS> earlier than Thursday for a Friday meal.

 That's how I shop. Maybe even more often.

 So, all this time I didn't know I was Japanese.

 Actually... to be honest...

 Before I met my current wife, I dated a woman, for a short
 while, who suggested I should make fewer trips to the store and
 get more of what I need each trip. Some time after I stopped
 dating her I was at the store late at night, and looked at the
 personell working at that time. I thought there are all these
 people I know. Suddenaly I realized I know more people at that
 store than any other place except church and work. There was
 nothing going on at church that late, and I wasn't driving all
 the way out to the plant just to socialize.

 I had to face it, Krogers was my social life. Well... sorta.

BOB KLAHN bob.klahn{at}sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

... The less they pay you the more they want for it.  Metzger's law.
 * Silver Xpress V4.5/P [Reg]
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5