Shopping at Aldi

Well hello again and welcome to any new readers to my mind numbing blog. In the village where I live we used to have a supermarket. It was part of chain called Kwik Save and latterly Somerfield. To international readers, these names will no doubt be meaningless unless you have spent some time in this septic isle.

This is something of a generalisation but you always felt like you needed a shower after you came out of the store as it was grubby and generally unfriendly. I must add that this wasn't the reaction just coming out of our local emporium but of all of the ones in these chains that I ever went into. It was very much a case of stack 'em high and sell 'em cheap.

As a customer, the staff always seemed to make you feel very unwelcome. It was almost as if you were an inconvenience in the middle of their chat about what happened in last night's soap or what the latest headline was in one of those celeb magazines that are all the rage, allegedly, in this country.

Last year Somerfield were bought out by the Cooperative who already had an established network of small supermarkets. So the site of the one in our village was bought by Aldi. Aldi are one of a number of continental European supermarket chains who sell produce cheaply, avoid big brand names and who also have for sale each week a variety of quirky items. Others of the type are Lidl and Netto. I first came across Aldi a number of years ago when a PC was advertised for about half the price that was being charged anywhere else.

These outlets don't accept credit card payments but take cash and will accept some debit cards. Essentially if you've got the money they will sell their goods to you. In the current economic times this is an exceptionally sensible approach to business.

Since the Aldi has opened here in sunny Cleckhuddersfax I have been down a number of times and have made a number of startling discoveries and revelations. Firstly none of the staff from the previous owners appear to still be there. The new staff are friendly and helpful and smile. This is also the case in the other Aldi shop that I have been into. The aisle where the weeks quirky offerings are kept is a box of delights which contains things that you wouldn't expect in most supermarkets power tools (not just small but industrial sized), skiing equipment and accessories. It is actually a good deal of fun just browsing with nobody pressurising you to make a sale.

Then when you have made your purchases you go to the till and you just put your stuff back in the trolley rather than pack it at the till. The staff are quick and efficient. If memory serves me correctly, on the one occasion I went into a Lidl store (which I won't do again because I didn't like it) the staff knew the price of everything and just entered it onto the till.

If you have an Aldi near you try it you might actually enjoy the shopping experience again. But please try not to come to my shop people are discovering the pleasures of shopping there and the aisles were actually quite busy when I last went in.

Argument, media and other stuff

Well hello everyone.

I was in the chaplaincy at a university today and overheard a conversation between two students. One was a student who was now onto possibly his third course and hadn't liked any of them. Perhaps he is not destined for university and would have been happier on another path. The students were debating as to how they should argue with others about the rights and wrongs of their faith. This struck me as the wrong approach to be taking. People who don't agree with you are never going to be convinced by your position if you argue with them. A priest once delivered a sermon about taking ourselves too seriously. Many people of faith are far too quick to condemn things which they have not actually got any experience of but somebody told them they should be condemning that type of thing.

A classic example of this is Monty Python's Life of Brian. There is a classic clip of John Cleese and Michael Palin in conversation with two representatives of the Church of England. You could almost see the frustration of the two comics at the inability of their adversaries to grasp the central issue of the film which is that it isn't about Jesus. Whenever there is a debate on a matter of morals and faith the radio stations always seem to find the most extreme exponents of a particular faith. When these people are trotted out people naturally assume that all people of faith are like them, which isn't true. The point, which I will get to, is that certainty is dangerous at times. If you have the mindset that I am right and that everybody who doesn't agree with me is wrong then you are in fact part of the problem and lack a certain amount of humility. This applies to scientists as well as those of faith.

On to lighter matters. I tried The Handmaid's Tale and won't be repeating the experience, The book was slow to get going and would, in my opinion, have benefitted from a prologue explaining how we had got to where we were. In films I have watched three new films since I last posted. First is the comic book adaptation, Watchmen. The original author has, as usual, insisted that his name is nowhere near the film. It is good entertainment and if you like that sort of thing you won't be too disappointed. Next is Son of Rambow. This is a fairly gentle comedy set in the 1980s in Britain. I was expecting it to be a little more lively but as somebody who grew up in Britain in the 1980s it did resonate a bit with me. It is a wonderful little film and well worth a couple of hours of your time. Lastly as hinted in my last post I watched Seraphim Falls. It is a slow burner of a Western revenge film. Set after the Civil War in America, the film charts the pursuit of a Union Colonel played by Pierce Brosnan. The posse is led by Liam Neeson who is out for revenge over the death of his family at the hands of Brosnan's troops. The cast is littered with actors who you will go "Oh I remember him he was in....". In particular there are brief appearances from the magnificent Wes Studi and Anjelica Huston, who may or may not be playing Lucifer. Again it is worth a look.

On another issue I would like to commend Dominic Lawson's article about faith schools in the Independent on Tuesday 2nd March 2010.

Toodles