Day 19: Losing Costco

First, let me say I am still not over the fact that I had to relive Day 18 of my diet again.  Having said that, I have decided to press forward . . . .

I am a real fan of Costco.  There is something about a place where you can buy a gallon of cream or 18 Danishes that I like.  Emily and I have had a long-standing tradition of going to Costco on Fridays, which is my day off.  We usually go around 10:30, taste all of the samples, wait in the inordinately long line while Elsie either screams or charms the cashiers, then I get a hot dog and Coke.  When going to Costco, a good time is had by all.

For one reason or another, I haven’t been to Costco for a few weeks.  So today, when Emily said she had to stop by to pick a few things up, I was ready and excited.   Like most things though, I act first and think later.  Once we got to Costco, I did not have so much of a fun time.  I realized it would not be so fun about 15 seconds after getting there.  That was about when I was offered my first sample, some kind of new granola bar.  In total, I missed out on eight high-quality samples today:  the granola bar, pumpkin pie, fresh baked bread, turkey (deli slices), bagel bites (kind of a frozen pizza on miniature bagels), cheesecake, bread with spinach dip, and sausage (Aidells, which is very good by the way).   I did break down and taste one sample, a really good crab dip on a club cracker (I only ate the half of the cracker with the dip, I gave the other half to Elsie, who threw it on the ground). 

It was highly disappointing to walk around and ignore all of the people giving samples.  Over the years I have become friends with a few of them, so they just didn’t understand when I walked by without making eye contact.  Jim, who did the bagel bites, seemed particularly torn apart when I did not even stop.  He kind of yelled at me “Bagel Bites!  The world famous frozen pizza on a bagel!”  Yes, he actually said “world famous,” and yes, he used "world famous" in the same sentence as "frozen pizza on a bagel."  I have no idea if they actually are world famous, but he seemed to make a compelling case, because about ten people swarmed his little kiosk for a sample.  Anyway, I had to just walk by old Jim, and I don’t think he appreciated it. 

After waiting in the long, long line to check out, we walked right by the food court, which is conveniently located right before the exit of the Costco.  There, I saw people eating pizza, hot dogs, frozen ice cream bars dipped in chocolate and almonds, and (of course) drinking Coca-Colas.  In other words, people were EATING MY FOOD.  I was not happy about it, but there was simply nothing I could do.  I just had to walk by, the wafting scent of the Hebrew National hot dogs (the best hotdogs ever) and pizza sauce drifting into my nostrils.

As we walked out, I told Emily she would be going to Costco alone next week.  I have been pretty strong so far, but I just see no need to torture myself every Friday morning.  Who knew that I would be losing so much more than just weight on this diet. . . .