Category Archives: solving problems

Costco

One of my friends today posted about how Costco solved all of her problems.

I don’t think I could ever make such a claim. Not only has Costco not solved all of my problems, it hasn’t even solved some of them. In fact, for me, I believe it has created some problems.

I don’t dislike Costco. I just never have enough things to buy. There aren’t enough items on my regular grocery list that need to be bought in 200 piece lots to warrant my going there and waiting in line for an hour. Every time I have gone there, under the impression that I surely need 25 jars of peanut butter or 18 loaves of bread, I ended up being *that* person in line with one item (albeit one very large item).

So I guess that is when the problem part happens. I come home with a year’s supply of kitty food, and I haven’t the slightest clue what to do with it (hint: it goes stale before the cats get to it). Or I buy a six months supply of diapers and my kids outgrow them before we even make it half way through the pack.

One time Trish showed up to my house for dinner with what appeared to be an industrial sized bottle of vodka. I am seriously not exaggerating when I tell you it took me 3.5 years to get through this thing. And this was *after* hosting several parties, including my 25th birthday where about 40 people showed up. Hardly put a dent in this thing. Ok, so maybe this wasn’t such a problem. But still.

I suppose Costco makes sense for large families or for people who go through certain items at a very brisk pace. I mean, if they sold Starbucks coffee, I would be an avid shopper. I can drink enough coffee for three people at an alarmingly brisk pace. And for all I know they may have started selling Keurig coffee there since I last went. In fact, considering convenience stores in shady neighborhoods sell Keurig coffee these days, I am pretty sure Costco got in on it too. This should tell you how long it’s been since I have gone to Costco.

Actually it’s been so long that maybe I should give it another try. I won’t be overly optimistic; Costco is certainly not going to solve all of my problems. It probably won’t even solve most of my problems. But it might solve my insatiable coffee problem. How appropriate – baby steps at problem solving from a store that sells giant everything else.