The Commissary: Commodity & Oddity

An easy way to describe a commissary is that it's a military grocery store. In order to even enter the building you have to have a valid government ID or be with someone that does. Your ID is checked at the door and then it's off to the proverbial races. I say that because if you end up going on the 1st or 15th of the month (paydays) you will never make that mistake again. Nor will you decide to go after 1500 when school is out and all of the kids are in tow with frustrated mothers of four trying to steer two grocery carts filled to overflowing.

Don't get me wrong. The commissary is a wonderful commodity to take advantage of. Prices may only be a few cents cheaper but the wonderful thing about it is the commissary takes coupons up to 6 months after their expiration date. Don't throw them away! Send them this way! One time when I was on top of my game I was able to save 18% on one grocery bill. There were even a couple of items they paid ME to take away. If they had a double coupon day then it would be on! Another wonderful thing about it is that you don't pay any sales tax. If it's $2.49 then you pay $2.49.

There's a downside to the commissary here. The bread is just not good. I think they ship it frozen. There's always a weird smell to it when you open the bag and it's always a little stale. The other thing is what I thought I had been missing every time I looked for it. It's the biggest oddity since our arrival here. Our favorite thing to eat for dinner is chicken. It doesn't matter what kind. Just chicken. I went up and down the meat counter of both commissaries here and made a monumental discovery. NO FRESH CHICKEN! Can you believe it?! There is plenty of Tastybird, Tyson, & Foster Farms frozen chicken but you aren't going to find any fresh birds here. I say it's because there's not a good way to ship it here since they obviously have problems with the bread and that should be easier than chicken. Lonnie brought up avian flu. They're kinda up-in-arms about that here...in case you hadn't heard. You know, every now and then when you look around you'll still see people in surgical masks. It's apparent that they haven't just closed on a triple bypass so...there must be another reason.

The other odd thing here? You can't get a gallon of milk. Look all you want...it's not there. What could be the explanation for that? I don't know. The dates are all pretty...well, I think pretty incredible. I had to get milk this morning (27 AUG) and the expiration date is 22 SEP. I think we can go through a 1/2 gallon by then. I think it may be because the 1/2 gallon cartons ship easier and take up less space than the gallon jugs. Oh yes. And hairspray. Where do you get the stuff? It is so slim pickins over here you really wouldn't believe it. Even Lonnie was surprised when I told him that. When we were together at the exchange one day I mentioned it and he went to look saying, "they have to have hair spray!" No, apparently they don't. They do have some but it doesn't hold a candle to the shampoo and conditioner inventory.

So, all I can say about that is this...we miss Chick-Fil-A and fresh chicken. Where's the first place we're going to go when we come back? Chick-Fil-A. I'm going to go to Wal-Mart Super Center just to look at the dates on the milk cartons and pick up a fresh loaf of bread. Then I'm going to go stand in awe looking at the hairspray selection in the Health & Beauty department. After I get what I need I'll hand my expired coupons to the cashier, she'll snicker and say, "these expired 6 months ago!", then I'll pay the total PLUS SALES TAX and be on my way thinking I should've picked up that package of fresh chicken!