TUESDAY 26 JUNE 2007 - WORST FIRST AID?

I've been 'en France' again so it's been 10 days since my last trip to Sainsbury's. There's quite a bit to talk about this week so here goes! First, on the way in I had to avoid a Virgin Media stall that had sprung up since my last visit. Luckily they were talking to a potential customer (mug) so I managed to slip by unnoticed. Second, I made a deliberate attempt to see if I could find a Sainsbury's product with 5 reds on the Wheel of Death. I'd already worked out that prepared pies and cakes were likely candidates and I was right! The Melton Mowbray Pork Pies and the chicken pies and steak pies were all 4 reds and an orange, as were the Viennese Whirls but I couldn't find anything with 5 reds. I wonder if there is anything? If you find something let me know please! Perhaps next week I should look for 5 greens - now surely that must be impossible unless it was bottled water or lettuce or something like that? Talking of greens, in the vegetable area I alighted upon a 'pointed cabbage' and indeed it was! I've never seen these before, if it wasn't in the organic range I'd be accusing of Sainsbury's of trying to sell us genetically modified vegetables. Of course, as everyone knows, the real name for these is 'Brassica Oleracea L. var. Capitata' and apparently they originate from some cross breeding in Germany in the late 20th century. Gulp! Doesn't this have a familiar ring to it? Whatever, I guess the ultimate in genetic modification would be cubed cabbages (ie cabbages in the shape of a cube) as these would pack perfectly into boxes with no air and wouldn't roll about on the shelves generally making a nuisance of themselves. Next, over the meat counter there was a banner with 'Best of British' on it. Now, as you know, I'm worried about Sainsbury's’ use of the word 'British' so I took a closer look. The chops and other meat on the left of the counter had 'Produced in UK' on their labels whereas the Scottish beef had 'Origin UK' on it. My goodness, this sounds fishy (or meaty perhaps?). I have an awful sneaking feeling that the 'Produced in UK' is not British meat at all but has had something minor done to it in the UK so that Sainsbury's can say 'Produced in the UK'. I've e-mailed Customer Services about this - I'll let you know the outcome. If it does indeed turn out not to be British meat at all I will be apopeltic, aplotetic ... very cross! Anyway, I mustn't jump the gun but I'm not holding my breath. Now, here's a bit of useless information for you. Justin King (Mr King to you and I) drives a Maserati according to the Sunday Times. There is clearly money to be made in running a shop! I guess this explains why he has yet to visit my local Sainsbury's - it would probably get stuck going over all the bumps and humps in the car park and despite the ParkMark award I bet somebody would do some mischief to it. Don't be put off though Mr King - you can always park at my place and we'll get the bus down. Now, checkout 24. Regular readers will know that this the only real checkout (ie not baskets only, 5 items or less) that I haven't been through and recently there has been all manner of junk on it and by it - a broken chair, piles of magazines etc etc. Well, today it was clear and looking every inch like a checkout waiting to be used! I'll keep my fingers crossed although there isn't long to go now, probably only 5 or 6 visits what with my holidays coming up and so on. Great excitement whilst I was in the checkout queue. Over the public address there came an announcement 'First Aiders to the checkouts please' (I must admit I don't recall hearing public address announcements before, perhaps this is something new?). I looked up and down the checkouts expecting to see someone suffering from shock at seeing the bill or finding that the Nectar card had been left behind or some other serious ailment but it wasn't until I'd left the store that I spotted the culprit (or perhaps I mean patient?). A young girl was sitting on one of the benches looking very pale and sipping water with 3 First Aiders giving her helpful advice like 'Don't try and move'. Now, I'm not an expert in First Aid but 'Don't try and move' doesn't seem particularly helpful to me, although I'm sure the Aider was doing his best. Actually I'm surprised that Sainsbury's can provide any form of First Aid under Health & Safety Legislation because if, in fact, the worst thing this girl could have done was not move then Sainsbury's could well have been liable? Interesting. Or perhaps not. Anyway, the moral is - don't get ill in Sainsbury's, hold on a bit longer and go round the corner to Boots and get ill there, preferably next to the pharmacy counter! So, that's pretty much it for this week, other than to tell you that during my time off from Sainsbury's (for good behaviour) I bought some petrol and claimed some Nectar points with the result that the closing balance on my last Sainsbury's bill of 1961 points turned into an opening balance of 1991 points on this bill. Now, on the basis of 2 points for every £ spent this means I bought £15 of petrol but I thought I bought more than this ...? I really ought to check it out but you'll be pleased to know I've 'moved on' from Nectar points.

Items bought 23
Cost £34.64
Average cost per item £1.51
Checkout number 21 (twice in a row!)
Nectar points 2059