Date Night! At the Grocery Store?

Recently I had to go to the grocery store for last-minute items needed for my kids' valentine's day parties at school. The minute I went through the door, I noticed someone shoving paper at the poor guy in front of me, talking about something or other, and I looked for a way to dash by and make my escape. Nothing doin'. A well-dressed guy saw my 2 year old son and offered a balloon, and only an ogre of a mother can resist that, right? As he tied the balloon to the cart, he talked about all the great things that would be going on at the grocery store that night, and then handed me a flyer. The title? "Join us for Date Night!"

At the grocery store?

"Giant will help you create the perfect romantic evening and have fun doing it!" Huh? Exactly what does that mean? Giant's going to have fun helping me create a romantic evening? Poor sentence structure aside, it really just struck me as such an odd thing. Yes, a grocery store can be integral in providing ingredients used for valentine's day celebrations, but really, it's not my idea of a fun place to spend the evening ANYTIME, much less on a "holiday" where I'm supposed to be spending it with my loved ones. But they tried to win me over, what with the "valentine's raffle prizes, flowers, dinners, and more" and the "valentine's cookie decorating for the kids" and who can resist the "Fun & Games including our very own 'Bowling Alley' in the store"?

I guess in this economy, retailers are searching for any idea to draw in customers, but frankly, I think they missed the boat this time. We didn't go bowling in the grocery store. We stayed at home, and made valentine's for each other. I think heartfelt expressions of love do a lot more to alleviate the effects of a down economy than any events the grocery store can dream up.

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Original DC Metro Moms blog post. When she's not bewildered by the grocery store, Mary/FishyGirl blogs at The Fish Pond.