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This has nothing to do with the pictures I'm posting today, but I wanted to mention it. A few days ago, I went over to the Intermarché supermarket on the other side of the river from our house. I had just a few little things to pick up — a couple of ripe avocados, a package of Mexican tortillas, a head of broccoli, some cheese, some tomatoes and some eggs. As I was walking through the frozen foods section of the store, I noticed a young woman, maybe 20 years old, stocking a freezer where frozen vegetables are kept. For a while, I'd had a question for the people who stock that part of the store, so I asked her. Do you know where I can find some frozen blettes? I'd like to buy some.
If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll know what blettes are. We grew them in our vegetable garden for several years and I've posted about blettes many times — they are called Swiss chard in the U.S. They are a lot like spinach, which is sold frozen in every supermarket in France. I like the leaves, and they have a slightly different taste compared to spinach.
The young woman looked at me like I might be a Martian. She asked me to say the word two or three times before calling for help from one of her co-workers, who was re-stocking a different freezer cabinet. The other clerk came over to see what was going on and I asked her the same question. Do you stock blettes surgelées? She looked at me wide-eyed. Are you saying blettes? Oui, blettes, lui ai-je répondu. I don't know what you're talking about! was her response.
At that point, I saw an older woman who works in the store. She was watching us carefully and trying to figure out what we were talking about. What's the problem, she asked. No problem, I said. I was just asking if I might be able to find some frozen blettes in one of the freezer cases. Et ces jeunes filles ne savent pas ce que c'est que des blettes, n'est-ce pas? Ça ne m'étonne pas. Les jeunes d'aujourd'hui ne connaisssent pas les blettes. Ils n'en ont jamais mangé.
A young man who was stocking other shelves nearby came over at that point. What's going on, he said. The older woman asked him in French if he knew what blettes were. What? he said, looking mystified. Blettes. I've never heard of them. What are they? At that point, the older employee called me to one side, and sort of whispered in my ear: The big produce market over in Saint-Aignan often has fresh blettes in stock. Check there. Fresh vegetables are better than frozen anyway. It was as if she didn't want other store employees to hear her recomending that I shop elsewhere.
If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll know what blettes are. We grew them in our vegetable garden for several years and I've posted about blettes many times — they are called Swiss chard in the U.S. They are a lot like spinach, which is sold frozen in every supermarket in France. I like the leaves, and they have a slightly different taste compared to spinach.
The young woman looked at me like I might be a Martian. She asked me to say the word two or three times before calling for help from one of her co-workers, who was re-stocking a different freezer cabinet. The other clerk came over to see what was going on and I asked her the same question. Do you stock blettes surgelées? She looked at me wide-eyed. Are you saying blettes? Oui, blettes, lui ai-je répondu. I don't know what you're talking about! was her response.
At that point, I saw an older woman who works in the store. She was watching us carefully and trying to figure out what we were talking about. What's the problem, she asked. No problem, I said. I was just asking if I might be able to find some frozen blettes in one of the freezer cases. Et ces jeunes filles ne savent pas ce que c'est que des blettes, n'est-ce pas? Ça ne m'étonne pas. Les jeunes d'aujourd'hui ne connaisssent pas les blettes. Ils n'en ont jamais mangé.
A young man who was stocking other shelves nearby came over at that point. What's going on, he said. The older woman asked him in French if he knew what blettes were. What? he said, looking mystified. Blettes. I've never heard of them. What are they? At that point, the older employee called me to one side, and sort of whispered in my ear: The big produce market over in Saint-Aignan often has fresh blettes in stock. Check there. Fresh vegetables are better than frozen anyway. It was as if she didn't want other store employees to hear her recomending that I shop elsewhere.
That is very bizarre. I’ll make a point of checking our Intermarché next week. Hope you’re feeling better, the wrist pain has subsided or is under control, and that you’re looking forward to a cosy and warm Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI would bet that the store has 100 varieties of cheese.
ReplyDeleteHa! Not about food, but similar... I went to Target a year or so ago, looking for a portable CD player... the Target website said they carried one model. I wasn't finding it in the department where you'd expect it to be, so I asked the young man (maybe 17 or 18 years old) if they carried a CD player. He kept looking at me with confusion, and I repeated it several times, and he finally just said, no, he'd never seen anything like that in the store! Ha! I guess he was born during the streaming era, and that's all he knows (though, you know... when new music is released these days, they still sell it as CDs... Taylor Swift's latest album was available as a CD, a CASSETTE (!!), and as a vinyl album (but... I think they were trying to cash in on the collector market... those Swifties will buy anything marketed with her name on it).
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking I might try to grow some chard/blettes next year. In the past, we've had good luck growing them. As for CDs, we've got about 500 of them in boxes in a closet up in the loft. I haven't figured out how to get rid of them. Over the course of one winter years ago, I ripped them all onto hard disks as MP3 files and that's how we listen to the music now, in iTunes or Windows Media Player.
DeleteMaybe you can donate those cds somewhere. I see them in our thrift stores.
DeleteThat is the strangest and funniest story! We have Swiss chard in our local markets - I've seen it. Those young employees need to expand their horizon!
ReplyDeleteKids these days…sheesh. C.
ReplyDelete