Is it just me, or is there an unspoken code that every Lubbock local follows the moment they walk into a grocery store?

Photo by Raquel Martínez on Unsplash

You can move away from here for 15 or 20 years, but the second you start pushing a cart through United, the muscle memory of Lubbock shopping trips kicks in like you’d never been anywhere else at all. A grocery trip in Lubbock isn’t just shopping — it’s more like social anthropology (with a dash of samples if you’re at Costco on the right day.)

Photo by Marie-Michèle Bouchard on UnsplashRule #1

You will see someone you know in the store. Whether it’s your ex, your neighbor, your preacher, or your boss, Lubbock grocery stores are where past lives collide. If you think you can get away with wearing your hair up in a messy bun and throwing on some house shoes, you’re wrong. The grocery store can turn into the red carpet at the worst possible moment.

Photo by John Cameron on UnsplashRule #2

Small talk at the checkout line isn’t optional in Lubbock. It even confused my pal visiting from overseas recently. “Do you talk to all the strangers in town that you don’t know?” “Yes. Yes, I do. It’s a thing here.” Whether you’re chatting about the recent game or grocery store prices, you have to make small talk.

Photo by David Clarke on UnsplashRule #3

This is the most important rule of them all, and one that unfortunately hasn’t made it to the back of the room, so listen up. Your shopping cart belongs in the car corral after you’ve finished loading your groceries in the car. You don’t just push it into a dark corner of the parking lot. PUT IT AWAY. And, shame on anyone you come across who doesn’t take number 3 seriously.

Photo by Maria Lin Kim on Unsplash

There you have it, folks. In Lubbock, grocery shopping isn’t just about the food; it’s also about the community, and of course, the art of pretending you didn’t just buy 3 boxes of wine and 16 frozen pizzas when you catch your heart doctor out of the corner of your eye at checkout.

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