Grocery shopping is nothing new to us, however there are those that have a strange, if not unnatural fondness for scanning the ads for deals, waiting in line and forgetting our reusable bags at home. Shopping comes naturally to me. I enjoy the hunt, or maybe it's the gathering. ...

The holiday season makes me keenly aware of my shopping surroundings. Maybe it's just plain survival mode. There are three times as many shoppers filling the stores than usual, which is odd to me. Who are they? Where do they come from? What bus pulled up front and let all these people out?

These people I encounter from mid-November through December while shopping are clearly zombie-like pod people, keenly UNAWARE of their surroundings. This of course does not include you. Folks that read this column would never do the things I am about to mention. You are polite, patient, forgiving and helpful. Right?

I don't even need to get out of the car to find my first gripe. We all want to park as close to the entrance as possible. Most of the time I am pretty lucky. There are about 10 good parking spots, strangely even closer than the handicapped spots, that are highly coveted, and rarely available.

It never fails. I will watch someone sit and wait for one of those golden parking spots for minutes, rather than take one slightly further down that's readily available. God forbid you walk that underused backside a few more steps than hover and glare at the person trying to back-out.

Next, I walk into the foyer and get my cart. Be sure to sanitize that handle. Can you imagine some mothers let their babies teethe on those things? Uhg. And don't you love it when people just stop in the entrance as they fumble through their coupons or reposition their children in the cart?

Please don't leave your cart unattended in the shopping aisle. There is precious little space in a grocery store. Don't add to the problem. And when will they get rid of those carts that look like cartoon cars? Please don't use them. You want us to like you, right?

Do I need to mention the people who try to sneak 20 items through the 12-item checkout? Why don't more checkers use the powers they were anointed with to fix that abuse? Don't even get me started on how slow some of those checkers are. I'm convinced it's a conspiracy.

Oh, there are so many more gripes I have, but my love for grocery shopping outweighs them all. If you have a few, feel free to add them. In the mean time, have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!