Let’s be honest, there’s a major language difference between foodies and non-foodies. Those who are well-acquainted with the kitchen know the difference between a soon-to-ripe mango and one that will be rock hard for weeks. Or the major distinction between red onions, white onions, and green onions — which do not look like the others at all. Plus, it’s very common for a foodie wife to send her non-foodie husband to the store for brown sugar and he’ll return with demerara sugar — because it also looks brown. This kind of relatable story repeats itself over and over. However, this woman took no such chance with the grocery list she made for her husband — and it’s hilarious.
The Most Comprehensive Grocery List Ever
Era Londhe is an artist who lives in India with her husband Gaurav. And she made the most comprehensive list for his grocery stop and posted it on her Twitter. At first, it looks normal with items like tomatoes, onion, and potatoes, but each item has its entire subcategory. This includes precise colors, illustrations of the shape of peppers, a size chart for potatoes, weight, and textures. Era was not messing around, and she wanted the exact products she wanted, something many exasperated people could relate to. [1]
Moreover, Era explains in an interview with HuffPost that she and Gaurav take turns grocery shopping every other week. She is a “foodie” who “lives to eat.” Meanwhile, her husband is more the type who “eats to live.” So she made her detailed list to help with the produce section. While some comments complained that her list was condescending, her husband doesn’t think so, and that’s what is important. In fact, he had posted the list to LinkedIn before she put it on Twitter.
“This is how we have been making our shopping lists for the last four to five months now,” Era said. “It has been working well.” [2]
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Some Spouses Shouldn’t Grocery Shop…
Here’s an example of the opposite extreme. Emilia Donaldson made the mistake of sending her husband grocery shopping with no list. She posted pictures of his haul on Facebook, which included an exorbitant amount of pasta with only one jar of tomato sauce, six packs of hot dog buns, enough meat to last the apocalypse (including 30 hot dogs to match the buns), and too many frozen products to fit in their freezer. And five pounds of tater tots. The produce sections included a small container of blueberries and two tomatoes. The entire grocery shop totaled $322.71.
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“He’s the absolute sweetest, so I simply thanked him, but I’ll casually be ordering online from now on,” she concluded her post. [3]
Read: What Food Product Came Out the Year You Were Born?
Another Way to Make a Shopping List
Alternatively, Emilia could make a list as detailed as Era’s. Or take a leaf out of Melinda’s look from the popular Instagram page “marriage and martinis”. There, she posted a video titled “Making my husband a grocery list.” The list includes things like produce, chicken, cereal, butter, etc. But instead of writing each item out, Melinda pastes pictures of the items onto a sheet of paper. There’s no mistaking the particular brands and types she wanted, from Honey Nut Cheerios to Lay’s Kettle Cooked chips. Like Era, she’s not leaving things to chance by writing “cereal” and “chips”. [4]
For those who don’t have the patience to do arts and crafts for every grocery list, you could do it digitally. Simply Google-search the products you want, screenshot them, and send them via text or email. Or you could put them on a Word doc and then print it. It’s not as cute, but it saves time. Of course, you could also take a leaf out of Era’s book and add a detailed description for products that might be confusing. And if the list fails, there’s always the old reliable phone call and video call to help a beleaguered shopping partner out.
Keep Reading: 40 Food Charts That Might Change The Way You See Your Food
Sources
- “When you don’t trust your husband with grocery shopping, here’s what you do.” Hindustan Times. Atisha Jain. September 26, 2017
- “This Wife’s Grocery List For Her Husband Is Hilariously Extra.” HuffPost. Suzy Strutner. September 26, 2017
- “This Husband’s Questionable Grocery Haul Will Absolutely Make You Laugh.” Pop Sugar. Murphy Moroney. May 31, 2020
- “Woman Makes ‘Detailed’ Grocery List For Husband; Internet Calls It ‘Genius‘.” NDTV. Somdatta Saha. August 26, 2021
