Food Shopping

Food shopping is highly convenient here. Of course, we only purchase what we can carry home. Just downstairs on the ground floor of our apartment is a Gristedes. D' Agostino's, Garden of Eden and Westside Market are all within five to seven blocks away. By NYC standards they are considered large grocery stores. The obvious differences between city and suburban grocery stores: the aisles are narrower here; food is stacked up almost to the ceiling to utilize space; there are smaller carts in which to put groceries. This spatial distinction is always an adjustment when I return to the City. I have not, however, adjusted to seeing mostly Black and Latinos working in the service sector as cashiers and delivery workers. The same social groups that are presently working in this low-waged sector were 20 years ago when I first moved to the City.