Now Let The Hate Festival Begin! (Top Ten Things That I don’t Like about Some Bodegas) Part Three of Six of My Love/Hate Relationship With Bodegas

    Now don’t get me wrong! I’m not at the level of wishing any store ill or anything. As far as I’m concerned there is still always room for improvement. So this is more a critique if anything. 😏

So to start I’m not just going to list bad food or food that I don’t like. I mean this is an opinion piece that I’m writing and with that I understand that these critiques are just that. Opinions. I will however be showcasing what I hate about some Bodegas. The bad habits some Bodegas have are atrocious! (Never-mind the bad habits of some of the customers!)

So let the Hate Festival begin! (Or Strongly disliked as the case may be. 😏)

Number 10

Lotto Players

OMG! I can’t tell you enough how much these people get on my nerves! It’s not about Gambling. 

People are allowed to do what they want with their money. (F.Y.I If you have a Gambling Issue please

 seek help!) However there are some types of Gamblers that come into the store with their little systems to 

win, their “Lucky” numbers, and the Long Ass list of Numbers! Oye! These people!

 I have tolerated these guys for years and I duly understand that it’s not really the store owners fault at all.

 (Mostly.) But this is what they signed up for when these Bodega owners signed up with the NYS Gaming 

Commission. Gamblers with their secret good luck numbers, Elderly people spending up their pensions, 

and me standing in line waiting with my 50 cent Cheese Doodles; (Don’t judge), and my Pineapple soda. 

So it is what it is! 🤷‍♀️

That’s why this last on list after all! 😉

 

 

 

 

Number 9 

Rude Customers

(This issue is sooo not the workers or the owners fault!)

Speaking of people that get on my nerves…

…there are some people who frequent Corner Stores with an air of entitlement and bravado.

There is yelling, cursing, screaming, drunken A-holes, and slow idiots that seem to forget how to order at 

the deli counter even with a list in their hands! (That last one is just a minor pet peeve but eye-rolls are a

 thing that happens from time to time. 😏)

But nothing is as serious as people who are trying to become pioneers at being the world first POC’s 

at being Karens and Karls! From the ones who come in to complain about what’s wrong with their 

Sandwiches to complaining about the prices totaled up. I mean there are going to be slip ups but there is no reason for threats and acts of entitlements. I mean I don’t go to the store to have to be in the middle of a dust up!

Number 8

Self-serve Coffee Stations

Again this is so not an issue that I think is under the control of the workers or owners most of the time. If anything, if the customers want to continue to have the privilege of having a Coffee Station to use they need to step up their A game when it comes to manners.

Not cleaning up after spills of coffee, sugar, cocoa powder, and milk products makes it very hard for the next person to use it and the next person who usually gets to clean up after that Hot Mess is me!

Thanks for that guys! 😏

Number 7

Overly Flirting Employees/Sexual Harassment

Now this is something that I can place firmly on some workers' doorstep! Now don’t get me wrong there are times when a gal like me can give as much as they can dish out. There is nothing wrong with a little mutual flirting. A come on, a little give and take, can make this gals day if a guy approaches me right.

But hey, no means no and if I’m not feeling it you need to step off! 

Number 6

Too Small Stores with Overcrowded Inventory

Now one of the great things about Bodegas can end up being its greatest curse. Stores that are way too small and shove just about everything they can think of to sell can be a bit of a letdown. You might just have been to a Bodega that was so small that it was hard to fit yourself in there. Not enough room to swing a cat around, much less find what you came in for.

I am not of course talking about stores in your local area that utilize the space they rent efficiently. The owners do a great job in making things easy to find and provide great service.

No, the kind of store that I am talking about have narrow aisles, overcrowded with inventory, some with inventory most probably months old, and a musty old smell to boot!

Whenever I step into that kind of store I immediately turn around after scanning the sell by date on a pack of Drake Cakes.

Number 5

Stale Food

Speaking of Drake Cakes and other kinds of foods there is something in my great list of pet peeves that really bakes my biscuits! Stale and spoiled food.

Now I’m not talking about one or two days late. That’s edible! I’m talking spoiled, stale, and just disgusting! Ugh, I can’t even write anymore about it! It fucking up my appetite!

Talk about living in a food desert!

Number 4

Overpriced Goods

Now this is just a mere pet peeve. This has to do with something that is very precious to all of us…

…our pockets!

There are some Bodegas that despite the Middle-Class or Lower Middle Class Neighborhoods that they're in they seem to think we all live near Prospect Park or something! You usually go to Bodegas because it is supposed to be a place to get inexpensive Food, Dry Goods, and Cleaning Supplies. As it is even before the World’s supply lines went tits up there were so many stores that hiked up their prices that one would expect diamonds to fall out of their cans of sweet corn or for their Ham and Cheese sandwiches to be lined with gold leaf!

Number 3

Wanna Bs

Talk about a segue! There are other types of “Bodegas” that are really Bodegas In Name Only and I don’t mean the concept that confuses people about the difference between a Corner Store and an actual Bodega.

These Yuppy, Puppy, stores are so fake! Banking off of the Nostalgia of the best deli foods New York has to offer but charging exorbitant prices. Adding insult to injury they’re not really even a store in some cases. They are; “Sniff”, Cafes.

Go on ahead and purchase from them if you want but please be aware that these BINOs are charging an arm and a leg for something you could get for at least 5 dollars!

 

Number 2

Loud Obnoxious Owners

Ugh! Just like on Number 7 there are some Owners who think that they're all that and a bag of chips! They think that their fish don’t stink and will tell you quite loudly how much you should feel privileged for being allowed to come into the store.

Shouting “Next” at you, yelling at you to hurry up and order at the Deli counter, ready to start a literal fight with you for a myriad of different reasons! Avoid stores like this like the plague, trust me!

Drum roll please…

Number 1

We All Know About the Unclean Deli Area Behind the Counter Guys!

Not all Bodegas are the bastions of cleanliness that we know but there are some that have just given up even trying. Just as I mentioned in Number 6 but worse! Overcrowding your inventory might mean a lack of preparedness or experience. Or even rental space availability might play a part. 

But nothing excuses the issue of Health and Safety! Slicers that haven’t been cleaned between orders, Dirty cleaning cloths, Smudged and Cluttered Deli cases, and Insects running all over the place! Eww, no!

While running out of an Overcrowded store in an instant is one thing, discovering what goes on behind the Deli Counter…