[Blindtlk] Grocery shopping, and transportation questions

Fri Oct 8 22:54:11 UTC 2010

hello Kerri I am Cheryl, and I am in Long Island, NY. I am also an officer of the Long Island Affiliate.

I love going food shopping, I am a foodie, but I can get carried away.

What I usually do is with the canned and box stuff (frozen, dairy, etc, etc) I use Delivery Service either Peapod.com or Waldbaums.com I believe Peapod.com is a more nationwide service, and Waldbaums.com is more for long island, ny.

I go to there websites pick what I want and have them deliver and carry into the house, I am sure they will bring them upstairs for you as well.

With the fresh stuff which is much lighter, I just go once a week, since I also work from home it gets me away from the computer and out for some fresh air with the guide dog.  I use the reusable bags that you can purchase for $1 or $2 at the grocery store.  

I am sure that you big chain grocery store in your area does have some kind of grocery service, and yes they pick what you want and not what they want.

And if there is a problem, they credit my account for the next time.

By the way Kerri, I am also the moderator of the Blind-Cooks Talk list another fine Talk List on the nfbnet.org list serve so come join us as well.

The biggest compliment you can pay me is to recommend my services!

Cheryl Echevarria 
http://Echevarriatravel.com<http://echevarriatravel.com/>
1-866-580-5574
Reservations at echevarriatravel.com<mailto:Reservations at echevarriatravel.com>

Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Montrose Travel CST-1018299-10
Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Absolute Cruise and Travel Inc.

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  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Kerri Kosten<mailto:kerrik2006 at gmail.com> 
  To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list<mailto:nabs-l at nfbnet.org> ; Blind Talk Mailing List<mailto:blindtlk at nfbnet.org> 
  Sent: Friday, October 08, 2010 6:43 PM
  Subject: [Blindtlk] Grocery shopping, and transportation questions

  Hi All:

  I have some more questions about grocery shopping and transportation.
  Instead of making two separate posts, I figured I'd just put all my
  questions in one post...they are somewhat related to each other.

  I'll start with the grocery shopping questions.

  In the apartment building I live in, there is no elevator.
  Unfortunately I live on the third floor, which is up four flights of
  steps. What is the best way to carry lots of groceries up the steps?
  Would it be okay, when having lots of groceries to set some of the
  bags on the floor in the hallway by the door, go up with as much as I
  can carry, then come back for the rest? Is there any better way to
  carry groceries than in the plastic bags the grocery bagger puts them
  in? I've been told about burlap sacks that you can carry on your
  shoulder...does this reduce the load much? I want to make this as easy
  as possible.

  How often do you usually go grocery shopping? When you go, do you just
  get the things you absolutely need, and keep the load as little as
  possible or do you usually take advantage of the fact you are at the
  store and get lots of stuff?

  My next questions are about transportation. I live in a college town.
  I guess it's your typical college town. It's big enough to be
  considered a small city or large town...we have five Krogers, four or
  more Walmarts...tons of restaurants and bars, two malls...two movie
  theaters. It isn't a major city though.

  We do have a bus system but I've never been encouraged to use it. I've
  just been expected to take cabs everywhere.

  One of the problems though is that the town is not really a walking
  town...there are parts of it you can walk in but not very many. When
  things/places are built, often pedestrian accessibility is left out.

  There doesn't seem to be any blind people; there is no NFB chapter.
  So, naturally the majority of the people, including most of the
  students drive. From what I've read on their website, the bus covers
  many areas, but usually until only 6 o'clock, unless it's downtown
  where the students are. I don't live downtown though. Because of this,
  I find myself having to take cabs almost everywhere. Cabs here are
  about $5-6 each way. Is this normal for a college town? Is this
  expensive for a cab?

  Are my only options to either take the bus when it is available or take cabs?

  Should I just not worry about the expense and take cabs when and wherever?

  Is learning to use the bus hard or is it as simple as calling and
  asking the right questions?

  >From what I can tell, from where I live, in order to take the bus
  again since I'm not in the downtown student area I will have to take
  two buses to get anywhere and it usually takes about two hours. Is
  this normal for a large town/small city?

  The closest major city to me is Pittsburgh. There is a bus that goes
  there twice. In order to take a grayhound bus, or AM track train you
  have to somehow get to Pittsburgh. Is the bus going twice daily
  reasonable?

  For those of you who live in college towns similar to this how do you
  find a balance between taking cabs, using family and friends, and
  taking the bus?

  What is the cost monthly of owning a vehicle compared to taking cabs
  all the time? I'm sorry to ask this...I've never been told.

  I guess I am just asking these questions because I want to make sure
  I'm not getting screwed so to speak. I don't mind taking cabs, but
  sometimes I feel like I'm just automatically expected to spend the
  money just because...if you know what I mean by that! I've been told
  owning a vehicle is several hundreds of dollars a month when the cost
  of maintaenance, car payments, insurance, and gas is added up but
  again these have just been from sighted people who don't take cabs. It
  seems like most other blind people I know don't take cabs unless they
  absolutely have to and I hate having to do it all the time. In one
  sense I feel like I'm being told to go ahead, don't worry about it,
  owning a vehicle is expensive too...but then on the other hand so many
  blind people don't seem to like doing it. I know each town is
  different...but if I want to go somewhere and it's after 6 and the bus
  doesn't go are cabs or family/friends my only options? I've never gone
  completely broke or run out of money by taking cabs but again...I feel
  as if I'm getting mixed messages and I want to make sure I'm doing the
  right/best thing. From where I live you can't walk anywhere as there
  are several things across the street but it's not actually a street
  but a major six-lane highway...so walking is out. I'm not married and
  live alone. Do those of you who live in towns like this find
  yourselves having to also take cabs more frequently than other blind
  people? I know my questions seem a little crazy but I thought I'd ask
  them all in one post.

  Thanks so much!

  Kerri

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