I like to do my weekly shopping online. The order is then delivered right to our doorstep. We live in a remote moshav, so this really saves a lot of time. I also often arrive at the supermarket only to find I don’t have a 5 shekel coin to unlock a shopping cart. So frustrating…

Having everything delivered means I can also avoid hauling those heavy bags myself. 

A quick check whether everything is on the list, a click of the mouse, and the order is on its way. Sure, not everything is always perfect. Sometimes certain products are missing even though I paid for them, or three huge lemons arrive instead of one kilo of normal-sized lemons. A call to the supermarket is usually enough to get everything sorted.

Online shopping can be an adventure

On a recent Tuesday morning, I needed to be out, so asked my husband to receive and check the grocery delivery. That wasn’t too much to ask, was it?

He really went out of his way to do the job properly. The groceries were all sorted and put away, and the bags and boxes were dumped out in the garbage. Then Aviel sat down, mission accomplished!

When I got home later that evening, I was surprised to find how thorough a job he had done. Everything seemed great. But was it really?

It wasn’t 10 minutes after Aviel had put away the last of the groceries and triumphantly retired to other pursuits that the doorbell rang. Outside stood several agitated supermarket delivery men. They were angry that he hadn’t responded to their 20 urgent phone calls. Unfortunately, they had tried to ring me, rather than Aviel, and my phone had been shut off while I was busy.

They had delivered the wrong order to our house earlier that morning. Had I been home, I would have immediately recognized the error.

But my husband knows very little about these things. He had done everything I asked of him. And now he had to do it again. Needless to say, he wasn’t pleased, but there was nothing for it. Aviel got to sorting everything that had been delivered out of the fridge and cupboards. The delivery men asked about the bags and boxes, but they were all already in the trash. What a mess, Aviel had to start all over again.

Calm after the storm

When I finally arrived home in the evening, everything was clean and sorted. The calm after the storm. Candlelight and jazz music in the background. Now in a more humorous mood, he told me what had happened. Catastrophe. We both laughed at this crazy incident. With Aviel, such trials are quickly forgotten, and I was grateful that I wasn’t home that morning.