Why this autistic woman likes to go grocery shopping: Even though the trip tires me out more than 2 hours of dancing

Originally published on Medium

Why do I like grocery shopping when it’s so tiring?

I like knowing where things are.

I like walking into a store and knowing exactly where find things. Most stores have similar setups and it feels like I solved a challenge walking into a new store, hypothesizing where the lettuce is and being right. It’s like a personal game show.

I like planning exactly where to go

I make my list in order of where I will go. It feels like planning an elaborate heist and executing it perfectly. Bonus points for the grocery total being less than I estimated.

I like making my grocery list and categorizing each item in the right category.

I’ve settled on Vegetables, Fruits, and Other as category headings after experimenting with different ones before. It’s just enough level of detail without being too detailed.

I like seeing what’s new.

I prefer to shop at small grocery stores like Sprouts or Aldis. The space is small and has less people. It’s easy to roam the inner aisles and see what’s new on the shelves for gluten-free and other specialty products.

I like how the store feels during non-peak hours

I’ve always worked freelance or part-time so my schedule allows me to go to the store during slow times. There’s less people there and I can walk the aisles as fast or slow as needed and not worry about bumping into people or blocking their way. The store feels friendlier when it’s emptier and the lines are shorter so I don’t get as tired.

I now use Instacart sometimes to save my energy during busy weeks and it does help but comes with its own stressors. Like other people choosing brown lettuce for me because they don’t know how to pick fresh produce. True story.

(I may or may not be that person that leaves instructions in the chat on how to pick produce. Just in case. Why test my flexibility skills past their stretching point?)