This old dog can be taught new supermarket tricks

Do you have supermarket memories? I do. Let me explain.

I pride myself on having a pretty good memory. I can remember the first names of The Beatles — John, Paul, George and Ringo — and I know where I was when US President John F Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.

I remember teaching the first dog I had to shake hands, roll over and stay. He barked when I said his name, too.

Every year I also remember my wife’s birthday and the day when our daughter was born. It was a Friday.

Having said all that probably dates me and suggests I am from an ageing demographic.

I’m not quite a dinosaur, though you can trace the lineage, but I’m also not the sort of person who needs a GPS to find my way to Perth.

And even when I get to that vast metropolis, I have roadmaps built into my memory banks that can get me to Subiaco Oval from anywhere in the greater suburban area.

Not that there is any real reason to go to WA’s home of football anymore.

But I’ll leave that alone — we’ll get into that another day.

Some of the most important memories I have are supermarket memories.

After a good many years generally spent shopping at the same supermarket, I have been having some real struggles lately.

Some of you may have had the same experience.

I shop at a supermarket that is owned locally, so that may give you a hint as to my allegiances, and recently it decided to move a lot of its produce to different aisles.

It is entirely the store’s prerogative, and I have no criticism of the spaghetti being moved and the soft drinks relocated.

Except, except, except — it does things to my brain.

I automatically turn down a certain aisle and expect to see the rice sitting on the bottom shelf. But it has moved.

When I finally track it down, I try to remember it has a new home.

Just to make things challenging, a lot of items are still where they have always been.

I’ll get used to it, I know. I’ll keep on going back to the same supermarket because I’m convinced this old dog can be taught new tricks. I just have to remember them.