Yes, I know I’ve talked about shopping in Holland before, notably grocery shopping, but this keeps coming up. Aside from deciphering opening hours, figuring out what to buy (using algorithms to determine it), and paying for it, there are new aspects of this activity that come to fore ever so often.

See, in my area there is one Lidl, and a bunch of Albert Heijns. Not much of a choice at all. I’m sick of Lidl, because although they’re cheaper, they have the most wacky set of items. All kinds of ultra cheap products that I’m not so confident about buying, but very lacking in the realm of common products. So I stopped going there, which means I’m left with Albert Heijn. Now this widespread Dutch chain is somewhat peculiar.

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