tandempower

Driving to a store only to find they are out of what you are looking for is a waste of time and fuel, and it can be difficult to get someone on the phone to help you, and if you do will that person be able to give you an accurate answer as to whether the store has what you're looking for in stock?

Biking is a good way to scout out a purchase before driving a vehicle to the store. If you live in a single-car household, do you bike around to scout out shopping in this way, and then make a single trip around to several stores when you finally actually make the shopping drive?

Once upon a time, I think it may have been more common for stay-at-home spouses and children to scout out driving trips in this way, but at some point culture may have shifted so that people just drive around to shop without planning first, and if something is out of stock they just drive on to the next store or drive home and make the trip again later. Driving went from being a special activity that involved planning and conservation to a regular daily activity performed more-or-less thoughtlessly. Maybe culture is shifting back in the direction of planning and conservation where driving is concerned, idk.

What do you think? If you live or have lived car-light, do you budget your driving by scouting out purchases and trips beforehand by bike? Do you think it was more common to do this in the past? Do you think it is a practice that could regain popularity in the present/future?

wahoonc

Either store has it or it doesn't.

I have resorted to Amazon in many cases. In more than one I have called the store some 20 miles away and asked for a specific item only to arrive and find out it either doesn't exist or it isn't what I asked for.

What also irritates me no end is to be purchasing a given product for a substantial period of time only to have the store do a reset and discontinue the product I was buying on a regular basis. It is still available at other stores, but not the one closest to me.

So no scouting on my part. If I find what I am looking for I will buy it on the spot, and quite often more than one because it is liable to disappear shortly.

Aaron

cooker

It's true that if I am driving and they don't have what I want, I may drive farther than I intended/expected, to get it somewhere else. However, it would be awfully time consuming to always bike to the store first to see if they have what I want, and then go home and come back with the car.

Machka 

Usually I check the internet first.

In fact, once again, I did that today. Checked the internet for all the shops in the area that might have what I want. Checked out their websites to narrow down the choice. Then planned my lunchtime walking itinerary.

I got one thing I was kind of hoping I might get, found some other items of interest in two other places, and have a list of 3 or 4 places I want to visit tomorrow.

wipekitty

Agreed, that is annoying! I just had that experience with something really lame - a particular kind of hair conditioner. It used to be at only one of about five stores I frequent, and now it is gone. Amazon to the rescue!!!

wahoonc

I have started buying spices, cake mixes (Jiffy brand), dog food, cat litter, shampoo, toothpaste and coffee online. What is sad I have 7 grocery stores and a 2 WM within a 15 mile radius, go to 20 miles and the doubles. Unfortunately most of the grocery stores are the same chain.

Aaron

tandempower

I think it is common to plan shopping at various stores in the same vicinity as one store that you have decided to shop at, which is the reason you're driving to that area. It seems to me that if you explore the area around the store by bike or foot, you would have a better idea of what is available in the area, which would help you plan more efficient shopping trips when you drive.

I usually get everything at a certain one-stop shop whose name I won't mention, but sometimes the store closest to my house is out of an item so I have to go to other stores to see if they have it. I do it all by bike so it is time-consuming, but I can't trust the internet because a website could say that something is in-stock that turns out to be out-of-stock once I get to the store, and it's not like I'm going to hold them accountable by not shopping there again, because to do that I would have to pay higher prices, which wouldn't be worth it.

prj71

Walmart has everything I need. If not then the local grocery store or hardware store does.

Then there is Amazon. Has pretty much everything you need delivered to the house in 2 days.

Not going to waste my precious time scouting at stores on a bike for an item before driving a car there. That's just plain ol' silly.

cooker

I've lived in my location for 30 years and my city for 40 years, and I usually know where I need to or want to go for various items; and I occasionally notice new store openings, or store closings, just by passing by. So I have a pretty good shopping map in my head already, so for me there is no good reason to scout out an area. Sometimes I or my family have checked ahead to see if a store like IKEA or Canada Computes does or doesn't have an item we want, but most of the time we just go, and usually they have it.

Machka 

Given that I work in the middle of our city, within easy walking distance of numerous shops of various sorts, I've been able to find most of what I need on my lunch walks.

If there happens to be something I can't find, I might stop in at the shopping centre my bus stops at out in our suburb.

I don't recall ever feeling the need to scout things out by bicycle first. If I'm out "window shopping", I'll often do that on foot. If I've opted to ride my bicycle to a shop, and it has what I want, chances are I'll get it then and there. Why wait?

indyfabz

+1. On those rare occasions I use my car to shop, I almost always go somewhere (e.g., chain grocery store) for staples that I know the store will have (e.g., 21 lb. bags of kitty litter). Most of my other shopping is done on foot or on bike. The latter sometimes after work. My car has been parked in the same spot since Thanksgiving. Highly doubtful I will move it before Dec. 8th, and only then because I have to go to a meeting in an out-of-state office.

Walter S

It’s very unlikely that I want to buy what won’t fit in my cargo trailer.

rumrunn6

conversely, I've used my gps equipped car to scout bike commute routes

tandempower

Would it be animal cruelty to use cats to pull a wagon to transport their own kitty litter? Conversely, is it human cruelty to make humans drive to transport it?

I-Like-To-Bike

These "questions" seem related to the same so-called critical thinking process as the questions found in the OP, and are just as related to living car free or car light.

Machka 

What are you talking about???

Machka 

Yes, I tend to do more scouting in a motor vehicle than on bicycle ... unless I'm out for an exploratory ride. It's much easier to check a 300 km, 400 km or 600 km randonnee route in a car than it is to go and cycle the route, especially if you also want to investigate a few optional ways of getting from here to there along the way.

Later, it's not a bad idea to ride the route or ride somewhat more complicated portions of the route, but at first, the car is the way to go.

indyfabz

Don't quit your day job...unless you day job is philosopher or comedian.

cooker

Wolves and horses are pack animals that cooperate to survive and recognize leadership. We've capitalized on those traits in domesticating them, and working dogs and horses seem to enjoy their labours as long they aren't mistreated - sled dogs race to line-up in the traces and howl if they are left out.

Cats live(d) mostly independently in the wild (except maybe lions) and don't have a natural tendency to cooperate or follow a leader. Good luck getting them to work for you.

I-Like-To-Bike

Maybe cat herding would be just the right job for a car free comic obsessed with abstract philosophical issues.

tandempower

Just a mildly humorous thought-experiment about getting cats to carry their own bags of litter instead of humans having to drive cars to do it for them.

tandempower

Idk, look how well this guy is doing training cats to pull weight:

tandempower

Do you think this scene ended badly?

cooker

Well at least it's a lion, so it doesn't contradict me! But yes, probably eventually for the lion.

Walter S

No but it would be a hoot to watch you try

Yes. Nobody’s making me drive cat **** anywhere