The first thing I noticed, entering the NYC Trader Joes grocery store on 21st and 6th Avenue, was the prices!  After wading through three dollar single serving yogurts and three dollar bottles of beer at corner stores and high end groceries, I was amazed to see prices identical to what I left in Seattle – a dollar for a yogurt!  Two dollars for a 16 oz can of Guinness!  Three dollars for a frozen Paneer Tikka Masala dinner!  I hadn’t planned a big shopping trip, but I figured I better grab a couple of items.  The store is not large – maybe 6 short isles, much smaller than the Port Angeles Albertsons and maybe comparable in size to the Seattle U-district Trader Joes.  

I worked my way toward the checkstand, gathering useful items.  Frozen wild salmon filets, only $6.49 / pound!  Peanut-butter-filled pretzel snacks, only $4!  Tomato basil marinara sauce, $1.49 for a jar!  I rounded the corner to the cashiers…

…thirty cashiers…

…and saw the line.

Stretching in double laned back from the cashiers, the line twisted around the corner of the store.  I was amazed that I had not noticed it before.  At the head of the line, an employee directed shoppers to the next available checkstand.  I counted the number of shoppers standing in line as I walked toward the back.

When I reached 70, I stopped counting.  At that point, an employee stood with a tall sign reading “Middle of the Line.”  I kept walking.

After coming almost full circle, I reached another employee, his sign reading “End of the Line.”  He smiled, gestured, and moved back to give me room to step in front of him.

Amazingly, navigating the absurd line took less than 15 minutes.  Smiling cashier number twenty seven smiled and rang up my items.  

“This is crazy!” I confided.  “I’ve never been here before!” -meaning, of course, to this specific TJs, and its crazy line – I shopped at TJs all the time in Seattle.

He did not exactly grasp my meaning, or my intimidation by the Line.  “Well you should come back, its great!” He responded.  “You’re going to LOVE this paneer tikka masala.”