The answer is surely yes.For the person who has just moved to the inner south of Canberra, Coles Manuka at first delights the senses. It is central, accessible, and stocked with a wide range of grocery items. It even has a little Asian and special foods section. Wowee.
But it starts to tire very quickly.
Most noticeable at first is the bizarre smell when you walk in. It's a complex blend of checkout staff greasy hair, doughey bread, half-cleaned floors and almost-off fish. Even Monsieur Grenouille from Perfume: The Scent of a Murderer would be disgusted.
Next, the prices. There are some decent specials, but the fruit and vegies are nowhere near the taste and good value that you'll find at Fyshwick markets. The breakfast cereal
PopGoesCanberra prefers, Carmans, is approximately $0.25 dearer than at Woolworths. Nice eggs are ridiculously expensive.Finally, the checkout operators. While there is the occasional stunning one who
really should be in an Eastern European gay porn film, the vast majority have absolutely no charisma, dry, flaky lips and a weak "how are you" and "mind if I put the meat in the same bag?" They also have no idea how to work fast (obviously never been to Aldi) and tend to pack your bag in a way that makes it topple over as you are picking it up so your eggs all break, or just as you are getting out of your car at home the bag collapses because it is so weak and your yoghurt goes EVERYWHERE.It's great that it employs local young people, but like, WHATEVER, how about sending them on some kind of course and developing their service skills? For fuck's sake...
I won't mention the decidely middle of the road soundtrack, that fails to inspire, apart from the occasional slice of Bardot or Shania Twain. BWO would NOT go astray.
