Costco Musings

There are so many holiday themed half-formed entry ideas in my head that I’m going to go in a completely different direction and write about Costco. Here are a few of the reasons I love Costco so much.

1. Hotdogs are one of my favorite foods. They sell gigantic hotdogs for like $1.50 and the toppings are free.
2. New socks feel 1000x more awesome than old socks. Costco sells them in multi-packs, and it eliminates me having to find a matching pair to wash then wear.
3. Samples. Freeeee samples.
4. Huge extra salty rotiserrie chickens for less than $5
5. SUPER SIZE EVERYTHING!!!!!!
6. It’s something my dad and I bonded over when I was a moody asshole teenager and it’s still a special daddy daughter thing we do.

When dad and I would go to Costco it was like Christmas. Huge slabs of meat, packages of squashy sausages, pies, cookies, socks, movies, books, and if I was very good and pleasant during the trip I was allowed to get a treat. Usually, that meant a 4lb jar of Jelly Belly Jelly Beans. We’d also buy my brother a giant bag of Jolly Ranchers. We’d meander up and down every single aisle because we didn’t want to miss the possibility that maybe we missed an absolutely essential item that we had no idea we needed until that second. This might sound materialistic and whatever but it was still time that I spent with my dad, just the two of us. That didn’t happen often. My dad worked incredibly hard to provide for our family and that meant that he worked in the office as well as at home. The 40 minute car ride to and from Coscto was when we’d chat a little, but mostly we listened to whatever Grateful Dead CD or playlist my dad had tuned up. When I was old enough to drive one of my most memorable trips was when on the way home (it was one of the times my dad let me drive and I was still learning) we got caught in a torrential monsoon from hell. My dad was very reassuring, calm, patient, and got me through that terrifying drive home. He didn’t offer to take over, but he gave me the tools to get us home safely. That’s the way my dad is.

To this day if my dad mentions that he’s going to Costco while I’m home visiting I go with him 100% of the time. Just last year I finally got my own Costco membership, and every time I go I think of my dad.

This isn’t one of my most well written or thoughtful pieces but I am recovering from pneumonia so pardon my lesser brain function. Bottom line, I’m definitely a daddy’s girl and a very loyal Costco customer. BJs and Sam’s Club just aren’t up to mustard. Is that a real saying? I don’t know. It is now.