I hate my local Safeway store.

Seriously, I will drive five miles out of my way to pick up groceries because I can’t stand shopping at the Safeway that’s less than a mile from my house. There are never enough cashiers. The lighting is dim. The produce is gross. Only on the rarest of occasions and under duress will I shop there. (This usually means it’s 9 pm on a weeknight and I’m told, “Mom, I forgot to tell you, I HAVE to get poster board or a class treat for school tomorrow.”)

In those instances when I must run in for two or three specific items, at least one will be unavailable. Truly – it never fails.

I run in for a gallon of skim milk, Pepperidge Farm soft whole wheat bread and Saltine crackers (an unfortunate staple in my daughter’s diet). No Saltines.

I need a 5-lb bag of IAMS dog food, Yoplait fat-free key lime yogurt and zucchini only to face an empty produce shelf where presumably the zucchini once resided.

The list consists of Cinnamon Life cereal, a dozen large eggs and refill bottle of Windex. Wait, is it possible? Everything on my list is available?!?!? No, just kidding. Only jumbo (no large) eggs available.

It’s almost a perverse game for me at this point – “How many times in a row can Safeway screw me over?” -  a game which does not reflect well on my maturity level or Wise Woman status, I realize. I have a sneaking (and sad) suspicion that, if my local Safeway were to miraculously reform its ways, I’d miss the sense of consumer outrage I feel after yet another unsuccessful shopping mission.

Am I the only one with a chip in my shopping shoulder? Do you have any stores that you love to hate?