Dollar Store

      Everyone has preconceived ideas about things. Most of the time we don't admit it, but it's true.  It's a natural human instinct. We have to put things into categories so we know how to deal with them.
     One thing I have a preconceived notion of are dollar stores. I've always believed that you get what you pay for. Cheap stuff doesn't last. It doesn't look good. It falls apart. You wind up having to replace it with something more expensive anyway.
   I imagined dollar stores as small with shelves of plastic trinkets, tacky looking plastic flowers and old paper greeting cards with mismatched envelopes. There would be shelves of ancient looking spices with faded labels and bags of fossilized candy. Another aisle would have shelves of polyester clothing folded haphazardly. There would be an aisle of cheap plastic toys. The whole store would be dingy and smell a little musty.
   Because I thought this is what dollar stores were like I never shopped in one. I've seen plenty of people that do. I would see them walk around with large bags of things they had bought. Not me, I thought. I'd never go into one of those places.
   That all changed this week. I signed up to donate cookies to a local homeless shelter. I needed a container to put the cookies in. It had to be something I wouldn't mind losing because the chances were slim that I'd get it back.
   I looked at my supply of plastic containers. Most of the larger ones were already filled with leftovers or other things. The ones that were left were part of sets that could be used in the freezer and microwave. I really didn't want to give one of those away.
   I could go to Target and buy a container, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money on something that I was going to have to give away. Then it hit me. I could go to a dollar store. I didn't need a really nice container, just something that I could transport the cookies in.
   A few days ago after running some errands, I went to the dollar store. I walked into the store and stopped. This is not what I expected. It was clean and bright and didn't smell. To my left was a wall full of nice looking Mylar balloons. To my right were racks full of silk flowers in bright colours that looked clean and nice. In front of me were several aisles of clean well-organized merchandise. There was quite a bit more than I expected. I wondered if I would be able to find what I wanted without having to wander around.
   I walked halfway down an aisle and found what I needed right away. On my left, there were several shelves of single plastic containers of all sizes with lids. They were made of thin plastic but otherwise looked pretty good. The lids looked well made and fit tightly on the containers. There was a good supply of them in many common sizes.  I bought two of them just in case one wouldn't be large enough.
   I brought it up to the cashier. I wasn't expecting the containers to cost me a dollar each. I expected to pay at least three for each container. It rang up at $2.14 because of the tax. Very nice. I can see why people would like to shop here.
  My preconceived notions have been shot down. I may need to explore this place a little bit more.....