Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I want to live like Costco people

tastecooking.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

481–490 of 760 posts

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#481

Post by [deleted] »

defrost wrote: post #467
ishouldstayaway wrote: post #465

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2: one who is heartily interested in good food and drink https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gourmand Been a long time since it was purely about quantity.

Well, you had to go to #2 of several definitions in an American English dictionary for that secondary devolved meaning. Additionally, " heartily interested" in English usage implies an enthusiastic excess, large amounts, etc. Still, it appears we agree about the original and primary usage. As does your link via #1 You're doing okay on stope angle I'm guessing.

[deleted]

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#482

Post by elzbardico »

mc32 wrote: post #320
ethbr1 wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The irony is that, in contrast to their relative positions in the 1960s, communism (in the political-economic Marxian sense) vs capitalism (in the 2026 sense) is now more true to the original communist view above. To wit, that end stage capitalism has become an ouroboros eating its own tail that profits off artificial scarcity, while communism's primary defect (an inability to execute economic planning at a pace, sca…

So you’re saying China is in the drivers’s seat to make Marxist-Communism a reality?

I would say that OpenAI, Anthropic and Donald Trump are the vanguard of the proletarian revolution.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#483

Post by Melatonic »

mc3301 wrote: post #454
austinl wrote: post #361

Feudal Japan had a measurement called the "koku", which is roughly the amount of rice needed to feed a person for a year: about 330 lb. You can now buy 50 lb. of rice at Costco for $30, which is a few hours of work at minimum wage. To me, that is a modern marvel. I don't want people to buy things that they don't need, and I also don't like the crowds, but I can't help but feel grateful for a stocked grocery store tha…

Too bad in Japan that it's about 30USD for an 11 lb (5kg) of bad of rice. Japanese rice, in Japan, is nearly 5 times more expensive. (Note that last year, 5kg bags were as much as 8000jpy for standard rice, prices have come down a bit, but not a lot.)

I would guess that rice is also a lot better quality

Surely also restaurants and larger vendors have ways to buy rice in bulk in Japan - maybe they just don't have the American version for of this for consumers ? Sort of like how in the US people can go to a restaurant supply store (but often dont)

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#484

Post by TulliusCicero »

vunderba wrote: post #35
Aurornis wrote: post #8

> Something about the whole thing always registered to me as, like, lame—too normcore, too boring, perhaps even too cheugy to an informed and taste-driven millennial ur-consumer like me. The kinds of brands I like to buy aren’t what they sell at Costco Good example of how people can build identities through their brand choices and purchasing habits. It’s a foreign concept for many of us who seek out the best product…

> It’s a foreign concept for many of us who seek out the best product or deals for each purchase and will change brands in an instant if another company releases a better product. For those of us who grew up in the era of the "Are you a Mac or a PC" [1], many Americans are intimately familiar with the concept of brand identity. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_a_Mac

There are certain cases where brand attachment is stronger, but overall brand attachment in the US is pretty weak.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#485

Post by huimang »

defrost wrote: post #467
ishouldstayaway wrote: post #465

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2: one who is heartily interested in good food and drink https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gourmand Been a long time since it was purely about quantity.

Well, you had to go to #2 of several definitions in an American English dictionary for that secondary devolved meaning. Additionally, " heartily interested" in English usage implies an enthusiastic excess, large amounts, etc. Still, it appears we agree about the original and primary usage. As does your link via #1 You're doing okay on stope angle I'm guessing.

"Going to definition #2" is an arbitrary rule that you just made up. Same with an American dictionary vs British or whatever.

The Oxford dictionary also has both definitions, with the general use going back to 1758.

> 2.1758–One who is fond of delicate fare; a judge of good eating. (Cf. gourmet n.)

[0]: https://www.oed.com/dictionary/gourmand_adj?tab=meaning_and_...

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#486

Post by SubmarineClub »

type4 wrote: post #199

I have a really mixed feeling about Costco. I hate it, I going there, I hate the crowds, the parking, the people, being hawked a credit card, a cell phone, whatever the vendors are selling. It makes me feel like a pig in a slaughterhouse waiting to get out of the store, I feel like it's the platonic form of consumption. We all go to the nice little consumption center like good piggies to get our sustenance and to get…

I mean, I just go first thing Sat/Sun morning.

Parking is easy, the store is quiet, there are no vendors set up yet.

I have my list of things I need, I get it, get out, easy.

Idk, I’ve never felt the pull of ‘I MUST buy some new electronics’ when I walk by the tvs.

I don’t really understand the hate against ’consumption’ either. I’ve gotta eat and I’ve gotta shit, so I might as well go and by the cheap toilet paper and food. I don’t pay attention to all the other stuff.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#487

Post by mizzao »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #420
ChoGGi wrote: post #413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Living in Canada, I specially choose clothes without branding or branding I can remove. I don't advertise for free.

Yeah, that's been my strategy since… college. Nike logo? Polo logo? Not a chance.

No-logo clothes are actually the ultimate flex now...

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#488

Post by irjustin »

type4 wrote: post #199

I have a really mixed feeling about Costco. I hate it, I going there, I hate the crowds, the parking, the people, being hawked a credit card, a cell phone, whatever the vendors are selling. It makes me feel like a pig in a slaughterhouse waiting to get out of the store, I feel like it's the platonic form of consumption. We all go to the nice little consumption center like good piggies to get our sustenance and to get…

> Yet, I keep going.

Then I think Costco has done its perfect job and exactly the goal the founder set out to create: Quality goods at affordable prices.

They optimize for those 2 things first. Consequently, everything else becomes a management of chaos (the part that stresses you out and thusly hate).

If they did try to make the experience better, it would cost them someplace. And honestly, you're just at whole foods at that point.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#489

Post by JauntTrooper »

The article had Don DeLillo vibes.

> And this is where we wait together, regardless of our age, our carts stocked with brightly colored goods. A slowly moving line, satisfying, giving us time to glance at the tabloids in the racks. Everything we need that is not food or love is here in the tabloid racks. The tales of the supernatural and the extraterrestrial. The miracle vitamins, the cures for cancer, the remedies for obesity. The cults of the famous and the dead.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#490

Post by relaxing »

simplyluke wrote: post #148
Lucent wrote: post #9

Costco's gimmick is relieving you of choice and price shopping. They find the best stuff and don't mark it up. If Consumer is your identity yet you fear executing its labors, let Costco step in and become your denomination of consumerism, complete with tithe, proscribed usury, and communion hot dog.

> If Consumer is your identity yet you fear executing its labors This is an interesting take. Spending hours min-maxxing the "best" combination of product/price in every given category has always been peak consumerism as an identity to me. Subreddits filled with tens of thousands of posts and strongly held groupthink opinions about why knife brand x is the best option for you to open your amazon packages, or how much…

Open your car’s manual, or pop your hood and it’s likely written on the oil filler cap.
Post reply on HN