Shopping, but why today?

Yesterday (January 30), we went to the store for the essentials. You know, bread, cheese, bananas—the usual stuff. But why not today, on the 31st? We got warnings from all sides:

Don’t go shopping on the last day of the month,” they said, “because that’s when everyone finally gets their money again and can buy their essentials. Their fridges have been empty for a while, and now they can finally restock… Then the store is really packed, and you definitely don’t want to go if you don’t absolutely have to.

OK… that really says something about the poverty in the Plattenbau neighborhoods (that’s where we do our shopping too). And another thing:

Don’t return empty bottles for deposit in the last five days of the month. That’s when people line up with bottles to cash in, because if they still need groceries during those days, there’s no money left… but maybe they’ve got a few empty bottles to scrape together enough for some bread.

Welcome to Schwerin, in a country where you really wouldn’t expect this… 🙁