The Verdict on Fresh Direct: 2 Thumbs UP!

So our Fresh Direct groceries were delivered today, and for those of you who have never had a Fresh Direct experience, here's a brief little synopsis of what you can expect.

The delivery guy buzzed our apartment at noon (I chose a delivery window between 11 and 1 PM), and, while I felt slightly bad about making him haul three large boxes up our three flights of stairs, it did help justify the delivery fee and tip. Besides, he was pretty hefty.

Anyway, the verdict on using Fresh Direct? Let's just say that I don't think Gus and I will be frequenting the Food Emporium nearly as often. Overall, the experience was almost eerily painless; this is the efficiency and convenience of the web at its best. All the while I just kept thinking "I wish my grandma could see this, it would probably blow her mind."Our order came in three huge cardboard boxes. This in itself brought Gus great joy, as it presented a rare opportunity for him to use his pocket knife. All the refrigerated products were packed together in one box, and the groceries filled the other two. One nice aspect of Fresh Direct is the extra care they take to ensure the safety of your food items--the bananas and the eggs come carefully wrapped in foam, and plastic cartons encapsulate the apples to prevent bruising.
Another thing I enjoyed about the Fresh Direct experience was the element of surprise: opening up those boxes bore a slight similarity to opening up an envelope of developed film; you vaguely know what to expect, but there are always one or two pictures that catch you off-guard because you forgot about taking them. Seeing the dried cantaloupe and sourdough pretzels that I had apparently added to our shopping cart on a whim had a similar effect. I was also surprised and mildly amused to find we had purchased two cartons of eggs; I guess my finger slipped on that one.

So, with a few clicks of a button and a turn of a door lock, our grocery shopping was complete for the week. I'm still trying to get over the ease of the whole experience. While I don't think the monetary savings are significant, I do think Fresh Direct is far superior in the quality and selection of their products. And I'm almost positive the time and pain it saves will compensate for any other faults I may find.