A supersize revelation

Like many American families, we often hit Costco on Saturday mornings to re-stock our pantry and to scam the free samples available at every turn. On a recent excursion, we walked into the store, pausing for a few minutes to watch Speed Racer on a line-up of big screen TVs. Moving on, we began to pile our oversized cart high with:

• a giant carton of 3 dozen eggs;
• a box of frozen waffles that could feed our family of 5 for several weeks;
• a super-sized pizza;
  
• a bag of frozen mixed vegetables the size of my bedroom pillow; and
  
• a 2-pack of ibuprofen that might have been intended for the entire defensive line of the Indianapolis Colts

On this particular morning, I exercised great restraint and told the kids that we could not buy:

• a box of muffins, each bigger than a softball;
• a tub of chocolate chip cookie dough that would make enough cookies to put the local Girl Scouts out of business;
• an economy-sized bag of potato chips; and
  
• a bag of Halloween candy big enough to treat every kid in the neighborhood, twice.

There were, of course, other things that were on my shopping list that I didn't purchase at Costco, including reading glasses -- I barely need one pair, let alone 3; paper plates -- where would I store 1,000 paper plates?; and a box of 500 band-aids.

No trip to Costco would be complete without a quick trip up and down the book and DVD aisles, and then a pass through the tables of clothing. With Fall weather approaching, I thought I might pick up a few new shirts for myself.

That's when I discovered that this mecca of supersize, oversize and economy size apparently does not believe in plus size. In light of that revelation, I'd like to suggest a new slogan for the wholesale giant.

Costco: Big on stuff. Small on fashion.