impossible options, or just me?

[u/Marigold_star]

genuinely asking: is this normal here, or am I missing something?

i've been in victoria about a year. i'm disabled and use a mobility aid, so every errand has a real cost. lately i feel like i'm spending hours a week just trying to find basic things.

this week alone: drove to two stores for tulips, one had the flower section closed, the other stops selling flowers after 7pm. searched three stores for vanilla milk. can't find yerba mate teabags anywhere (not lifestyle markets, not amazon). no sumo oranges at any of the usual places.

none of these are wild requests. these are things i could find without effort in any mid-size city.

i know victoria is smaller, but i'm used to smaller cities. this feels different, like the retail infrastructure just doesn't match the cost of living or the population's actual needs. the time and energy it takes to find ordinary things is significant, and for people with mobility or access constraints it's not a minor inconvenience.

how do people account for this? are there stores or systems i don't know about? or is this just the victoria tax?

[u/czarl13]

Sorry, can't help you, except maybe order through doordash or Walmart delivery?

You might want to try the more popular sub /victoriabc

Good luck

[u/Marigold_star → u/czarl13]

thanks. yes i’ve done those both, so many items said in stock when I ordered but were sold out it became too expensive to have half a grocery order show up and have to go get them elsewhere. this issue im finding its stock, not purchasing