Jordan Michelman comes to Costco membership in midlife, embracing a devotion he once associated mainly with his father. As he wanders the warehouse, toggling between food‑snob skepticism and genuine delight in bulk staples, he reflects on how Costco shadows each stage of life and gathers a startling cross‑section of America under one fluorescent roof.
The scale of items at Costco sometimes demands we answer questions beyond easy comprehension. Do I *need* a 300-gram bag of premium orange chicken puffs? What the hell even are premium orange chicken puffs? (They are a “premium rice and potato flour” snack, flavored in the style of an orange chicken entrée.) I’m open to the concept of a yuzu citrus snack nut mix, perhaps to enjoy beneath my new Costco palapa, but do I desire three whole pounds of it? Every time I go to Costco, I stop and look at the 62 ounces of peanut M&M’s, and I think of my father, who loved to purchase this snack in bulk. I do not purchase the M&M’s for myself, but I do often take a picture—sometimes to text my mom, so we can remember Dad together for a moment, and sometimes just to keep for myself.
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