Does a supermarket dinner do it for Date Night?

“Skip the restaurant and savor the savings.” That was the headline from Publix supermarkets in a recent ad circular. Here’s the deal:

Instead of going out to a seafood restaurant and spending roughly $62 (plus tip) on a dinner for two, Publix suggests you buy a comparable “packaged/prepared” dinner for two of shrimp scampi, frozen cheese biscuits, frozen veggies and rice and a Key lime pie from their bakery.

This dinner would cost $22.14 (and no tip), plus you'd presumably have leftovers.

My questions? In order to have this delicious dining experience at home, who’s going to hunt for a parking space in the Publix lot, fight their way through the crowded aisles, stand in line at the register and monitor the checkout clerk?

And once the bags are loaded into the car, who is going to fight rush-hour traffic, bring the food inside my house, unpack it, heat it up in the oven or microwave, serve it, shoo the cat off the table and set it, uncork the wine (I forgot, Publix isn’t serving any wine with this meal!), and serve the plates.

After we’ve savored our shrimp and our savings, here’s the finale Publix didn’t mention: Who’s cleaning up my kitchen?

So I’m left to ponder, is the $40 savings worth it?