It turns out Trader Joe’s doesn’t sell tampons or pads. Walking into a grocery store that doesn’t have these necessary items for nearly half the population is mind boggling to me. Hey, Dan Bane, white, male CEO of Trader Joe’s: Do you think this is a luxury item for your customers?

My friend had the perfect question when I told her they don’t carry feminine hygiene products. She said, “That’s bizarre. Do they carry toilet paper?” The answer to that is yes. One could argue menstrual products are actually more of a necessity than toilet paper. We’d rather not bleed all over the place fyi.

When I asked the cashier why they don’t sell feminine hygiene products, her answer was: “Oh, we don’t sell razors, or shaving cream or plastic products and stuff like that.” Stuff like that? Your equating a necessary item for half the people of our planet with messed up, plastic products? Is this unique to my city? Or is this a company wide policy? If this company were run by a woman, I can’t imagine they would not sell a vital product like this. Trader Joe’s needs to step up, explain themselves, and start selling this basic necessity. Are they sexist? Naive? They need to explain themselves.

I would like to see Trader Joes, what I consider a fantastic company, to join us in the 21st century where women can go to their favorite grocery store and pick up the necessary items they need.