Why are there families in the supermarket queue?

[enoughofthebullshit]

I'm currently queuing around the carpark to get into the supermarket. All fine, everyone socially distancing. There are several families in the queue... mum dad 2 or 3 kids. WHY?!!! There are clearly enough adults in the house not to have to bring the kids! Single parents.. absolutely need to bring the kids... but not when there are 2 parents. They could at least wait in the car surly?! Once inside the shop groups of 5 wandering round will be difficult to distance from in isles. Idiots.

[formerbabe]

Couldn't agree more.

I saw a family in the supermarket...mum, dad, toddler...they arrived in a car. I was genuinely perplexed as to why one parent couldn't stay at home or sit in the car with the child.

[Lepetitpiggy]

Infuriates me too. Asda is the worst. Entire families queuing and then blocking aisles.

[FourTeaFallOut]

Because people are as thick as pig shit.

[NotKeenOnSwede]

Twats

[BiggerBoat1]

Because they're fucking irresponsible idiots!

Hope that helps.

[Apolloanddaphne]

Our supermarket (Morrison) would tell one parent to stay outside with the children. I've seen the security man tell couples that only one could come in. Single parents are allowed in though.

[lifestooshort123]

Totally agree, selfish and irresponsible. It makes the wait longer for others as well. Idiots!

[Nishky]

Not just families, but couples- why do you both need to go? If the supermarket is only allowing a certain number of people in the couples are making everyone else wait longer

[ParkheadParadise]

Asda local to me is the same. Families everywhere. Inside is a nightmare no one is keeping a safe distance or following the one way system.
Tesco is so much better. Only 1 adult allowed.

[SpratsOnParade]

Our supermarket (Morrison) would tell one parent to stay outside with the children. I've seen the security man tell couples that only one could come in. Single parents are allowed in though.

How are people who are shopping for multiple households supposed to do it if two adults from the same household aren't allowed in? So many people are shopping for friends and family. I'm shopping for 2 household, soon to be three now that a family friend has received a shielding letter. There's no way I can fit it all in one trolley.

[SpratsOnParade]

Not just families, but couples- why do you both need to go? If the supermarket is only allowing a certain number of people in the couples are making everyone else wait longer

Because many people are shopping for family, friends and neighbours.

[Pinkblueberry]

I think some people just can’t either shop alone or be alone with the kids or both. It sounds like a terrible stereotype, but I’ve come across this more than once - mum wants to do the shopping but can’t drive so needs to be chauffeured (my MIL is one of them) then if there are kids involved everyone needs to come along. And some just see it as family day out...

[LilyE1234]

It annoys me when people treat the supermarket like a family trip out even in normal times, but in a pandemic? It’s stupidity and boredom

[SouthWestmom]

Was like this yesterday in The Range - families meandering around and treating it like a normal day out.

I don't get why supermarkets allow families in. Once word got round they were stopping people surely that would help.

[Greenandcabbagelooking]

My local Tesco is letting families with kids skip to the front of the queue. Surely this will just encourage parents who could leave children at home to bring them, thus exposing everyone to more people, and making the queues longer for people without children, or who have made the sensible decision to leave children at home.

[scaryreading]

The supermarkets near me only let 1 person in. It is better tbh

[MashedSpud]

Because some people are idiot twats who don’t have the common sense or decency to even think about anyone other than themselves.

[lifestooshort123]

If there are two of you because you are buying for more than one family then take separate trollies and walk round with separate lists and don't amble round like you're joined at the hip. If you've brought the children and the dog and the hamster then take it in turns to stand outside with them and then queue again - pick a less-popular time when queues are shorter. Buying for vulnerable adults is a great thing to do but not if you're wandering round the aisles mob handed.

[Friedmushroom]

Utter wankers.

So much of this is my local shop...young couple the other day completely fucking oblivious, wandering around like they were on holiday, having full on 10 minute discussion about whether they needed fresh herbs in front of the fresh herbs I needed whilst touching all the fresh herbs they clearly didn’t fucking need

Also lots of late middle aged couples just wandering too...get the feeling the ‘man’ usually drives the ‘woman’ to the shop but shopping is ‘her’ job so they’re carrying on with their little routine as normal.

[Pinkblueberry]

Surely if you’re shopping for another household you would need two trollies? And if you have two separate trollies and are doing a separate shop then you wouldn’t stick out as shopping together. If it’s not enough to fill more than one trolly then the one person may as well do both shops themselves at the same time.

[Kcnana]

I find these posts so infuriating. You don't know their circumstance yet the first thing you've done is pop on Mumsnet to winge.

[PickAChew]

Sainsburys wouldn't let them in. They're not even allowing 2 adults in where one is obviously a carer for the other, at ours.

[PickAChew]

How are people who are shopping for multiple households supposed to do it if two adults from the same household aren't allowed in?

The best way to do that would be for each adult to take their own list, queue and shop separately, if that's the case. 2 people arriving and shopping together with the same trolley are no more or less able to buy more things for more people than if one of them shopped alone. If MrsX does the family shopping and MrX does his mum's shopping then both the X family and MrX's mum will be more likely to buy enough of what they need.

[Shopkinsdoll]

I was in a huge and I mean huge queues in boots waiting on my dads prescription. Finally after about forty mins I got in the shop. As I walked up to the pharmacy there was a mother father and her two kids, mother standing choosing make up. Wtf. Shouldn’t it just be in and out? They must have been in a long long time as I never saw them in the queue. And there is no waiting on prescriptions. I don’t know why the security let this happen

[BiggerBoat1]

I find these posts so infuriating. You don't know their circumstance yet the first thing you've done is pop on Mumsnet to winge.

I'm really struggling to think of any circumstance that would mean both parents and children all need to shop together. One adult can stay at home or in the car.
In most cases the same applies to couples - although in that case one of the adults could need the support of the other and this would not always be obvious.
People are just being selfish and stupid and OP is quite right to call them out on it.