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Original poster

Wish kids would stop opening stuff in shops

105 replies

notedbiscuits · 26/07/2026 16:13

It annoys me when kids - both when I worked in retail and when I am visiting shops - touch, muck about and play with stuff that they (or their parent(s)) going to buy.

I have seen kids opening the blind boxes and bags - think Lego figures, Pokémon.

Play with footballs

Then have seen evidence of multi packs opened with a bag of crisps taken. Sometimes it’s the parent that opened the multi pack and pay for the item as their DC was screaming and giving a bag of Quavers just to keep them quiet.

Look but don’t touch

OP posts:
OvernightOats101 · 26/07/2026 19:30

Allseeingallknowing · 26/07/2026 19:03

Too right! They shouldn't be sitting in the trolley, often with mucky hands ,shoes, leaky nappies and whatever else, where food will be placed! Indulgent parents who should know better!

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I am very happy with my kid in the trolley, I fully intend to wash their clothes after one wear anyway, never been an issue.

I also put the mini scooter in the trolley next to them 😂

BoredZelda · 26/07/2026 19:25

Needmorelego · 26/07/2026 18:15

Footballs, scooters, roller skates, heelies, even bloody bikes.....all used in supermarkets regularly.
People really are clueless about how to behave in public sometimes.

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I am in supermarkets regularly and have never seen any of this.

ACR7 · 26/07/2026 19:17

I worked on the checkouts and this is a none issue. Asda didn’t give a crap if you gave your kids something and just paid for it at the end. Damage and stealing are different obviously but me scanning an empty packet of crisps and even putting it in the bin for someone didn’t bother me one jot. A lot of perfect parents on here.

SouthLondonMum22 · 26/07/2026 19:15

If I have to take mine to a supermarket, it normally means I don't have any food funnily enough so don't have any snacks to give them. That's why I'm at the supermarket in the first place.

So they can have a snack which I'm going to pay for or some places encouraging the 'munching' by offering fruit to children.

WhatNoRaisins · 26/07/2026 19:13

If I'd asked my DM if I could have something to eat in the supermarket and just scan the packet she'd have told me "no, it's common" 😆.

It also makes me think of that Peep Show episode where Jez is shopping while pissed and eating junk food.

SouthLondonMum22 · 26/07/2026 19:13

Allseeingallknowing · 26/07/2026 19:03

Too right! They shouldn't be sitting in the trolley, often with mucky hands ,shoes, leaky nappies and whatever else, where food will be placed! Indulgent parents who should know better!

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The same trolleys which are often outside exposed to bird poo etc? They are hardly going to be very clean anyway and most food has packaging.

Allseeingallknowing · 26/07/2026 19:11

Ratatatatatatouille · 26/07/2026 18:40

Gosh I hope they fry them after breading them.

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Makes a change from fish fingers!

igelkott2026 · 26/07/2026 19:08

Quartzfairy · 26/07/2026 18:50

Why is this an issue if you pay for the crisps with the rest of your shopping? It’s not the same as opening a toy and not buying it!

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Because you are consuming it before you've paid for it! I should have thought that was obvious but very clearly not.

Edited as I know the comeback will be "but you eat things before you've paid for them in cafes etc". Yes you do, with the owner's consent. And a cafe isn't a shop.

igelkott2026 · 26/07/2026 19:07

ListenToTheAirport · 26/07/2026 16:35

I always told my kids "we don't own it until we have paid for it" and for some reason that actually stuck with them unlike many of the other things I told them!

Exactly this. And surely if your child is diabetic you make sure you always have an appropriate drink and snack with you.

Allseeingallknowing · 26/07/2026 19:05

drspouse · 26/07/2026 17:14

What do you do when your child has a low in places that don’t have shelves of food?
DH has diabetes and he tries to take things out with him but if he doesn't have any or has eaten it he goes to a place where they have shelves of food, and buys something immediately, consuming it as soon as he can.

Just keep a tube of dextrose tablets in his pockets and in the car at all times.

Allseeingallknowing · 26/07/2026 19:03

OvernightOats101 · 26/07/2026 18:30

Some people get outraged when you leave your child sit in the trolley. Whatever you do, someone will be offended, so most parents ignore frankly.

Too right! They shouldn't be sitting in the trolley, often with mucky hands ,shoes, leaky nappies and whatever else, where food will be placed! Indulgent parents who should know better!

Ratatatatatatouille · 26/07/2026 19:02

Ilikewinter · 26/07/2026 18:45

Because they are being consumed before the have been purchsed. Would you open a pack of cheese and a bottle of wine and walk round the supermarket eating those?

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No I wouldn't and as I mentioned I've never done this with my kids either. But if the multipack is paid for in the end I couldn't get worked up about this.
Very different story if it isn't paid for, obviously.

Ohwhatfuckeryitistoride · 26/07/2026 19:00

Remember the Tazo craze of the 90s? I remember so many multipacks of walkers crisps ripped open to find the one to complete the set.

Original poster
notedbiscuits · 26/07/2026 18:57

Ratatatatatatouille · 26/07/2026 18:44

But I thought you specified in your op that you were talking about when they do pay for it?
"Sometimes it’s the parent that opened the multi pack and pay for the item as their DC was screaming..."
Have I misunderstood what you were saying?

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I say from my days of retail, about a quarter of the opened packs of crisps etc were purchased. Rest left on the shelf
Some parents opened a multi pack to give DC to eat as were crying or screaming.

OP posts:
Original poster
notedbiscuits · 26/07/2026 18:53

Needmorelego · 26/07/2026 17:39

This isn't a "kids" thing.
Adults do it too.
As a former retail worker it's very annoying. Many small shops are practically having to go back to products being kept behind the counter and you have to ask for it.
By the way....if you're buying the Lego minifigs they now have a code on the box and there's loads of apps you can use to scan it and it tells you what figure it is.

Yes. Taking a Costa frappe - there was a Costa in retail park then drop the container in the clothing.

This is why no food and drink notices are in many shops. Not supermarkets. As it was fairly full on dropped, the splash back was bad. We found about £150 clothes ruined by the frappe.

OP posts:
Quartzfairy · 26/07/2026 18:50

igelkott2026 · 26/07/2026 16:22

You often see it in supermarkets too where the kids open up crisps and open them as they walk/ride around in the trolley. But lots of MNers think it's entirely acceptable. so what can you do?

Why is this an issue if you pay for the crisps with the rest of your shopping? It’s not the same as opening a toy and not buying it!

Ilikewinter · 26/07/2026 18:45

Ratatatatatatouille · 26/07/2026 16:24

It's not something I've ever done myself but what's wrong with them having a pack of crisps from a multipack that they're going to buy anyway?

Because they are being consumed before the have been purchsed. Would you open a pack of cheese and a bottle of wine and walk round the supermarket eating those?

Ratatatatatatouille · 26/07/2026 18:44

notedbiscuits · 26/07/2026 17:12

Some leave the rest of them on the shelf.

That is theft.

At my supermarket, it depended on the manager what we did with the crisps etc with one pack missing. Some reduced it to staff for half price or so. Some donated these to the food bank.

Regardless of what they did, the store lost money

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But I thought you specified in your op that you were talking about when they do pay for it?
"Sometimes it’s the parent that opened the multi pack and pay for the item as their DC was screaming..."
Have I misunderstood what you were saying?

CalishataFolkart · 26/07/2026 18:42

“Why does it matter?”

Because you are consuming something you haven’t paid for.

Tesco provides free fruit for kids to snack on.

Ratatatatatatouille · 26/07/2026 18:40

Jc2001 · 26/07/2026 18:21

Because it's a shop not a cafe. Are parents really that incapable of saying no? Entitled parents breading entitled children.

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Gosh I hope they fry them after breading them.

Jc2001 · 26/07/2026 18:33

OvernightOats101 · 26/07/2026 18:28

maybe it's the parent , or child-free adult, who wanted some crips while shopping. Why do you care?

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Entitled behaviour bothers me. And it was a child in this case. Either way not acceptable. Clearly you've never worked in a shop where you have to deal with all this shit.

OvernightOats101 · 26/07/2026 18:30

Some people get outraged when you leave your child sit in the trolley. Whatever you do, someone will be offended, so most parents ignore frankly.

OvernightOats101 · 26/07/2026 18:28

Jc2001 · 26/07/2026 18:21

Because it's a shop not a cafe. Are parents really that incapable of saying no? Entitled parents breading entitled children.

Show quote history

maybe it's the parent , or child-free adult, who wanted some crips while shopping. Why do you care?

Terriblytwee · 26/07/2026 18:27

My children were taught to wait for whatever we were buying in the supermarket. They were fed and watered already and I wanted them to learn patience and a decent standard of behaviour.

I always had emergency apples, drinks etc so no need to consume before buying.

Lazy parenting.

WoollyandSarah · 26/07/2026 18:27

I once saw a pair of toddlers being wheeled round Tesco in November at 9.30pm munching their way through an advent calendar. The advent calendar was ditched when empty. I couldn't work out what the worst bit of this was - the late night, November, effectively shoplifting or eating more than one advent calendar chocolate in a day.

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