Page 11 | Do you allow things to be eaten before paying?

georgousbold · 2022-03-21T11:54:30+00:00

In a supermarket etc When I walk around, I do open something to keep DS quiet. Works a treat. Nobody has ever told me off or questioned me on it Is this the done thing in the UK? Can think of a few countries it would be allowed in and nobody would say anything But you could never do that in Japan for example, South Korea either

TypicaIMe · 21/03/2022 16:06

Obviously a child is below the age of criminal responsibility, so it would fall on the adult. And successful prosecution is hardly a great benchmark of many crimes - cf lots of rape cases

A child eating an apple in Sainsbury's is in no way comparable to rape cases, ffs. To even mention them in the same sentence is pretty disgusting.

I'll put it another way: Do you have a link to a case where a parent has been charged with theft because their child ate an apple or whatever in a supermarket?

Somethingsnappy · 21/03/2022 16:06

@fullofpips, yes, bingo!

LottyD32 · 21/03/2022 16:07

Everyone that thinks it's 'trashy' etc, do you never try the samples they give out?

What about Costco samples?

PissedOffNeighbour22 · 21/03/2022 16:08

Never have and never will. I hated seeing it when I was young and it was very rare to see in the 80s/90s (at least where I lived anyway).
Nowadays it seems more commonplace unfortunately. As someone said upthread, why should the person who serves you have to touch what your kid has dribbled on? But I doubt a lot of people even pay as I've seen empty packets discarded on the shelves several times recently.
I definitely regard it as a lack of manners and it's another thing kids will grow up thinking is acceptable to do whenever they feel like doing it.

RichTeaRichTea · 21/03/2022 16:09

@PissedOffNeighbour22

Never have and never will. I hated seeing it when I was young and it was very rare to see in the 80s/90s (at least where I lived anyway). Nowadays it seems more commonplace unfortunately. As someone said upthread, why should the person who serves you have to touch what your kid has dribbled on? But I doubt a lot of people even pay as I've seen empty packets discarded on the shelves several times recently. I definitely regard it as a lack of manners and it's another thing kids will grow up thinking is acceptable to do whenever they feel like doing it.

I bet it happened loads when you were a child - how else could you explain the amount you see now? Those parents must have been taught as children that it was acceptable!

SirChenjins · 21/03/2022 16:10

I’ve no idea. Obviously a child is below the age of criminal responsibility, so it would fall on the adult. And successful prosecution is hardly a great benchmark of many crimes - cf lots of rape cases. However, most laws have developed out of common-sense social guidelines to enable members of society to live together in harmony

So not illegal, technically or otherwise, and may or may not be wrong depending on your personal viewpoint. See how easy it was to summarise that without resorting to making spurious claims about the illegality of eating before you scan?

SirChenjins · 21/03/2022 16:12

And revolting to compare it to rape.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 21/03/2022 16:14

No, never done it. I'd be embarrassed. Looks awful.

RichTeaRichTea · 21/03/2022 16:15

What if you are using the self scan zapper thing? Then no poor checkout staff has to touch saliva, you can weigh beforehand… more conundrums!

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 21/03/2022 16:18

@Waxonwaxoff0

No, never done it. I'd be embarrassed. Looks awful.

Blimecory · 21/03/2022 16:22

@SirChenjins

And revolting to compare it to rape.

I didn’t. I talked about the difficulty of prosecuting crime.

Blimecory · 21/03/2022 16:23

@SirChenjins

I’ve no idea. Obviously a child is below the age of criminal responsibility, so it would fall on the adult. And successful prosecution is hardly a great benchmark of many crimes - cf lots of rape cases. However, most laws have developed out of common-sense social guidelines to enable members of society to live together in harmony

So not illegal, technically or otherwise, and may or may not be wrong depending on your personal viewpoint. See how easy it was to summarise that without resorting to making spurious claims about the illegality of eating before you scan?

It is illegal. No matter how many times you say it isn’t. It is illegal.

Sleepyquest · 21/03/2022 16:24

I do this on occasion and remember my parents doing it for us too. I also worked in a supermarket and had parents do it. Don't see the big issue. Always someone moaning about the way you parent.

TypicaIMe · 21/03/2022 16:27

@Blimecory

The difficulty of prosecuting someone for the 'crime'of their child eating an apple in a supermarket (something that's never been attempted, unless you can prove otherwise) is in no way comparable to the difficulty of securing a prosecution for rape.

You absolutely did conflate the two, and that was a disgusting thing to do.

Norgie · 21/03/2022 16:30

When my son was around 18 months old, he was sat in the child seat of the trolley at the checkout as I was unloading it.
An elderly couple pulled their trolley behind mine with a long french stick poking out.
The temptation was too much for my bread loving son and he took a big bite out of it.
Fortunately the couple thought it was hilarious and they gave him the entire stick.
I offered to pay for it, but they refused.
So I suppose I could say that I didn't intentionally allow eating unpaid goods.

sellingupslow · 21/03/2022 16:32

People can be so judgemental for no reason! "Lazy parenting" @MayBeeMee ??

I give my toddler something so she's happy sitting in the trolley whilst I push it around. Other alternative would be leaving her at nursery/somewhere she doesn't want to be at the expense of my own enjoyment. I choose the 'hard' way, which is having her with me whilst I shop because I do enjoy her company, and sometimes open her a little bag of something to keep her entertained. Hardly lazy parenting imo and hardly the crime of the year as it gets paid for every time- no different to eating food in a restaurant before you pay, or do you pay before you eat too?

Everyone does their own thing and I would never dare judge a parent just trying to put food on their family's table. If someone wanted to steal from a supermarket, I'd imagine there's easier ways than eating everything you want to steal along the way!

SirChenjins · 21/03/2022 16:35

It is illegal. No matter how many times you say it isn’t. It is illegal

No, it’s really, really not - despite your ridiculous claims comparing it to rape prosecutions.

Honest to god, MN is crazy sometimes.

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 21/03/2022 16:36

@Blimecory you compared. Don't try to back track.

Weekendtobegin · 21/03/2022 16:37

It isn't something I'd do and for some reason I find it a rude, almost greedy thing to do.

I suppose technically there's no harm if you pay for it, I just see it that it's not yours until you've paid for it.

TheDoveFromAboveCooCoo · 21/03/2022 16:39

@LottyD32 parents of toddlers are literally obsessed with snacks these days.

From experience they can't even walk round the London aquarium without a stop off at the shark tank for half a tuna sandwich and some soggy sucked quavers.

When mine were young (they are teens so not a gazillion years ago) they are three meals a day and if they needed a snack before a supermarket shop they got it at home.

It's just bloody weird this snack obsession.

Weekendtobegin · 21/03/2022 16:42

@TheDoveFromAboveCooCoo I agree that parents seem to be snack obsessed.

You can't seem to go anywhere without some small kid sucking on a soggy biscuit or demanding snacks from the vending machine.

Is it a new thing?

berlinbabylon · 21/03/2022 16:43

@Grasping

Yep. Every time I go to a restaurant

Different situation obviously as the business model is different. You can't equate the two.

I don't think it's acceptable. If you can't "concentrate" (how much concentrating do you need to do when shopping?) then shop online instead. Or if you can only "concentrate" if the kids are eating, then take something. There might be the very odd time of needing something to take with a tablet like the pp with piriton, but otherwise, you really can say wait until we've gone though the till. I think it's bizarre. But then I also think it's bizarre to take snacks on the school run.

fullofpips · 21/03/2022 16:45

@TheDoveFromAboveCooCoo @Weekendtobegin love your very colourful descriptions... soggy sucked quavers, soggy biscuits. So very dramatic. Nothing wrong with a small snack in between meals - a banana, bit of peanut butter on crackers. I don't even function on only 3 meals a day so not sure why we expect young children to.

LottyD32 · 21/03/2022 16:47

[quote TheDoveFromAboveCooCoo]@LottyD32 parents of toddlers are literally obsessed with snacks these days.

From experience they can't even walk round the London aquarium without a stop off at the shark tank for half a tuna sandwich and some soggy sucked quavers.

When mine were young (they are teens so not a gazillion years ago) they are three meals a day and if they needed a snack before a supermarket shop they got it at home.

It's just bloody weird this snack obsession. [/quote]
Yes, we weren't given snacks and a constant water bottle.

And we weren't allowed to eat in the supermarket by my mum but sometimes my mums friend would take me out or I'd stay at hers and she'd give me things to eat while going round sainsburys.

VampireMoney · 21/03/2022 16:49

parents of toddlers are literally obsessed with snacks these days.

These days?? Crikey my eldest 2 are 19 and 22 and always had snacks as toddlers, as did me and my siblings and we're in our forties! Kids like snacks. They always have. It's not new 😂