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Original poster

Do you allow things to be eaten before paying?

532 replies

georgousbold · 21/03/2022 11:54

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

OP posts:
TheDoveFromAboveCooCoo · 21/03/2022 16:49

[quote fullofpips]**@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. [/quote]
There is nothing worse than the smell of tuna sandwiches and sucked quavers when you are watching an aquarium trust me 😂

When I was a young teen I worked in a soft play centre and the smell of sucked quavers will live with me forever!

gamerchick · 21/03/2022 16:51

No I never pandered to this crap with mine. This need to snack boggles my head. Doesn't teach them great things if they associate supermarkets with eating.

SausagePourHomme · 21/03/2022 16:52

can confirm - my mum let me eat crisps on the way round before paying and as a result I am now an armed robber and bigamist.

TypicaIMe · 21/03/2022 16:53

parents of toddlers are literally obsessed with snacks these days.

I love how people who don't like A Thing always try to pretend the thing they're offended by is A New Thing. And that said Thing didn't happen in their day.

I refer you to the poster upthread with their Haslet and Umbongo Grin

stuntbubbles · 21/03/2022 16:53

No I never pandered to this crap with mine.
What, hunger Confused

VampireMoney · 21/03/2022 16:54

@gamerchick

No I never pandered to this crap with mine. This need to snack boggles my head. Doesn't teach them great things if they associate supermarkets with eating.
And yet bizarrely mine are well rounded young adults now who don't snack around shops now, perhaps did it for a few months months with them as toddlers if we were having a rough day. Same goes for DD11. But hey what would I know.
Weekendtobegin · 21/03/2022 16:55

I guess I just think that there are places it's appropriate to eat and places it's not.

So for example so many times I've even seen dropped crisps in the swimming pool changing rooms fgs amongst many other strange places.

I'm not saying that people should be restricted to 3 meals a day, but I can't help but agree with @TheDoveFromAboveCooCoo parents seem to give their kids snacks anywhere and everywhere. It just seems like mindless eating if you can't get round the supermarket without eating the produce!

stimpyyouidiot · 21/03/2022 16:56

Dd likes to nibble on the baguette on the way round. I do self scan though or scan and go. I don't often do a shop with her so it's rare.

Badknitter · 21/03/2022 16:56

No, always made sure I had snacks if needed with all of mine. If desperate took item to till, paid for it then continued shopping with kids eating purchased food

Chloemol · 21/03/2022 17:00

No and I don’t think it should be done

Kids have to learn. If you think they are going to be hungry take something from home they can eat before you go in

stimpyyouidiot · 21/03/2022 17:01

My Nan used to take us round Asda feeding us ham and egg and scan the empty bag at the end.

DeliaOwens · 21/03/2022 17:01

Never done it. I would pay for drink/snack at customer service or self pay and then do rest of my shopping.

In my mind it is instilling the right and proper way of behaving, Rules apply to everyone is my message.

aylis · 21/03/2022 17:03

Not now but I did when my daughter was still small and in the trolley. My younger sister always had a pork pie going round when she was a teeny as well. I’ve worked in a supermarket and it’s really, really common, I’ve known anyone to have an issue with it and it’s got fuck all to do with the ‘hate seeing it’ crowd that can’t keep their nebs in their own business. Don’t want your kid to snack in the shop, grand, you do you, nobody cares.

aylis · 21/03/2022 17:04

Also my daughter has since managed to never open and eat anything in any shop. Mad how that works.

FourChimneys · 21/03/2022 17:04

No, but I was quite strict about eating. Unless it was a picnic or similar, all food was eaten at a table from a plate or bowl. I can't abide endless snacking, it's very often unnecessary.

DC were frequently complimented on their table manners and have no eating issues so I don't think it did any harm.

VampireMoney · 21/03/2022 17:05

Scanned loads of empty things when I worked in retail. Never batted an eye because it's really not the end of the world if a kid had a bag of Wotsits on the way round. Some people will find a reason to be annoyed about anything!

Notdoingthis · 21/03/2022 17:06

No way. It's not yours until you have paid for it. Where are your manners?

VampireMoney · 21/03/2022 17:06

@aylis

Also my daughter has since managed to never open and eat anything in any shop. Mad how that works.
Same here! Crazy isn't it how they grow up ok even though we let them have a little snack in the supermarket 😂
TypicaIMe · 21/03/2022 17:07

@stuntbubbles

No I never pandered to this crap with mine. What, hunger Confused
Feed them when they're hungry and the next thing you know they'll be demanding a drink when they're thirsty.

Give an inch and they'll take a mile, the little beggars.

Porkmore · 21/03/2022 17:07

I worked in a supermarket and it wasn't classed as theft until you left the actual store without paying

TypicaIMe · 21/03/2022 17:08

@Porkmore

I worked in a supermarket and it wasn't classed as theft until you left the actual store without paying
@Blimecory HTH
aylis · 21/03/2022 17:10

@VampireMoney exactly 😂 There’s always someone banging on about how ‘they’ve got to learn’. Well she did, I’m doing this crazy thing of teaching her nuance as well. It would blow minds.

gamerchick · 21/03/2022 17:13

@stuntbubbles

No I never pandered to this crap with mine. What, hunger Confused
Snacks on demand. Who takes their kids shopping when hungry? Confused I tended to feed mine.

You can crack on all you want but people will think you're CFs. Just the way it is.

aylis · 21/03/2022 17:13

The supermarkets I’ve worked in, nobody cared. It’s obviously expected that you’ll pay at the end and I don’t think anyone is advocating not doing so. Adult men snaffling a packet of nuts and leaving the empty on a shelf - not on and utterly rude besides. A toddler in a trolley happily munching some blueberries that are paid for at the till - harming nobody.

slashlover · 21/03/2022 17:14

@TypicaIMe HTH

www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/18766027.supermarket-habit-illegal-uk/

According to Rachel Adamson, criminal law specialist, snacking while you shop is is against the law.

She told the Liverpool Echo: “While you might have the honest intention to pay for a chocolate bar that you’ve eaten while shopping in a supermarket, it is still technically illegal under section 6 of the Theft Act 1968.

“Buying a product at the till is what transfers the ownership from the product belonging to the shopkeeper, to it belonging to you.

"And only when that sale is complete do you have the legal right to consume or use it.

"If you eat the chocolate before you legally own it, you are permanently depriving the owner of his right to the product – he can no longer refuse you the sale or take the item off the shelves.