to not want my food shopping choices to be questioned?

[OutOutLetItAllOut]

went food shopping with 2 of the kids today, they are full of cold so off school.
i do my shopping, load on belt and checkout lady starts scanning. all going well. until she feels she has to start up conversation about what i am buying. and what i will make. and the other choices that she thought would be better, for ''a family like yours''.
she started going on about too many people buying ready made things, and how much salt kids have in their diet and that it was no wonder that so many kids are fat.

so was i being UR to ask her if she thought my children were malnourished or overweight?
and then to ask her where she got her qualifications to be a nutritionalist?

YANBU, I'd have said something too. What you buy is not up for public discussion. That's rude and rather poor customer service!

On the other hand, I don't mind if they make innocuous comments like "That looks nice" or "I've tried those" etc but getting judgey and opninionated is not her job inside working hours.

What were you buying?! Agree not really within her job remit to comment and can see why you would be abt put out. Though working on a checkout must be quite dull so maybe she was trying to liven things up.

I do find some peoples shopping fascinating. Not the families so much but those people that have a whole trolley full of one random product, say ready made yorkshire puddings, and a bottle of bleach. What on earth are they planning to do when they get home?

Tbh, that just sounds like conversation to me. How did she react when you said that?

Questioned and judged, no
Comments, compliments, recommedations, yes.

Did you actually ask her that? (I always think of witty retorts too late) How did she respond?

KERALA1 - I had a shopping basket last week with a bulk load of microwave rice and a large pack of batteries and I did think people would wonder what I was up to.

LOL!... Poor woman is probably sat alone at that checkout all day, driven slightly mad by the constant 'blip' noises and entertains herself by making up narratives and judgements about the lives and eating habits of customers based on their shopping. (Do it myself when stuck in a big supermarket queue) BIG mistake to say it out loud, however... :)

it was just a normal weeks shopping. weirdly enough not a single ready meal, so no idea why she was going on about ready made stuff.

veg, fruit, potatoes, a chicken, some mince, tinned tommys, some shampoo, bread, spaghetti, pasta, stuffing, sausages, magners, becks, a tin of chocs, cheese, youghurts, cereal, porridge, some baking bits( flour,eggs, butter) frozen mixed veg, juice.
cant remember what else!!

normally i dont mind chatting, esp when they remind me that i forgot to pic up one half of a 2 for 1 offer, or when they tell me how much their kids like a certain thing im getting, or when they are just being nice. but man she had judgey pants on.

yeah i did ask her, she said,
''er, no, they look alright to me''
and that she was just 'saying'

Well, if she couldn't be judgemental about your trolley, why did you think she was? Could it be possible she was just chatting?

And what did she say when you said that to her?

If she was talking about ready meals and you didnt' have any ready meals, then she clearly wasn't talking about your shopping. Do you think you might be a bit paranoid?

At first I thought that YNBU but when you descibe what was in your trolley, I think maybe you were.

She sounds like she was trying to make conversation, didn't slate what you were buying (in fact possibly complimenting - fresh food and no ready meals) are you feeling a little sensituve at the moment?

sensitive even! DD2 been up since 3am feeling ill, must go to bed now!

well, for instance, i bought mince, and the for a family like yours comment came when she said..we do lean mince, have you ever tried that? you know, for a family like yours.

Sounds as if she was just making conversation then.

She is talking about ready meals and you didn't have any - how is she judging you?

She's only making conversation - chill out.

id have asked her if shed every thought of slimming world, you for a figure like hers or freederm you know, for skin like hers.

what a bitch

Still sounds like she's making conversation - "yes, we tried it once, but its more expensive and I find its easier to get the normal sort and then I drain it. Do you have to drain lean mince when you use it?"

That would be you making conversation back. Instead you seem to be getting annoyed with her, like she is so far beneath you that you can't believe she dared to make conversation with you.

That's what it sounds like anyway...?

beneath me?
i think not, until i had the smallest child i worked in tesco!

Never worked in a supermarket, but I'd have thought they should err on the side of caution. I mean yes, if I'm buying a birthday cake by all means have a chat about whose birthday it is, but commenting on someone's pile cream or the amount of alcohol must be a definite no.

Had a really strange comment today funny enough. I like to put all my chilled/fridge stuff together and pack it first separately to my tins, bottles, and dry stuff. Makes no difference to the checkout person, but she commented on it today, and when I said with a smile "oh yes, funny isn't it, but I just find it easier to unpack when I get home" she remarked with a shake of the head "sounds like someone's got too much time on their hands." Completely straight-faced about it, didn't get the impression she was being friendly about it. I thought that was a bit strange tbh. Maybe we got the same person?!

Sounds like she approved of your shopping and thought you are on the same wavelength as her, and so her comments were to a like-minded soul and related to others who DO buy rubbish?

Scarylooker - I do that too! I find it saves time.......quite the opposite to having too much time on your hands!

was it tesco? i had similar the other week. someone telling me i hadn't bought any 'meals' just lots of shite stuff. was a bit taken aback it's up to me what i buy innit.

Makemine, doesnt it also mean that things dont get squished? and that cold stuff stays cold?

Scarylooker, doesn't everyone do that? Keeps it all colder, and you know which bags to unpack first and which can sit around all day wait for later.

Given the contents of your shopping basket , maybe she mentioned the ready meals precisely because you didn't have them and she was trying to, in her own weird way, praise you for matching her beliefs? Not saying she wasn't being judgy or that she should comment on anyone's shopping, but maybe she didn't mean any harm?

As to having strange shopping, the other day, I had a basket consisting of Vanish and bagged spinach. I think they happen because you may have everything else you need except one thing so you go to get that and then you remember that you're low on something like Vanish and it leads to odd shopping.