Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

or have I just had the most disastrously Mumsnetty trip to the supermarket ever?

253 replies

FannyPriceless · 07/05/2011 16:38

DD ate all the grapes before purchase. The checkout assistant actually held up the remains before scanning and said 'What is this?' in a very disapproving voice. All that was left was a plastic bag, a stalk, and few squashed half grapes.Blush

But even worse than that, I LOST my shopping list half way around. We went back to search but it was nowhere to be found. I have to admit in all honesty that it had 'nice ham' written on it!Blush

I am mortified.

OP posts:
jbcbj · 08/05/2011 14:59

i was crying with laughter at this (well, until wotnochocs appeared - what a delightful poster....). i own up to being one of the louts who gives dd something when necessary in the shop (barcoded though, not pay-by-weight) and have even done it myself (unstable blood sugar ishoos). don't worry, i've rapped my own knuckles and am booking a one-way cruise down the river Styx.

i did see a woman once swapping the value range eggs in her box for the uber-expensive very large chickens-draped-in-cashmere-and-fed-on-truffles eggs. that did make me Shock.

alistron1 · 08/05/2011 15:11

I think wotnochocs has partaken of the grapes of wrath. Maybe if she had eaten of the grapes of criminality she wouldn't be so uptight.

MrsFruitcake · 08/05/2011 15:17

My 3 year old had a full-blown tantrum just today over not being allowed to eat grapes in the trolley as we were going round. I just let him bawl - no way was I giving in to him on that one. He is old enough to understand that we pay for our shopping at the till and only then can he have something to eat from it - it sends the wrong message to children if you let them have their own way on things like this IMO.

My Mum made my little brother take a jelly back to the shop once when he was about 3 or 4 - he'd wanted one, she said no and he stashed it in his duffel coat. When they got home, it fell out of the pocket and she actually drove all the way back to the shop to make him give it back - he was terrified, but he hasn't (to my knowledge) ever pilfered anything again!

ExitPursuedByALamb · 08/05/2011 15:41

Shock Shock Shock

Is this still going on?

Grin at alistron1

Are all the judgey, perfect people in the world gathered together on MN?

HellNoSayItAintSo · 08/05/2011 15:41

Poor old Mr Tesco, being deprived of a few grapes, bet that dents the billions and billions they make in profit.

Fecking fruit-loops, you lot.

MrsFruitcake · 08/05/2011 15:50

It's not about the losses to the supermarkets though, it's about teaching your child to respect the general rules of the world - if I tried to walk out of Tescos with a bunch of grapes without paying for them, I'd get nicked. Why is this any different?

alistron1 · 08/05/2011 15:56

A kid eating grapes in the supermarket is not going to lead to worldwide anarchy and the collapse of civilisation. Although maybe that's what did for the romans?? Little tarquinus maximus being allowed to eat some grapes in the markets of Rome might have triggered the fall of the roman empire?! Maybe we need someone like David Starkey to advise us on this issue.

Driftwood999 · 08/05/2011 20:17

alistron1 - considering this is a parenting forum, I find your sentiments somewhat immature, irresponsible and "6th form ish". MrsFruitcake has put it in a nutshell. It's not rocket science, just conscience.

princessparty · 08/05/2011 20:42

I think it is wrong.
If you really have to feed your child,then give them something that is already priced.

jbcbj · 08/05/2011 21:03

if only little tarquinus had been given a bar-coded fruit bar rather than the grapes by mummy maximus..... perhaps then we'd still be watching gladiators rather than the premiership.

OldMumsy · 08/05/2011 21:57

Fanny LOL, shop at their competitor supermarket in future!

springbokdoc · 08/05/2011 22:08

fanny I cannot believe the outrage that this has started! It made me laugh - I can just imagine getting to the checkout and then noticing the little plastic bag and the cashier's expression.

BTW I asked DH (who is a SOCO) whether this was theft or not - after stopping laughing he said no, as technically (and legally) it was up to the cashier to get an accurate price or to ask her manager to decide. If you had hidden the bag then it would have been theft.

Driftwood999 · 08/05/2011 22:26

Oh we now have the voice of authority A man and a SOCO no less. springbokdoc, were you thinking to have the last word?

GoingLoopyLou · 08/05/2011 22:31

Springbokdoc - as petty and ridiculous as it may be, it is theft, so you may want to inform your SOCO DH that if you take something that isn't yours and don't pay for it, then actually it is theft. How can anyone deny that?

springbokscantjump · 08/05/2011 22:37

Oh wow, didn't mean to upset. Just meant that the law is to intentionally and permanently deprive (or some such) so as she did go to the till and present the empty bag the opportunity to pay (or overpay) was made. It was up to the store to then decide how they would like to proceed - if they had said in order to make sure that they had covered the cost she would have to pay £x and then she refused, then it would be theft. Or if she had seen the bag and hid it before getting to the checkout, then it would be theft.

Driftwood999 · 08/05/2011 22:45

springbokscantjump - Read the supercilious OP, reflect on your comments and then have pity for the checkout staff.

fearnelinen · 08/05/2011 22:46

Are you serious driftwood?
Pity the checkout staff?

springbokscantjump · 08/05/2011 22:51

Umm driftwood, sorry I just can't raise myself to outraged on this. I would have got all judgey if fanny had said 'my dc ate all the grapes, so I hid the plastic bag so they didn't know I had any. LOL'. But she didn't.

Also pity the checkout staff? For what? Having to deal with what I imagine is a relatively common occurrence in their job?

grannyhen · 08/05/2011 22:58

also children can choke on grapes and presumably they were unwashed aswell as encouraging children to take things they haven't paid for

Driftwood999 · 08/05/2011 23:00

Obviously checkout staff deal with the cross section of society, some more compliant to the rules of acceptable behaviour than others. I'm not outraged but this, btw, but I do think that setting little examples of good conduct is the way to go.

swiperstopswiping · 08/05/2011 23:04

Not read whole thread (can't be arsed) but Springbok is right.

A charge of theft rests on an intent to permanently deprive - people who make off without paying for petrol are very, very rarely charged with theft because it is so hard to prove that there was an INTENT to deprive the owner of the product (as opposed to - I came in the shop for fruit pastilles and had forgotten to fill up the car, honest guv!)

A security guard who suspects you of stealing will only ever stop you outside of the shop - because even if they have seen you put something in your bag you could have done so with the intent to pay for it before you left - the onus is on the store to prove that you permanently meant to deprive them of the item or the value of the item.

And why wouldn't a SOCO know something about the law?!

friendlynotbendy · 08/05/2011 23:05

I once inadvertently stole a tin of sardines from Tesco. I realised what I had done on the way to the car park.

I smirked.

swiperstopswiping · 08/05/2011 23:08

GoingLoopyLou Sun 08-May-11 22:31:18
Springbokdoc - as petty and ridiculous as it may be, it is theft, so you may want to inform your SOCO DH that if you take something that isn't yours and don't pay for it, then actually it is theft. How can anyone deny that?

Sorry goingloopylou, but you are wrong, legally speaking. You can take something that isn't yours and not pay for it, but if you intended to pay for it and to not permanently deprive the owner of it (or it's value) then it is not theft.

mummissinghermind · 08/05/2011 23:09

friendlynotbendy Yeah right, likely story.Wink

swiperstopswiping · 08/05/2011 23:10

And going loopylou - have you never been in a situation where you borrow a pen from a friend's desk at work? Something like that? But there is NO intention to do anything other than give it back when you are finished?

Because, by your definition, that would make someone a thief.

Thankfully the law isn't as black and white Wink

Swipe left for the next trending thread