yellowraincoat - that is exactly what our village is like. The assistant often tells me what other people have bought, as though I'm remotely interested! They slag off tourists and the other day the assistant told me that she didn't like the crowds of tourists because they are more prone to shoplifting!
BUT, as it happens I'm going to have to buy some sanitary products from them after all. He did buy me two packs but it looks as though this month is going to be a bad, stay in the house one. So I'll get through 3 packs.
And the 'big shop' was confined to a basket because he couldn't find a quid for the trolley, so I'll have to do that online shop after all. Ah well!
It's been an interesting discussion though. From my own point of view, I see sanitary towels very differently from razors because periods are the expulsion I suppose of a waste product - the womb lining. So because they deal with bodily fluids rather than just hair, they are different to me. I buy razors all the time and whether or not they are pink, double bladed or lined with aloe vera matters not so long as they remove unwanted hair. But there are so many different pads such as scented, ultra absorbant, night-time, light, winged, flexible etc and that's before you get to the tampons. And it does matter if he gets it wrong because my periods are a nightmare and I need the branded night-time ones if I'm to save my sheets and clothes.
I can fully understand his embarrassment and I'd like to thank thechairmanmeow for his honesty. Attitudes towards periods are changing but for some men it can be bewildering to buy something you know is vital to your other half, which is only used by women and normally perused by women. I suppose it's like asking them to buy stretchmark cream, they wouldn't know where to start! It's lovely to hear of so many partners who don't find it a problem at all and that's been an eye opener to me. Luckily the matter was a bit of a non-issue in the end as he did his bit and didn't complain or state that he was embarrassed so perhaps we've overcome that particular hurdle.
Thanks too for the posters who also said that their partners felt a twinge of embarrassment too, it makes me feel a little better, particularly since I did feel mocked by a couple of posts. So it appears that my dh is not a child after all. 