to think that all adults should instantly recognise what a lemon looks like?

[Bunnyjo]

Just went to my local cooperative store as I needed a lemon for a dish I was cooking. I take said lemon to the till with a few other items which the checkout assistant begins scanning.

She gets to the lemon and, I shit you not, says to me, "What is this?" I didn't know whether to or but I managed to utter, "Lemon, it's a lemon!"

As I also bought a bottle of wine on a school night! I know that she must have been at least 18!

So, MN, AIBU? Are lemons some exotic rarity that most people have not been exposed to?!

It is such an easy mistake to make. I asked DD1 - aged 8 - in Tesco to run back to the fruit and veg and grab a lemon. When I got to the checkout I was bemused by a melon in the trolley.

Flora, I work in the local Spar, I'm 48 and have never bought, used or had advocado in any shape or form, I might recognise one but I might also have to check.

However, I do know what a lemon is

SayraT - I truly hope there is a plausible explanation like that!

I also buy limes to put in my coke (don't drink alcohol)

Really? Probably leads to much confusion in shopping lists in Brazilian/British couples.

It's akin to the swede/turnip problem for Irish/English couples.

The cooperative advert has just come on and I may have pissed myself died laughing when the voiceover said the tagline "The Cooperative. Good with food."

In the co-op the cashier once asked me what I leek was. He actually held it up and said " do you know what this is?" As if I'd be buying it if I didn't know what it was! The same man asked me what another leek was the following week. I think the co-op need more staff training!

I was once in the hairdressers and the junior girl was taking orders for lunch from the other staff. One of them asked for a Pear.
Nope, she had no idea what a pear was.
They went through various descriptions, but she really didn't have a clue what they were on about. So, they drew her a picture and off she went to get the lunch orders.

She came back with an apple.

In other citrus news:
I like a Mule - Vodka, ginger and lime.

Opopanax "I sent DH to buy me some fennel once. He rang up because he was confused. I said read the labels or ask a nice lady AND DON'T ASK ME STUPID QUESTIONS."

The fennel you wanted could have been the vegetable, the herb or the seeds. I would have wanted you to be more specific too. It wasn't a stupid question at all.

Slightly off topic. I was on the phone about my sisters house insurance, I explained I dealt with everything because she lived in Abu Dhabi. "Where is that" the operator asked, I said "beside Dubai", he'd never heard of that either. I thought he was joking but no. He was not foreign either.

Dentist to DD1 'Do you eat lots of fruit and veg?'
DD1 'I like fruit but I hate leeks and Mummy puts them in pies'
Dentist aside to me 'She is really lucky that she knows what a leek is'
DD1 'And she tries to sneak mushrooms, peppers and onions into everything'

I was once asked at the till what a grapefruit was. It was a very normal yellow grapefruit, not the pink type. Couldn't really have been confused for an orange or a lemon, or...anything, really!!

I was also told very firmly by a shop assistant in a very large Sainsbury's that they categorically did not stock any kind of risotto rice.

I went shopping the other day, wanted an Apple and came back with one. Also called into the shop next door and bought a Blackberry. Perhaps it has to be IT related these days to be obvious. Or processed.

zukie, you're missing out! Avocado is lovely - you should try it! :)

I once confused Iceland by asking for sorbet. I had to explain the concept to them.

I was once asked in Sainburys what a parsnip was.

Omg! I love sorbet! Better than ice cream. Must buy some soon.

Like tomorrow.

Is my 9 year old the only child who likes to buy a single carrot and then eat it walking home looking like bugs bunny? Please say your child does this too?

Avocados are dangerous. I've just had my finger stitched back together thanks to one of those buggers (nothing to do with my own stupidity, oh no)

butterfly I do that with carrots. I'm 30.

Did the Avocado bite you MakeHey?

Not sure why I gave avocado a capital a. Possibly respect in case it attacked me.

I accidentally packed a lemon (instead of an orange) for my toddlers snack last week, we were sat down with a couple of friends and their toddlers to have a snack and I pulled a lemon out of my bag. They are kind friends, they shared their rice cakes and raisins with my poor ds so he didn't have to eat a lemon.

In my defense I knew it was a lemon when I pulled it out of my bag... No idea why I mistook it for an orange, I think I probably put my hand in the fruit bowl whilst keeping an eye on ds and choose the fruit by touch alone.

Many years ago I had a Saturday job in Fine Fare, and I remember being totally embarrassed because I wasn't sure if the fruit was a nectarine or a peach.

In my defence, this was 30 years ago in Scotland and we didn't have 'foreign' foods like nectarines.

(nectarines are the ones with fuzzy skin, right? Still not 100% sure...)

No, the peach is fuzzy!

i once had a very overbearing lady in Asda point out to me that my son, in the trolley aged about 7 months?, was eating a lemon. I was able to cheerfully reply that yes I had given it to him to keep him amused and it was ok because he didn't have any teeth yet. Did she think I had failed to notice or that he had swiped it without me noticing?