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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

176 replies

Bunnyjo · 16/03/2015 20:23

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 Grin or Shock 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?!

OP posts:
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elephantoverthehill · 16/03/2015 22:27

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.

zukiecat · 16/03/2015 22:28

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 Smile

Original poster
Bunnyjo · 16/03/2015 22:29

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

OP posts:
zukiecat · 16/03/2015 22:29

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

Moln · 16/03/2015 22:29

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.

Original poster
Bunnyjo · 16/03/2015 22:32

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."

OP posts:
Pointlessfan · 16/03/2015 22:34

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!

CliveCussler · 16/03/2015 22:35

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.

Gruntfuttock · 16/03/2015 22:37

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.

to think that all adults should instantly recognise what a lemon looks like?
to think that all adults should instantly recognise what a lemon looks like?
to think that all adults should instantly recognise what a lemon looks like?
deste · 16/03/2015 22:41

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.

elephantoverthehill · 16/03/2015 22:44

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'

Kampeki · 16/03/2015 22:45

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. Hmm

ARoomWithoutAView · 16/03/2015 22:47

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.

Kampeki · 16/03/2015 22:50

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

Pipbin · 16/03/2015 22:51

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

slicedfinger · 16/03/2015 22:54

I was once asked in Sainburys what a parsnip was. Shock

butterfly2015 · 16/03/2015 22:56

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?

MakeHayRidesAgain · 16/03/2015 22:57

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)

QueenBean · 16/03/2015 22:59

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

Moln · 16/03/2015 23:02

Did the Avocado bite you MakeHey?

Moln · 16/03/2015 23:05

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

Ineedacleaningfairy · 16/03/2015 23:14

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.

aliasjoey · 16/03/2015 23:15

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. Blush

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...)

Ineedacleaningfairy · 16/03/2015 23:21

No, the peach is fuzzy!

elephantoverthehill · 16/03/2015 23:23

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?