to think eating products before you pay for them at the till is uncouth?

[lastfanjoinparis]

OH and I disagree. He thinks eating a packet of crisps then handing the empty packet over at checkout to scan is perfectly acceptable but I think this is a no-no.

Where do you guys sit on this matter?

My DD doesn't like to eat, but when we are in the store she will eat anything. She loves picking up a carrot and will happily eat it around the store. Everytime we go to the store she picks out a bread to eat with her all the way around the store. None of the cashiers has ever commented on it negatively or looked bothered by it. I don't get what the big deal is. Why should I go out of my way to pay for the item first and then continue the rest of my shop?

In Costco they are always giving out loads of free samples and you always see people walking around eating something and no one seems bothered by this. If I brought something from home and gave it to my DD, this is also okay. However if my DD gets thirsty half way around the store, it's absolutely unthinkable to let her have a drink of something without paying for it first? I really don't get it.

When I was growing up we would often go to the store at lunch time and pick up something from the deli counter and eat it while we were walking around doing our shopping. I grew up with it being a normal thing to do, so when I went to the grocery store with my DD and she started to say she was hungry, I let her have some food.

I think most people just don't comment. I'm totally understanding about toddlers and children with special needs. Whatever gets them through the shop is a good thing.

I don't think the same about children who can wait, who've just got into the 'habit' of eating in shops and adults who do it leave me cold. I'm not talking about breaking off a bit of baguette, it's the non-stop troughing (and that's what it sounds like too) of people gobbling their way around - and often leaving their rubbish (so no intention of paying) and even if they take the wrappers, leaving greasy crumbs and whatever in their trail. If they think that's ok then what about whole deli chickens and leaving the bones on shelves or on the floor. What's the difference?

I think there are a lot of people who make a show of putting their empty wrappers in the trolley... and discarding them on a later aisle. A LOT.

It's a thieving habit or in the case of payers, just a habit. I don't say anything but it does disgust me.

Why should I go out of my way to pay for the item first and then continue the rest of my shop?

You shouldn't. You should pay for all of the items on the way out and eat them when you get home.

This thread is really funny.

Honestly not lying! But I suspected that there is more to her story.

She says she offered to pay etc but they rang the police anyway.
This was around five years ago.

I believe she has been to asda since but not to the one where this happened.

I've no reason to make this up, my life isn't that boring:)

(Maybe she's a prolific shoplifter and the grapes were a cover story, who knows?)

Can people REALLY not wait? I have always found it a bit odd. I

t's normal in my home country (in NZ, we are ultra-uncouth, because we also have bare feet as we munch our way round Pak'n Save ) but in the country where I now live, it's not acceptable to eat in the street or standing up full stop. So if it happened here, I'd assume it was a foreigner, as it would be unthinkable for a local to do it.

Of course, if you're diabetic or have a screaming toddler, that's a bit different, but most people should be able to manage hunger for as long as it takes to whizz around a supermarket, shouldn't they?

Don't mean to be horrible, by the way. I don't think it's ill-mannered exactly. I suppose I'd be worried about shop-lifting accusations.

I believe you, foreverton, she might have been the straw the broke the camel's back - maybe ASDA had shoplifting targets to meet that week? How embarrassing for her.

I sometimes have to open the baby wipes before paying if my toddler has got over excited with trolley treat.

Lyingwitch- Thank you:)

I have given in to my toddler but never never now they are older.

itsonlysubterfuge, if carrots are sold by weight and your daughter picks up a carrot and eats it, how do you or the shop know that you are paying the right amount for it? And does your daughter really get thirsty half way round the store, so much so that she can't wait 20 minutes to drink? If so, why don't you make sure she drinks before you go out?

It depends.
I can remember feeling as if I was dying of thirst and there was a long queue at the checkout, so I had a few sips of water out of a bottle of water then paid for it.
I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

The worst of it is that the can't-wait-scoffers are normalising this behaviour and making it easier for the won't-pay-scoffers as it's so commonplace to see people eating food all around the store.

Greasy fingermarks on clothing, magazines? Eugh. Obviously they don't have the foresight to er... fore-own some wipes.

Uncouth? Well, yes.

But it's also theft.

If you're shopping with a toddler, take your own snack/drink with you.

If you're an adult, dear god, get some restraint!

I must have been living under a rock - I've never seen anyone eating in the supermarket.

Personally I don't do it myself (although the odd grape might have made it into my kids mouths pre-checkout when they were younger), but frankly wouldn't care a jot if I saw anyone else do it, sorry. And I do consider myself fairly couth - but maybe erroneously!

Everyone seems very judgmental over such a small thing - why?

Exercise some restraint, yes.

I can kind of understand with toddlers, but otherwise no.

I still can't get my head around why anyone has a problem with this. Can anyone actually explain it? Why do you care??

YANBU, completely unacceptable.

McColonel, because:

People eating often:

• walk slower
• drop bits on the floor for others to step in/slip on
• touch things that they're not going to buy with their dirty fingers
• completely ignore 'mouth closed when eating' convention
• focus on the food rather than their children running around
• leave wrappers on the shelves with or without chicken bones
• 'forget' to pay for their food and others pick up the tab

I think it looks horrible. It's not about being 'better', it's about some people not liking to see this when they're shopping. I'm one of them. I don't say anything but I think it's greedy, unnecessary and a bad example to set for children.

Agree completely with Lying Absolutely nothing to do with feeling better than anyone!

Lots of people used the low blood sugar reason too but nobody answered my earlier question about what they would do in a non-supermarket environment when they had a low blood sugar episode.

Lots of people used the low blood sugar reason too but nobody answered my earlier question about what they would do in a non-supermarket environment when they had a low blood sugar episode.
I'd guess that people who actually have low blood-sugar issues wouldn't leave home without a suitable snack.