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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

730 replies

lastfanjoinparis · 04/04/2015 21:46

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?

OP posts:
Midori1999 · 04/04/2015 23:42

OwlinaTree thank goodness someone noticed the chicken bone! Grin I was laughing about it for weeks...

Sparklingbrook · 04/04/2015 23:46

If you take a banana or a drink with you then you are even more likely to be accused of shoplifting.
Why would you pay for stuff at the start of the shop when you can just pay at the end?

OwlinaTree · 04/04/2015 23:46

midoriGrin

My local supermarket don't seem to mind you paying at the end, so it's not really an issue is it? If they had expressed at any time that they were unhappy about it, people wouldn't do it.

ihatelego · 04/04/2015 23:47

how do you shop whilst eating anyway? Hmm

MrsKoala · 04/04/2015 23:47

My ds is not eating the cookie because he is hungry. No amount of worthy pre emptive lunch is going to make going to lidl an okay thing to do without a sodding biscuit for him.

i think you are underestimating the force of a very strong very bored toddler. Its not just the screaming, its the leaning out of the buggy pulling everything from the shelves and throwing stuff.

we go and get 'the special magic biscuit' when we arrive and no one ends up crying or in a&e. Win win.

when out with ds1 being thought of as uncouth is the least of my worries. In fact it makes a nice change.

IfYouWereARiverIdLearnToFloat · 04/04/2015 23:49

Never done it & the self scan till is temperamental enough without messing up the weights of things by munching them.

MrsKoala · 04/04/2015 23:50

Ha ha ha at ds eating a banana.

Foxyloxyatehennypenny · 05/04/2015 00:00

I'm sure half of MN send their 'help' to the supermarket anyway.

Probably, and your point is?

UncertainSmile · 05/04/2015 00:03

IT would explain the snobbishness on show here, wouldn't it?

debbriana · 05/04/2015 00:04

I have done it

Janebob0 · 05/04/2015 00:06

Oh dear, I do this and let my DC! My mum always let us do this when we were younger. We are not uncouth and have good manners, I hope! I think YABU and a little fussy!

Janebob0 · 05/04/2015 00:07

I also try things...like a grape or something to see if worth buying. Probably even more uncouth.

Janebob0 · 05/04/2015 00:09

I am frankly amazed at the outraged comments on here. Really making me chuckle how people have the time and energy to get "outraged" at others doing this. I'm sorry ladies, but....get a life Wink

Nanny0gg · 05/04/2015 00:12

Don't you ever think that the "supermarket" has taken all this into account?

Of course they have. Plus other kinds of wasteage. Plus theft through shoplifting.

All factored into the prices we pay.

UncertainSmile · 05/04/2015 00:14

I always thought Margo Leadbetter was an exaggerated character before I joined MN.

Janebob0 · 05/04/2015 00:19

uncertainsmile haha. I think this thread has really highlighted it for me. I'm really guffawing at the level of outrage sparked by eating before you pay. It's one of the treats of shopping for me... Supermarket equivalent of chef's tipple

CadMaryzCremeEggzAreASwizz · 05/04/2015 00:20

Margo would also have got on with my Granny Grin

In fact they could have played bridge and tutted with Jigsaw's and sleeponeday's Nans.

They could have organised the world properly. No uncouthness allowed.

Permanentlyexhausted · 05/04/2015 00:30

Eugh! I used to find this pretty grim when I worked in a supermarket.

I never cease to be amazed by the number of people buying anti-bacterial sprays, handwash, washing-up liquid, etc, whilst merrily eating, and allowing their children to eat, in one of the most bug-infested environments possible.

Think of all those germs, traces of urine and faeces from other people's hands, and general grime on shopping trolley handles, and on the food products themselves (think supermarket warehouses don't have problems with vermin? Think again.) Mmm, yum yum! Just what I want to put in my mouth and especially in my children's mouths! And then people complain that there are so many D&V bugs making their children sick these days.

Nowt stranger than folk, I guess! Personally, I prefer to wash my hands before I eat. I'm odd like that!

CalicoBlue · 05/04/2015 00:31

I was told that it was theft and that has always stuck in my head and I have never done it, even with the small kids. I won't eat in the street either, just makes me feel uncomfortable. Must be something my granny said once.

EllenJanesthickerknickers · 05/04/2015 00:40

Gosh, I used to think I was being really posh when I opened a pre-pack of apples (instead of Quavers) to keep DS1 quiet whilst shopping. Now I realise I was being uncouth! Wink

Thank God for online shopping, I say.

Sparklingbrook · 05/04/2015 00:42

It's theft, yes, if you don't pay for it. I don't see where the not paying for things is coming from.

HeartsTrumpDiamonds · 05/04/2015 00:50

Sanctimommy is almost as good as sanctimoanyarse.

I am both when it comes to adults and children eating in the supermarket, although slightly less so about otherwise rabid rampaging toddlers.

serenaserene · 05/04/2015 01:02
LucyBabs · 05/04/2015 01:49

permanently I think I may never leave my house again Grin

PeppermintCrayon · 05/04/2015 01:50

It's not yours to eat until you pay for it. End of.

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