People eating food they haven't paid for....

[maddiemookins16mum]

....It just really bugs me. To the point of utter revulsion.
In a supermarket, grown adults opening a pack of 4 pork pies and happily munching their way around the shop, only to toss the empty pack to be scanned as their shopping goes through. Why do people do that, have you ever, and why??? (DD had to wait until the car for her gingerbreadman biscuit from Waitrose).

Sorry worded mine a bit badly - we were queueing for the self service at the second supermarket. It wasn't that the assistant saw me not paying, she obviously thought I hadn't paid and should have before giving the water to DS.

Sure AVL for example, walk behind the counter at McDonalds and pump the milkshake directly into your mouth.

If challenged simply present your laminated "Hello, you are a homophobe" card and then run away whilst they're still confused

Weird how so many people are outraged about adults or even small DC eating food before they have paid.
Yet an op on another thread was slated for not liking kids stand-in in trolleys.
There are signs telling people not to let kids stand in trolleys but rarely do you find any telling you not to eat before paid for.

I am with the OP, eating as you walk round the supermarket is inappropriate and simply unnecessary, nobody is SO hungry that they have to eat immediately, and if they are the buy a sandwich, eat it, then do their shopping. It's not the job of the cashier to dispose of your wrappers and scan your half eaten French sticks.

It's not a restaurant. It's a shop.

I agree, infuriates me. No excuse,even with little kids. Toughen up and tell them to wait

Agree with OP. When I worked at the checkout as a teenager I used to find this repulsive. People handing over some sticky, half-eaten mess and giving me a cheeky smile. It's not cheeky/cute. It's just yuck. Learn to control yourself. If your toddler needs food bring something from home - don't feed them something you haven't even paid for then make the checkout workers touch the gross packet. And seriously, who would eat a piece of fruit that need to be weighed?????

I really don't see the harm. Shopping is boring for little ones. If it makes a stressed out overworked mothers life a little bit easier then go for it. Better that than toddlers trying to scramble out of trolleys and getting up to mischief. My daughter usually gives dgs a bag of quavers out of a multi pack. Not a single checkout operator has ever objected. It's not a big deal.

I wonder if anyone's ever been caught short on a period and turned up at the till with an open box - minus one tampon?

I did, along with a packet of Ibuprofen with 2 missing.

I made sure I closed the packets carefully as I didn't wish to appear uncouth, but, as it was in Sainsburys and not Waitrose, so it probably wouldn't matter.

I hate it!!!! If ever I've needed to feed a child I had brought the item first then allowed them to eat it and produced the receipt when I pay for the rest. It is stealing!

Hmmmm.....I've been thinking about the trivial practicalities of this. If you're an adult who wants to eat stuff walking round the supermarket, how do you push your trolley or carry your basket? Eating requires use of hands and my hands are occupied with either trolley or basket and picking items off the shelf to put in the trolley.

Or do you open a pack of something and rest it in the seat of the trolley and delve into it every now and again? Say, a packet of crisps? Then your fingers would be covered in bits of crisp and flavourings, do you wipe them on something? Lick your fingers? And carry on?

I wonder if anybody has ever gone to the checkout with a loo roll that...

...I'm not even going to finish that sentence!

Tiggy please don't

I totally agree with the op.

Although, I've never known anyone to do this apart from on mumsnet.

It seems such bad manners and so unnecessary.

I can't think of any reason why you'd need to snack walking around the supermarket. Just wait until you've paid fgs.

I've managed to shop with two children in tow for years and never needed to feed them mid shop.

Tiggy.... I have!

Ds fell over and ended up with a bloody nose and it was the first thing to hand in front of me.

I've had to go to the checkout with an open packet of nappies

midwife appoitment at local doctors. Didn't take baby bag for dd as I was only going to be half an hour and she had already had a poo that morning.

Sod's luck, she decided to fill her nappy at the doctors. Dh had to take her across to the tescos and buy nappies and wipes to clean her up with.

It is stealing
No it isn't, stealing is when there is no intention to pay. How on earth can it be stealing if you pay for it at the checkout. You might as well say it's stealing when you eat a restaurant meal.

Life is too short to get het up about minor failings in other people. You need to let go of your anger, op. The only person suffering is yourself.

No, stealing is taking something which belongs to someone else without their permission.

at the cod psychology crap mentioned on here.

strangeday happens at my nearest Asda store, it's pretty common.
highlandfling I think it's because of liability. If kid falls out of trolley, and no warnings are on said trolley, parent may try and sue.

Wonder if you could sue if you choked on food whilst wandering around supermarket eating their food.(coz technically tiz their food until you've paid...I think they should probably have warnings up!)

How do you pay for grapes, or other weighted foods? Maybe all customers should be weighed before and after entry and paid accordingly?

Why is it so hard to understand the difference between stealing and paying for something? If you pay for something, either before or after you've eaten it, that is not stealing. If you eat something like grapes from a bunch before it's been weighed. .. yes, it's stealing. If you eat one bar from a pre-priced multipack and then pay for said multipack, well obviously it's not stealing.

Why can't we just use our common sense (assuming we have any...)? Does there really need to be a hard-and-fast rule? If you're ripping apart a hot chicken and wiping your greasy hands on passers-by, maybe you should stop. But if you're giving a couple of rice cakes to a bored toddler who for some reason isn't enthralled by your weekly shop, it's probably fine.

And, for pity's sake, can we stop with the 'Just learn to say no.' What if a parent doesn't feel the need to say no? It's a packet of raisins or a bread stick, not heroin. I'm sure they are more than capable of saying no when they feel the need - not when you feel the need.

No it isn't stealing unless you leave the shop without paying. Eating something in a shop before paying is not theft.

Well, yes - agreed hope. But I was assuming that you will then leave the shop without paying for the consumed grapes because you have destroyed the evidence that they ever existed or needed to be paid for...

(Assuming that was a comment on the great grape controversy. ..)