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).

[squoosh]

Supermarket pic n mix is basically an incubator for old snot and sperm.

[Biffsboys]

It's not something I've ever done but I don't have a problem with people who do ? You don't know other people's circumstances - they may have sn children or just having a bad day and want to keep dc quiet to do a shop ?? Out of interest op do you have dc ?

[angryangryyoungwoman]

Although nosepicking in the frozen aisle would get me mad too

Haha, I think it would be worse in the fresh section rather than frozen. I mean, freezing halts the bacteria doesn't it? So I have no problem with that. But in the till queue? Delicatessen? Fruit and veg aisle? Disgusting!

[PacificDogwod]

Gingerbreadmen are the Action Men of the Baked Goods World.

[PacificDogwod]

I agree, 'uncouth' is a great and sadly unused word.
That is what I will take from this thread, using 'uncouth' more in RL

[OhGodWhatTheHellNow]

Blimey, I never realised this was so acceptable! Obviously I am very out of touch.

I also suspect that most of the in-shop munchers I see have bugger all intention to pay, but hey ho, not my problem.

If it's ok to pre-till munch, it's just as ok to bloody judge without being called precious.

[WorraLiberty]

WankingMonkey, they'll be the gingerbread women that just identify as gingerbread men...

[angryangryyoungwoman]

Xposted with others who agree it's where you pick your nose that counts...

[CotswoldStrife]

Ah, this seems to be a contentious popular topic on various forums in the past. I would summarise the positions as 1 - it's theft, 2- it's OK if you intend to pay for it.

I have noticed a trend for current or former retail workers to be in camp 1 (theft) I was also mocked on another forum for taking snacks and a drink with me to the supermarket for my child to eat while we shopped, but there again I have worked in retail and I think it's theft to consume something before payment in a supermarket.

[HerFaceIsAMapOfTheWorld]

lol I have done this before I don't see the issue it is being paid for

[AppleJac]

My step dad used to fill a bag full of pick n mix in asda and hook it on the hook on the trolley and he would slowly dip into this bag as he made his way round asda and by the time he got to the till the bag would be empty.

He did it every bloody time! I did not adopt this pick n mix freebie attitude.

I may scoff a sandwich round asda with my 3 year old but i ve never not paid for it.

[squoosh]

I wouldn't have minded (so much) if he'd just had a furtive root while selecting his Dr Oetker pizza, but he practically had his whole fist up his shnozz.

My delicate sensibilities were offended.

[applesvpears]

I have been known to eat s few grapes

[ShouldHaveBeenJess]

So can I go to my local bakery on Monday and ask for a gender neutral gingerbread person? Or is 'person' offensive?

(Chucks more unpaid for buns)

[MerchantofVenice]

Oh, and those dismissing the 'restaurant argument'... Well, if we're going to be pedantic (which, I take it, we are, the OP's original outrage was based on eating food that you haven't yet paid for - so, in fact, the restaurant argument fits the bill (pun intended) perfectly. The issue was not whether you were sitting down or whether you looked uncouth - it was literally the fact that you hadn't yet paid. Anyway, I think I could do a good job of looking uncouth whilst eating in a restaurant too.

[MaryMarigold]

Tbf, I've never actually seen parents feeding their DCs gingerbread in the supermarket as (by some amazing coincidence) everyone on here claims to do. Ime, they tend to shovelling donuts, crisps or peperami.

[Helbel82]

OP I am totally with you on this one. It is my absolute room 101. You wouldn't go in to a clothes shop, put on new clothes and then scan them whilst still wearing them, would you?

[CotswoldStrife]

Not all restaurants let you eat first and pay later! And a supermarket is not a restaurant, you are expected to pay for the goods and take them home.

[HowDoYouDoItAll]

I wouldn't do it for anything for myself, but there have been times when I've mis-timed shopping with the DCs as babies/toddlers and they've started screaming the place down, so I've opened a bag of rice cakes and given them a few whilst finishing shopping/waiting at the checkout.

I would never do that if I didn't have change in my bag to pay for the packet of rice cakes though (just in case there was a problem with the card payment, I would still be able to pay in cash for the ricecakes). Also I think the supermarket would prefer my child was not screaming at the top of their lungs for the sake of a few rice cakes which I paid for at the checkout.

I wouldn't consume anything myself though going round, ever. I've never even actually seen this happen with an adult, and I visit a large supermarket for bits most days!!

[charlestrenet]

A supermarket isn't a restaurant. Hth.

[ItsABanana]

I'm totally with you on this one OP! Surely you can get through a shop without having to eat?!
As for the whole "my kids are a pain for pestering for food in the supermarket so I just give in and get them stuff to eat on the way round" - they won't fucking die of starvation halfway round Tesco, no you can have this when we've paid and gone outside is a complete sentence and they won't be completely traumatised as a result!

[UnGoogleable]

You wouldn't go in to a clothes shop, put on new clothes and then scan them whilst still wearing them, would you?

I've seen people do just that. And I've been encouraged by the shop assistant to do it with shoes.

[ollieplimsoles]

In Waitrose?!

Seriously grow up op, I had a friend at school who was diagnosed with diabetes when he was ten, his mum always opened a pack of biscuits and gave him one when they were walking around.

[StStrattersOfMN]

I love threads like this, they make me feel so rational.

[LadyConstanceDeCoverlet]

I can't see that this compares with a restaurant where you pay after you've eaten. In a restaurant, the waiters have a note of who has ordered what, and it is easy to keep track of who has and hasn't paid. In a supermarket, no-one knows what you have taken off the shelves, nor do they know what you are eating as you go round, and it's virtually impossible for the staff t keep track. In particular, if it's loose goods that are sold by weight that you are eating, it is literally impossible to work out what the price is.