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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think be worried people think I'm not shopping for essentials

96 replies

feelinguseless101 · 05/04/2020 19:53

I know iabu BUT I had an Asda shop delivered yesterday, we were supposed to be having friends over this week so I booked it waaaaaay in advance. I didn't cancel it and did a really big shop with it instead, 10 day meal plan, house hold items etc. It came missing 10 items. They're mostly 'ingredients' needed to complete the meals in the meal plan and there's also laundry detergent and an Easter egg. We could possibly do without most of it but we've completely run out of washing powder so AIBU to think that when I do my shop tomorrow people are going to think I'm batshit and flouting the rules? My list is:

Laundry detergent
Limes
Easter egg
Cheese
Coriander
Onion
Mini marshmallows
Cumin
Baby toothbrush
Parsley

OP posts:
Cecilia2016 · 05/04/2020 20:23

I agree with you WOULDY

Pembsgirl · 05/04/2020 20:27

Just a thought, but if you only need a few bits why not try asking yourself, 'is it worth dying for'? If not, don't go to the shop for it. That visit might just be when you pick up the virus that kills you or one of your family members!!

Malvinaa81 · 05/04/2020 20:28

Buy what you consider you need.

Some consider hair colour essential.

Sparklesocks · 05/04/2020 20:29

Unfortunately there will be people who judge. You can already find some of them with their self righteous posts here on MN. But the fact is they have no idea what’s essential for your family, and they can piss off if they believe otherwise.

TestBank · 05/04/2020 20:29

Try not giving a shit what other people think for a day. You might find it fun.

funnylittlefloozie · 05/04/2020 20:30

Who has time to worry about what other people have in their baskets? If you need laundry detergent and Easter eggs, fgs go and get them!

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 05/04/2020 20:34

Some consider hair colour essential

I do! I bought a few boxes when I realised this could go on for a while. My hairdresser can sort out the mess when they reopen!

Redcrayons · 05/04/2020 20:38

Just go, and buy what you needed. In real life nobody cares.

LargeGinOnTap · 05/04/2020 21:08

Yes of course you can buy all of that stuff as long as you don't:

Laundry detergent- buy so much you could start laundrette
Limes - but so much you could start a margarita and mojito bar
Easter egg- buy much so much that you could start a pop up Easter egg shop giving Thornton's a run for its money
Cheese - buy so much you look like you have given the towns of Wensleydale
And cheddar in terms of cheese production.
Coriander- are you batch cooking more curry than can fit into your freezer
Onion - planning on batch cooking more food than can fit in your freezer
Mini marshmallows - are you intending on starting a cafe selling only hot chocolate and want them for the special variety
Cumin - are you batch cooking more curry than can fit into your freezer
Baby toothbrush - you've set up a dentists for baby and want lots of sample tubes of baby toothpaste for the reception desk
Parsley- you aren't planning on replicating a model of Parsley the lion from The Herb Garden are you?

What I'm trying to say is that so long as you aren't buying needlessly and in excessive amounts then you can you buy whatever you want to

swampytiggaa · 05/04/2020 21:15

Fucks sake. I went to the co op on Saturday and bought a Lego magazine a six pack of salt and vinegar crisps and a can of Pepsi max. Not essential I suppose but they were for a 10 year old boy who has been indoors with his mom for 2 weeks now with at least another 10 to go. He loves his Lego comic 🙂 and anything that helps them both through is good in my eyes.

I dropped it off stood at the end of the drive and saw how happy they both were 💕

StarlightLady · 05/04/2020 21:44

Relax!

In “normal times”, l buy condoms as part of my regular supermarket shop and get some strange looks from those in the checkout behind me! My sexual health is important. As is washing powder etc.

GlummyMcGlummerson · 05/04/2020 21:50

I really couldn't give a fuck if other people think I have essentials or not - it's not up to them to decide what is essential to me.

GlummyMcGlummerson · 05/04/2020 21:52

Well, you could probably do without all of that until you next shop, so they may well think it.

This pandemic really has turned people bat shit crazy. What is OP supposed to do without anything to wash her clothes? Hot water and a mangle?

GlummyMcGlummerson · 05/04/2020 21:54

Just a thought, but if you only need a few bits why not try asking yourself, 'is it worth dying for'? If not, don't go to the shop for it. That visit might just be when you pick up the virus that kills you or one of your family members!!

@Pembsgirl please tell me this is irony?

AnaphylacticAnnabelle · 05/04/2020 22:04

Is this for real?

I'd just buy what I wanted/ needed. No one cares who is buying what do they?
If they do they should be focused on their own shit / be further away

julybaby32 · 05/04/2020 22:05

For the laundry detergent - is it worth dying for the lack of it? Washing clothes with detergent is a bit like washing hands with soap - something we should all do anyway but especially now. The toothbrush is especially important too. Obviously dental health is always important, but it will be especially important in the coming months when dental care will be harder to arrange and riskier for both dentist and patient.
The other bit may not be worth a special shopping trip in themselves, but while you are there, there will be very added risk and the definite addition of some vitamin C. Surely not everyone in the shop will be mumsnet users?

EveryDayIsADuvetDay · 05/04/2020 22:11

With all the distancing at the supermarkets, your basket probably will get less scrutiny that normal.
Unless you only buy two cucumbers of course.

For small minded people that have nothing better to do that scrutinise and be judgy about other peoples shopping, why give it a second thought?
But if you're feeling really guilty, add a pack of loo rolls - top trumps.

longwayoff · 05/04/2020 22:13

Have I gone mad? An 'essential shop' is the trip to the shop not what you buy when you're there isn't it? Or are there now shop police telling me what I can or cannot buy? Have shops got non essentials for sale? If so, what are they doing there if we're ' not supposed' to buy them? Collective insanity, really, someone send for truckloads of valium. Can't take much more of this nuttiness.

PrincessHoneysuckle · 05/04/2020 22:29

Just dont buy cucumbers and you'll be fine

okiedokieme · 05/04/2020 22:35

I've gone in for fresh herbs and salad, nobody bats an eyelid - some things don't keep

Dances · 05/04/2020 22:45

We don't live in a totalitarian state. Yet.

Buy what you want and justify yourself to noone but yourself.

LastTrainEast · 05/04/2020 22:45

relax, you can buy anything they sell in there. The only way it looks bad is if someone makes a special trip just for a trivial item.

There are people boasting that they do just that and those are pissing people off obviously.

C33P0 · 05/04/2020 22:49

OP I'm the same. We've managed to get deliveries the last two weeks as we have a Sainsbury's delivery pass. However, there is always a handful of items missing. I figure between the two (the delivery and a once a week shop) we should be able to get everything we need. I had a similarly random list of items I needed when I went out today.

Leflic · 05/04/2020 23:00

I agree with PP who said it’s the amount of times you go rather than what’s in your trolley.

Our local convenience shop has put out a plea for people o stop using it to just nip in and buy papers, bread and milk. Obviously that’s what the shop was designed for but the staff only have their own PPE, no time to restock the shelves and a too many people for a small shop to distance safely.
So actually they don’t really want the business now unless you are in dire straights.
I think the person that bought the comic and Easter egg is a good example. They’re not essential but could be bought as part of a weekly shop. I don’t think it’s fair to do an extra shop for non essential treats.

hauntedvagina · 06/04/2020 08:26

I did an Ocado shop last night, some little bottles of G&T came up in the flash sales at the end. Were they essential, no. Did I buy them, you're damn right I did.