Anyone else do this in small shops?

[stuck2023]

Lighthearted and not very interesting but...

My mum is visiting, we popped to the local shop earlier and I took my Tesco bag for life, the big thick one not the carrier bag style.

Once in the shop I started putting my shopping in it, Dm was horrified. She went and got a basket and made me carry the empty bag until we had paid then fill the bag up. She thought I looked like the most ballsy shoplifter ever just walking around filling up my bag.

Honestly never thought this was strange had I put the bag in the basket I could still have put some things in to steal if I really wanted to. Plus the big bag takes up half the basket.

The shop is small with cameras and the staff know me it never occurred to me that it might be strange.

Does anyone else do it my way or have I been commuting some major corner shop faux pas?

No, don’t do that either. In any store, large or small. Why draw unnecessary attention to yourself? You know you’ll be watched for shop lifting, because you ARE acting out of normal behaviour. If you don’t care what others think, you know how that is, don’t you? Why be that type of person?

You don't have to make a big show of emptying it out at the till, just empty it out at the till without the drama.

I used to because the alternative was to wait in the queue for hours as they only had two trolley checkouts. Or I would have to use a trolley to carry milk because I am very weak and can't carry it in a basket and wait for hours in the queue. I could hang my bag and the shopping on my shoulder and then empty it at the self-checkouts where trolleys were not allowed. It was ASDA and I used to do it until somebody stopped me, I explained to her that I had been seen so many times at the checkout emptying my bag and nobody had stopped me but she was insisting that I was potentially shoplifting and "if you don't understand I will bring security to explain". The security guard was publically shouting at me and humiliating me while I was arguing that I couldn't carry a basket with the milk I needed, shoppers entering the store were all looking at me being called a thief. As I was leaving staff were gossiping hiding their mouths behind their hands, some smirking. DH went to complain later. I was too embarrassed to go back so he filled the form for me. The assistant even told him that she had seen us shop for so many years and was asking who complained. ASDA never replied. I am still so angry.

I thought I was clearly in the wrong so I started to cross the bridge over to Tesco which was farther away BUT was emptier, had many more manned tills AND their self-checkouts allowed small trollies!

I would think like your mother. I am always horrified when I see people doing this lest they get accused of shop lifting😳

I always use my own bag at local store and empty it at the till. I'm a regular shopper there. I also do it for a small shop in M&S and Lidl

Exactly!!!