Supermarket triggers. Leave The Bananas Alone!!

[TrippingOverMyAssets]

This really triggers me and drives me absolutely mad. I can’t stand people excessively touching and handling fruit they have no intention of buying. Every time I am in the supermarket and I go to buy some bananas, I always just pick up the first bunch that look almost ripe, are a nice colour and look undamaged, then put them in my basket and walk away. Even if one is a little damaged I just eat that one first. Job done.

But time and time again the display is being body blocked by one person and their trolley while a queue builds up behind them, usually by someone of a certain age demographic removing every single bunch from the stand and inspecting them individually, prodding and poking them then putting them back.

Are you buying them or making love to them? Stop prodding and poking them all ffs! Other people have to buy those and they don’t want your hands all over them squeezing them and poking them.

No other supermarket fruit goes through this undignified ritual of prodding and poking then being put back on the shelf. It’s so unhygienic and rude. Just leave the bananas alone if you don’t want them! Other people have to buy those after you’ve finished messing about with them!

It surprises me that you see this MORE with bananas than any other fruit. I'd think stone fruits, melons, pineapples, citrus, and perhaps pears would get handled most often. But I agree that bananas generally don't need to be squeezed and neither the bananas nor the squeezer nor the banana buyers who come after them will benefit.

People mindlessly poking them about when they don’t even intend to buy them. It would be odd for someone to fondle the bananas if they had no intention of buying bananas at all, but the shopper in your example considered and rejected the loose bananas and then bought other bananas instead. Presumably he might have bought the loose ones if they'd passed his touch test. Also, of course, he could have had bananas on his list but decided against them if NONE of them met his standards.

... usually by someone of a certain age demographic ...

What is the "age demographic"? I'm imagining teenagers, but not sure how much banana buying they routinely do.

Well from the poll it looks like most of you like buying fruit that someone else has messed about with and damaged. Yeah, sure you do…

That's really not the most logical conclusion from the poll results.

I sniff tomatoes too. No smell = no flavour it seems.

Oh that takes me back almost 70 years when I would wander into the greenhouse and just stand inhaling the smell of the ripening tomatoes, my mother would do the same although she was unable to eat anything tomatoey. Even now I like to 'smell the greenhouse' on tomatoes!

I’ve heard of a banana queue—admittedly more in the context of Bonnie Blue, rather than John James Sainsbury.

Even worse are those people who stand with the chiller door open, blocking everyone else from grabbing something, as they have the 'what shall we have for dinner tonight' on the phone, even taking pictures so send for opinions!

The fruit on the supermarket shelve has already been man handled, mauled, pissed on by rodents in its transit to the supermarket shelve, seems a bit daft to get upset about a couple of squeezes of a banana skin.

Have you no idea tha amount of handling fruit/vegs goes through from farm to store? At least the bananas are peeled before you eat them. I hate when I see whole families wandering around aimlessly. Order online or have one parent shop the other at home with the kids.

It's normal in most countries I think. Most melons aren't ripe enough to be edible so I always sniff them. It's a good tip - you should try it!

She's missing out. The stalks are the best bit. Chop them up and put them in your pasta sauce.

I agree it love a "stalky" brocoli it is where the taste is.

Don’t be ridiculous. Fruit and vegetables need to be touched to pick what’s ripe and not over/under ripe.

people are so used to supermarkets that they forget how to actually choose fruit and vegetables FFS.

People squeezing baguettes makes my stomach turn. I understand why, but I just don’t like to see it!

The worst in supermarkets is couples on romantic strolls, holding hands in the middle of the aisle. Or families who take both parents and all the children..

Why do people squash bread?

As a former shopkeeper I knew which customers did it and I would always find something to do, near the bread shelf, when they came in.

I had paid for the loaf that's on the shelf and once it's been squashed nobody will buy it.

Please don't do it.

I remember a tv show many years ago where a guy was standing behind a woman squeezing, prodding, inspecting; as she walked away he asked her if she could tell him which one came second 😂

This. Drives me crazy to see. Bread is delivered fresh every morning to supermarkets and it all has the same date on😤 also people of a certain age always messing around with chilled food and checking dates or whatever. It’s possible to stand behind them for minutes while they are oblivious of people waiting to make their own choice 🙄

But bananas don’t need to be touched. It’s obvious from their skin colour how ripe they are!

Apart from food fondling...people who cannot steer trolleys (they should come with indicators and hazard lights for some shoppers). Some people just stop without notice in the middle of the aisle so no one can go either side. People who pick out frozen or fridge goods, only to change their mind and dump them randomly in any aisle dripping away. Supermarket policies that mean close-to-date food items are going to end up in landfill or agricultural mix, rather than going to food banks in a cost of living crisis. Oh, and finally...people who check out their goods with a customer services employee and then take 15 minutes packing it away or rummaging for their debit card. Life time convert to online shopping here to save my blood pressure.

Bananas have peel so it's not unhygienic. I live alone and only want one or two bananas so often have to pick up a bunch to split it. Also, sometimes I want under ripe ones, sometimes ripe. I'm buying so I get to choose which ones to buy.

But you might have to move others out of the way to find what you want

I can’t say I have ever in my life seen a substantial queue forming behind the bananas. Ever. I’ve also never seen piles of damaged bananas sitting there rotting because they’ve been overly fondled.

Don’t lick the outside of your bananas then op and you’ll be ok.

@Coffeeishot got it - Not All Greengrocers Are Like That. 🍐

(What a lot of fruit emojis!)

Why does there have to be anything 'really' bothering OP? I'm sure she's aware this isn't a massive issue in the scheme of things, but it's still valid (minus the ageism) to say something is irritating. I have a similar pet peeve about the way that when I get my shopping delivered the bananas often seem to have been jangled around and bruised, but it's not masking any deep existential angst.

I have to admit I’m a banana checker….I’m also a tomato sniffer 🫣