Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Covid

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

Supermarkets need to get real!

456 replies

Justa47 · 11/01/2021 17:32

When will supermarkets stop being a day out and only allow single parents in with kids and not families and couples?

Why doesn’t one parent wait in the car?

OP posts:
MerciSeat · 12/01/2021 09:13

@JamesMiddletonsMarshmallows

I think people here really underestimate
  1. How many people have hidden disabilities, and
  2. How many people just don't have the money to do large irregular £200 supermarket shops. Minimum orders are £25-£35 and many people live day-to-day with a low budget and simply can't order that way
  3. How there's hardly any delivery slots these days
  4. How many people don't drive - and it's hardly cheap and quick to learn
  5. How many people need to be looking at packets on the shelves to insure their child doesn't have a serious allergic reaction to something
This.
Theunamedcat · 12/01/2021 09:18

Ex husband claims to be exempt due to hidden disability being an arsehole is not a disability

He bragged to everyone that he couldn't be bothered to get it from his car so "got away" saying it was a disability

Sparklingbrook · 12/01/2021 09:19

@Theunamedcat

Ex husband claims to be exempt due to hidden disability being an arsehole is not a disability

He bragged to everyone that he couldn't be bothered to get it from his car so "got away" saying it was a disability

There will be people like that and I don't know what the answer is TBH.
Doris86 · 12/01/2021 09:27

@CrimsonCattery

Not everyone who looks like a couple is one. I take my lodger with me as he doesn't drive and we go round together but pick and pay for our own shopping. If he just needs a few bits I get a list but thats harder for the big shops.
It’s irrelevant whether he is your partner or lodger. You are still not shopping alone, which is the current advice.
CrimsonCattery · 12/01/2021 09:39

But you could go around separately with a trolley each and then nobody would be any the wiser, you wouldn't look like a couple? Meet back at the car.

So we should use two trolleys, increasing risk of infection etc. in order not to appear as a couple? What nonsense. We have never been challenged and if we were, I would just say we are housemates who shared a lift. Which is the truth.

Sparklingbrook · 12/01/2021 09:53

@CrimsonCattery

But you could go around separately with a trolley each and then nobody would be any the wiser, you wouldn't look like a couple? Meet back at the car.

So we should use two trolleys, increasing risk of infection etc. in order not to appear as a couple? What nonsense. We have never been challenged and if we were, I would just say we are housemates who shared a lift. Which is the truth.

Well I don't know I was offering a suggestion to make you look less couple-like. I don't know how a trolley each increases the risk of infection. Ideally they want people to shop alone not in couples at all. But ultimately it's up to you and whether the supermarket want to insist one person to one trolley as they were a few months ago...
MerciSeat · 12/01/2021 09:56

@Doris86 they're doing their own individual shopping, just arriving and leaving together. Why would it be better if they arrived at different times, meaning two separate journeys? Where's the sense in that?

Doris86 · 12/01/2021 09:57

Sainsburys have said they are going to start enforcing one adult per trolley. I’m sure other supermarkets will follow.

Sparklingbrook · 12/01/2021 09:58

This is what Sainsburys are requesting- '1 adult at a time'.

Supermarkets need to get real!
Sparklingbrook · 12/01/2021 09:58

@Doris86

Sainsburys have said they are going to start enforcing one adult per trolley. I’m sure other supermarkets will follow.
X post Grin
Doris86 · 12/01/2021 10:15

[quote MerciSeat]@Doris86 they're doing their own individual shopping, just arriving and leaving together. Why would it be better if they arrived at different times, meaning two separate journeys? Where's the sense in that?[/quote]
I didn’t say they had to make separate journeys. They could arrive and leave in the same car, but have their own trolley and separate whilst in store.

Whether that makes sense is debatable. However to comply with the rules being enforced by Sainsburys ( and probably others soon ) that is what they will need to do.

Original poster
Justa47 · 12/01/2021 10:27

@JinglingHellsBells

Basically that’s true in a lot of cases.
And in the others one at a time.

OP posts:
RedToothBrush · 12/01/2021 10:38

@CrimsonCattery

But you could go around separately with a trolley each and then nobody would be any the wiser, you wouldn't look like a couple? Meet back at the car.

So we should use two trolleys, increasing risk of infection etc. in order not to appear as a couple? What nonsense. We have never been challenged and if we were, I would just say we are housemates who shared a lift. Which is the truth.

Well because other people are being bellends yes you will either have to suck it up, or have a list for the other person and do their shopping for them and either pay the other person up front or after you've done the shopping.

The latter is the thing you should be doing anyway rather than whinging about trolleys.

If you have to both go in the same car and go around together you are just being difficult and i dont have a lot of patience for this. Its just excuse making.

The principle is to minimise the number of people entering a supermarket as this increases the risk to everyone and to think 'do i really need to do this?'. The answer to this question under these circumstances is no you both do not need to go to the supermarket.

This is quite different to people who need psyhical or mental support and going in together just because its more convenient for you makes it more difficult for them.

Where i do have sympathy is its a £40 minimum spend for a click and collect order or you have to pay a delivery fee which isn't something everyone can afford and it does penalise the poorest in society. Thats whats making it harder for the most economically vulnerable to isolate if they test positive. (i note on this in areas which are most economically deprived, you are getting a lot of people going into the supermarket when they shouldn’t be in these circumstances...)

RedToothBrush · 12/01/2021 10:41

Tbh i think the sainsburys policy is a sensible, workable and reasonable approach. I do not understand why anyone is complaining unless they are just being an arse. (exceptions are going pretty obvious about who is being reasonable and who is trying it on and im sure this can be managed)

CrimsonCattery · 12/01/2021 11:50

*Well because other people are being bellends yes you will either have to suck it up, or have a list for the other person and do their shopping for them and either pay the other person up front or after you've done the shopping.

The latter is the thing you should be doing anyway rather than whinging about trolleys.

If you have to both go in the same car and go around together you are just being difficult and i dont have a lot of patience for this. Its just excuse making.*

Most of the time I do just get a list and he pays me. Its the 'big shop' we do together probably about once a month. This is mainly because he is on the bones of his arse and we time it to get the yellow sticker deals which I can't get a list for. He doesn't drive or work currently thanks to the pandemic. Sometimes I buy his food so he can eat thanks to UC fuck ups. He owes me a fair chunk of rent which I will likely write off at some point. I would be better off without him here as I would be able to see my boyfriend (who also houseshares) but can't as not in a single household and I follow the rules.

Not everyone's circumstances are the same.

RedToothBrush · 12/01/2021 11:56

This isn't about your living circumstances being different though. Its about convenience. He doesn't need to go in the supermarket with you if you are doing that.

RedToothBrush · 12/01/2021 11:56

Or if he has to then just get another fucking trolley.

tinytemper66 · 12/01/2021 11:59

Tesco near me still has vulnerable/elderly slots sonwill be taking the vulnerable adult I care for shopping then. Stores in Wales are cracking down on couples shopping together.

MrsHugsxx · 12/01/2021 12:07

Haven't got a car so we all need to go to carry it all back.

CrimsonCattery · 12/01/2021 12:35

@RedToothBrush

Or if he has to then just get another fucking trolley.
Lol two people rather than one unnecessarily touching communal items to fit in with the sensibilities of those with far too much time on their hands and thouroughly twisted knickers. No thanks. Also by walking seperately we would, as a household, be passing by more people than necessary. Again, no thanks.
PlanDeRaccordement · 12/01/2021 12:51

[quote SendHelp30]@PlanDeRaccordement then the carer shops alone. Yes, in normal times, you want be trying to encourage independence and teaching skills such as checking BBD and choosing things for yourself but we are not in normal times, we are in a pandemic.[/quote]
Carers don’t magically know what the other person wants to buy. The other person may not even be able to write a list. Should the disabled person sit at home and telepathically communicate that to the carer?

JamesMiddletonsMarshmallows · 12/01/2021 13:17

@JinglingHellsBells But these are just excuses, and most of them could be sorted with some forethought.

Even the hidden disabilities and allergy one?

You don't need to spend £200 on a supermarket shop- where's that idea coming from?

I was referring to click and collect and deliveries

Most people are paid monthly even if they are on benefits.

They can budget for a shop.

Just because someone is paid regularly it doesn't mean they're paid enough to do big shops

There are delivery slots if you plan ahead and use all the supermarkets- you just need to be onto it, looking daily and booking ahead.

See comment about minimum spend

Every single ingredient in a packet of food is listed and this is shown online. I regularly read the labels online.

People still like to browse and it's much easier to do in a shop than online.

Just stop being weird Stasi wannabes/ableists

Original poster
Justa47 · 12/01/2021 13:20

@JamesMiddletonsMarshmallows

They all things that can be worked around for the sake of a pandemic.

OP posts:
Sparklingbrook · 12/01/2021 13:21

People still like to browse and there's the problem.

Stellaris22 · 12/01/2021 13:23

The browsing is the worst, and of course you are ruining people's lives by suggesting they shop quicker and with a list.