Eating in the supermarket

[tallulah]

As an aside from my other thread about children misbehaving in shops- the other thing that wound me up yesterday is this trend for letting children eat in the supermarket. The child in the trolley at the next till had a bag of grapes she'd been eating. She must have had 1/2 lb, so that's about 50p? Would her mother have thought it OK to give her, say, a twix, or a Begian Bun without paying for it?

I don't agree with this on 3 counts

1. people shouldn't be eating in any shop & teaching a child that they can is not a good idea
2. this is theft & if everyone did it then the supermarkets losses would be passed on to everyone
3. children also should be taught that you can't have something until it's paid for.

Before you all jump on me and say it's better than having them screaming, I have got 4 myself & I have been through this. Mine quickly learned that no screaming inside meant they could get to eat a treat outside when we'd finished.

Thought of you guys today.
In supermarket in Auckland today DS aged teriible two having a tantrum cause wanted to eat the strawberries. Young guy a shelf stacker came over watched by his supervisor and asked if I was ok. Told him why DS was having paddy and he told me to give him strawberries and wait there. He came back and told DS it was ok to eat them now and they had been weighed and priced, which DS promptly did.
So what happens to the debate now if the staff think like me it's ok.
(Yes I am terrible mother as I didnt nip out and wash them!!!!)

Lock 'em all up and throw away the key!

My children would throw a tantrum if I offered them a grape in a supermarket.

but noone who has posted has yet explained precisely why toddlers eating in supermarkets is such a heinous crime??? For me - my vote

actually forget Anarchy UK I'm going to start a 'mums with kids eating grapes in supermarkets' group! that's it - rise up sisters, join the revolution...

We pay for them, pick up the stray ones of the floor - what's the problem ?
I say
Anyway mums with Toddlers probably spend more when shopping with our sprogs than when without so I can't see supermarkets worrying.
No one has voiced their objection to me as my 2 stuff their faces with the french stick!So I will carry on.

You have my vote
Katierocket I will rise up with you

My vote

My brother works in a large clothes shop and he said it is not against the law to put an item on clothing in your bag, it only becomes a problem when you leave the shop without paying. I just think that people have so many views on everything.
I never judge another parents if their kids are playing up and having a tantrum because you never know the circumstances, it is easy to ignore a toddler having a tantrum at home, but not in public, you are damned if you do and damned if you do not. The world would be a better place if people stopped getting wound up over silly non issues, the shop themselves clearly do not mind, and thats the important thing, what business is it of anyone else.

tallulah, I think you have started a great thread here, loads of entertainment value. Just goes to say as well how different we all are!

Just a thought there have been a few comments about big supermarkets putting children's comics, toys, sweets etc within children's reach making shopping difficult therefor justifying allowing a child to eat something that we are not going to pay for (ie a few grapes) or have a magazine and just put it back later. I was in my local shop yesterday and saw all the same things magazines at toddler level, sweets at toddler level (no toys in this shop) and I saw a two year old grabbing at the magazines and sweets and her gran removing them from her hand and telling her no. Just thinking this gran could have quite easily have given her grandaughter the Pooh mag that she so desperately wanted to read to keep her occupied whilst waiting in the Post Office queue for 10 mins but I am sure most of you would think this awful, possibly damaging the stock of a small shop. Why is is OK to do this to the big guys then? The two year old then trashed a sweet display, placed just at her level, the gran apologised profusely to the lady behind the counter and tidied all the sweets up whereas I know myself if something like this happens in a supermarket I would tidy the sweets up but I would be muttering under my breath at the cheek of them to put sweets within my child's reach etc. Just a thought.

tallulah, I think you have started a great thread here, loads of entertainment value. Just goes to say as well how different we all are!

Eh??? Didn't mean to do that!

My vote is

I would love to join you ladies eating grapes as a protest, but I can't.

I have a serious honest to God phobia of small round things, particulary grapes, peas and beads. If I have to look them I start shaking and vomitting. Maybe I could hold a bread roll protest further down the road.

count me in as well

for all of you that disagree i say
my kids,my money,my problem

Sainsburys do have notices in the biscuits and sweets aisles stating that "Please note that all goods must be paid for before consumption"They are at child's eye level!

Good heavens Pie, where did that come from?!! Did you have a bad grape/pea/bead experience when you were young? Fascinating... (not for you though)

all welcome whatever the foodstuff, pie - the nature of the anarchist group is that there's no rules so please feel free to join in with your own bread roll protest. I'm off to make some placards...

yes,and all the mums against should have their own demonstration at the same time and will have a big fight and hit each other with the placards and french sticks

that's the spirit!
now, just need to think of some slogans,
"eat,eat, eat, now, now, now"

My vote
And where can I protest? We don't have a Sainsbury's (boo hoo) or a Tesco (boo hoo) and the ladies in the co-op GIVE my children grapes!

how about we all sing that feed the world song
feed the kids
let us shop in peeeeeeeeace
for you and for me
and the entire sainsburyyyyyyyyy`s

fraid i'm with grapestealer..... maybe it's the way i was brought up, but even if legally it's not theft, imo it's just impolite and impatient.
Kind of like people who save a table in a busy self service restaurant while someone else gets their food - despite a huge herd of people with bought food now with nowhere to sit - grrrrrr. My mum would be proud of me!
Let the ranting continue!

It's a here, as long as the food is paid for. And no, I wouldn't let dd/ds read a magazine unless I was going to buy it.

Now, people that save tables in MacDonalds etc - you can get me ranting on that one Bobsmum