Supermarket Peeves!

Tammy - posted on 10/23/2011

My daughter likes to ride IN the shopping cart, so she can face forward. Sometimes I allow her to have a small packet of crisps, or goldfish crackers, which she eats in the store before I pay for it. It keeps her quiet and happy.
If I meet someone I know at the supermarket, I love socializing with them right there; there's no more appropriate place to discuss household things and cooking!
My pet peeve about supermarkets are kids running around, yelling and screaming and their parents either ignoring it, or yelling and screaming in return!
I also hate it when people drop something on the floor, or even break it and just walk away!
And lastly, if I can't find something and I ask a clerk for help, they say they don't know!

Laura Zoey - posted on 10/20/2011

Me too haha but then again I never shop in a rush so I'm fine chatting in line :)

Sherri - posted on 10/18/2011

Ha Ha Becky I have and usually I just join into their conversation.

Becky - posted on 10/17/2011

I don't think our stores around here give you a discount for using reusable bags yet, although there are a few that charge for plastic ones now. The trouble with fitting more into the bags is that they're heavier to carry! Those Costco bags can fit a ton, but then you practically break your back bringing them into the house!

Ah, another pet peeve, the teen-age cashiers who stand there chatting with their buddies about the party they're going to tonight, or texting (yes, seriously have seen this) while they are supposed to be ringing you up!

Karen - posted on 10/17/2011

I know it might be cheaper, but I HATE having to bag my own groceries. I avoid all stores that do not have baggers or a carry out. My friends think I'm nuts but going shopping with 3 boys 4yrs and under I don't need to be wrangling with the kids at the checkout while trying to pay and bag the groceries. Not worth the headache. And then..... My next biggest pet peeve, stores not plowing the parking lots in the middle of winter. Seriously, you try pushing the stupid cart with everything loaded up through that crap, especially after a good snow. Not for me.

Kate CP - posted on 10/15/2011

Dyan: Oh, I try to buy local. It's cheaper, fresher, and usually has less pesticides.

Laura Zoey - posted on 10/15/2011

We have some cloth bags but when you bring them inside to unload the food we always forget to put them back into the car so we rarely remember to bring them. And they also tend to get sticky or stained, idk how,but the. That's just more laundry :(

Laura Zoey - posted on 10/15/2011

I love grocery shopping :-) maybe it's cuz I don't get out of the house enough, maybe I just love all the attention from my cute kids :) or maybe i just LOVE to eat!
It's a fun time, I never go in a rush, I always have enough time to not have to rush and we always end up enjoying our time. It's fun when matt comes along too but when he's not with I buy tons of nauty foods to hide from him at home so I always have a secret stash somewhere :):)

Mary - posted on 10/15/2011

I think Johnny and I should go grocery shopping together! However, I would want it to be at my store ;-). I'm thankful that I live in an area where almost ALL of the stores encourage you to use those cloth reusable bags (with the one exception of Walmart). Every grocery chain around here, as well as Target, Kohl's, Lowe's and Home Depot sell them. They are 99 cents for the plain cloth, and $1.99 for the insulated bags. While it is only in the city itself that they charge for plastic bags, the stores in the surrounding counties all take 5 cents off of your total for each reusable bag you use. Therefore, those rather inexpensive bags pay for themselves in less than a year.

I do understand that the conversion takes a little bit of adjusting...but once you do, I think most of you will find that you never want to use plastic again. These bags fit more in them, and I have yet to have a bag break on me and have it's contents rolling around the parking lot. On an average trip to the store, I can fit all of my weekly shopping in 4 bags, which I can then carry into the house in one trip. It really has made getting all of my stuff into the house a LOT easier. It took a little while, but I just got into the habit of always putting them back into the car after I've unloaded. It's been at least two years since I've forgotten them; I think at this point, I'd be more likely to forget my wallet than those bags!

And yes, Johnny, Molly absolutely loves that self-scanner. It's now her "job", which she takes great delight in. Although it probably adds a little more time onto our shopping ventures, it does keep her happily occupied.

Charlie - posted on 10/15/2011

I would just like to add I like grocery shopping because I love to cook, I do find it relaxing especially when I dont have kids with me.

I actually get annoyed when Jamie does it because I really like it haha.

Charlie - posted on 10/15/2011

Oh god you would hate me at the supermarket haha.

I will let the boys munch on something but usually the deli people come running out with donuts and frankfurts for them.

Cooper likes riding in the trolley and if someone would indulge me ( as Jamie has on many a night out on the town ) I too would ride in the trolley haha.

I just hate when people stop to have a chat and block the ENTIRE isle and when people walk REAAAALLY slowly.

I also hate rude as fuck cash register ladies, Is it really that hard to put a smile on your face and not look like a sour old cow ? hmmm?

There is one woman who is like this all the time even though I am always polite and smile but the more people mention it the more I realise she is a sour old cow........seriously if you dont like people DONT work near them !

Erin - posted on 10/15/2011

The only thing that seriously shits me is when people can't read the price labels, and then question it at the checkout. So then I have to wait while a floorperson comes to do a price check. Seriously people. The price labels have descriptions on them for a reason. If you're going to bitch about a difference of 60c, READ THEM!!

I think this is actually a result of the 7 years I worked in retail. I worked ladieswear in Target through high school and uni, and the number of people who would argue over a price because they didn't read the label or sign properly was nuts.

Tina - posted on 10/14/2011

one thing I really use to hate as a checkout chik was reduced stickers. If things were reduced too much you'd have to call a supervisor to check it and put their code in. I didn't want to be a supervisor but you'd think after a period of time working their they'd trust you enough to give you your own code but no. Bloody supermarkets.

JL - posted on 10/14/2011

I got a number of my cloth bags for free and the ones I bought I paid a dollar and under for. I have had most of them for over a year and I use them ALL the time. Practically every store now discounts you 5 to 10 cents for each cloth bag you use. I find them easier to use for carrying my groceries in. Unlike plastic and paper bags they don't rip on me while I am dragging them out of the car across the parking area to my house and inside to my kitchen.

BTW I detest grocery shopping. It drives me insane. I just want to get in, get my groceries and get out. Half way through shopping all I want to do is run my cart into the people blocking the aisles. But I don't actually do that because that would not be nice even though standing on one side of the aisle while your cart is on the other side is rude!

Sal - posted on 10/14/2011

me too, i secretly give myself a high 5 when i remember the....what did piss me at the super market was i remembered my cloth bags, but put my groceries in parsel pickup as i had other stuff to do, when the girl packed them, she tied the bag tops with plastic bags ...wtf was the point of that!

Carolee - posted on 10/14/2011

Just throwing it out there... When I worked at the grocery store, we were made to encourage the use of plastic bags because it is more cost-effective for the company rather than paper bags.

Teresa - posted on 10/14/2011

We have the plastic bags that you can put your produce and meat in, but Walmart and our grocery stores no longer have plastic grocery bags. The grocery stores have paper bags now and Walmart.... you don't get a bag unless you buy their cloth ones. I have a TON of bags in my van, but 99% of the time that I go to the store.... I forget to take the bags out of the van.

Rosie - posted on 10/14/2011

oh kate, you can find coupons for veggies you just gotta look! i usually go to the website of the brand of veggie or product that i'm buying and they will usually have a coupon. i get my grassfed milk and yogurt coupons, muir glen occasionally has coupons, farmland has a nitrate free bacon and they give you a coupon, earthbound farms gives coupons for veggies etc..:)

Sal - posted on 10/14/2011

when we get to the shops they fight because neither want to get in the trolly, if hubby comes or my older son, i put the kids in a trolly each, by the end they are both are fighting to get in the trolly....my kids do tend to eat the whole way round but always food with bar codes, or i go and pay for fruit....and the basically rude people, a smile, a please and little thought about others wont kill anyone, i often reach stuff for short people, or let people on their lunch break go ahead of me but i do feel in the minority

Stifler's - posted on 10/14/2011

My ratbags stay in the trolley still it's good. I am not looking forward to when renae needs to sit in the thing and Logan has to walk.

Becky - posted on 10/14/2011

Our reusable bags here are I think $1.99 or something. Most of the time they're vinyl or something rather than cloth. I've gotten a ton free from various expos, the bank, etc. But I'm one of those stupid lazy people who always forgets to bring them! :/ I really need to just keep them in the back of my vehicle.

Laura Zoey - posted on 10/14/2011

Most people smile at Eric, but some bussiness types give him dirty looks cuz he's happy and laughing and playing and running around. Idk, I figure they have to endure his annoying happiness and I have to endure their annoying annoyingness. :) I never let Eric get in people's way or mess with their carts etc so really if they must be a grinch so be it.
But almost everyone in the store has to stop and smile at Fierna in the moby! She gets so much attention in that sling and all positive stuff. I think it's nice. I know before I had bagels I loved seeing them in stores as long as they weren't screaming. So yeah the grocery store is a family friendly place, it's not just for single people or old people so we all just should deal eith each others differences.
I don't mind when people chat as long as common courtesies are met, like if I'm trying to pass they can move a bit so I can get through, or if I need an item they're blocking same thing. Talk away but be aware if someone is being inconvenienced by your chat!

Stifler's - posted on 10/14/2011

True and it's not like you're going to the supermarket to relax. Go to a dayspa if that's what you're after.

Sal - posted on 10/14/2011

Ohhh you would hate me apart from the stopping and chatting that is my trip to the market. My pet hate is old people or anyone who shops. during the day and bitches about kids tantrums or noise....guess what you shop early or late you will miss the kids yOu are retired And the shops are open all the freaked time mums with kids usually have to shop during the day

Stifler's - posted on 10/14/2011

Also when they have a pile of unpacked boxes in front of things you need like nappies and when I see rubbish from elsewhere left on the shelf because the person was too lazy to take it with them and throw it in the bin on the way out of the shopping centre. I take Logan a muesli bar deliberately from another shop to eat if he's with me. And I LOVE the self checkout it's awesome and so fast.

Stifler's - posted on 10/14/2011

People who stop and chat in front of things I want to look at/get off the shelf. When you get to the register with 1 thing and the sign is like "register closed" and the rest have a line 40 deep and even the 12 items only has someone with a trolley full going through. When they pack 5 bottles of drink like milk, juice, softdrink all in one bag. When there is no promite left. When there is no marinated garlic prawns and I promised Damian reef and beef. I realise my peeves are things no one can help but ti's still annoying.

Angela - posted on 10/14/2011

@ Sherri,
Stores sell cloth shopping bags that can be reused to cut back on paper waste, littering and to support recycling. I live in Connecticut and some towns have banned the use of plastic bags because they are not good for the environment and to reduce litter. Other stores charge for bags to keep the price of groceries down and to reduce overhead. I am not totally familiar with that concept but the some stores add the cost of the bags into the price of the groceries.

People bag their meat in plastic bags because the packaging can leak and get meat juices on the other stuff in their cart. They don't want chicken or pork juice mingling with their apples and grapes!! Eeeewww. It also helps eliminate cross contamination on the conveyor belt at cash register.

Liz - posted on 10/14/2011

The cloth bags here are expensive too and not much sturdier then the plastic bags.

Sherri - posted on 10/14/2011

Here we have to actually buy the cloth bags and they are not cheap usually as much as $3 a bag and I use the plastic bags all the time for things for the kids school, for accident clothes the daycare kids have, emptying trash etc. We do recycle them.

Liz - posted on 10/14/2011

I like having plastic bags around my house for various reasons, dirty diapers being the main one.

Johnny - posted on 10/14/2011

I suppose I prefer a slight bit of inconvenience to filling up our planet with things that will take a 1000 years to disintegrate and slowly seep toxins into the soil while doing so. But god forbid we show concern for the future!

Liz - posted on 10/14/2011

I don't like cloth bags, not sure why. For people that use them I think its great but it drives me crazy when they rearrange all their groceries 5 times so everything fits because god forbid they use 1 or 2 plastic bags.

Sherri - posted on 10/14/2011

Your stores sound so different than ours.. cloth bags?? bagging meat in individual bags?? charging for plastic bags??

Johnny - posted on 10/14/2011

Self-checkouts that won't let you bring your own bags. Which happens to be in the same supermarket that charges for plastic but won't let you bring your own bags to the checkout. So if you want to use your own bags, you have to go through the self-checkout, put everything on the bagging area, finish the transaction and then put all your stuff in the bags after. Hello time wasting & rude to fellow shoppers! Needless to say, I don't shop there anymore even though it is the most convenient store for me by far.

And on that note, another pet peeve is people that don't use cloth bags. I get that they are forgotten occasionally. I've done it for sure. But 75% of the people in the store forgot? Yeah sure you lazy ass litterer.

And as Mary said, people that don't know how to use the self-checkout. If you can't use a PC and you're 90, go to the bloody clerk. We don't have the self-scanners, I wish we did. That would be really great for my daughter to do while we shop.

I don't get the problem with reading labels. Pull over your cart and stay out of other people's way. Does it bother people that I care about what I put in my body? I don't buy that much processed, packaged foods, but when I do I want to know the sodium, fibre and saturated fat counts.

Oh, and places that don't have small plastic baggies in the meat department. I don't want to have to get a full sized plastic bag at the till just for my meat or walk back across the store to the veggie department for a baggie.

Sherri - posted on 10/14/2011

I use the back for my son all the time. We are often once a month in the grocery store for 2 1/2hrs he gets really tired or run over by others because it is so busy. So yup in the back he goes at 5 1/2.

Yup also been known on occasion to open something especially if we tend to go over a meal time. We still pay for it so who the heck cares.

Oh and I am one of those crazy coupon ladies that it takes just as long to do my coupons as it did to ring my $400 order. However, I usually save between $50-$100 worth of coupons every trip so that $400 trip ends up being only $300 and that makes a ginormous difference.

Only pet peeve is hugely rude people. I have no tolerance for lack or manners or plain rudeness.

Alison - posted on 10/14/2011

I hate when all the buckles for the double-seat shopping carts are broken.

Angela - posted on 10/14/2011

Self scanners are wonderful and they keep my son occupied! He scans the item. I bag them. It helps him stay focused in the store and also makes him feel important.

I don't like moms who stop at the deli just to get their kid a piece of cheese. If you are already ordering cheese great but if not walk on by!

Carolee - posted on 10/14/2011

No problem. One of my mom's friends is a nurse, and when I told her of my peanut allergy, she told me to read even ointment labels. A lot of things, even some yeast infection ointments, have peanut oils in them. I never would have thought of that had she not warned me.

Becky - posted on 10/14/2011

Thank you for the info, Cornelia! I wouldn't have thought to read the labels on non-food items!

Laura Zoey - posted on 10/14/2011

Lisa I think I'd say something really strong to a woman if I saw that. Honestly I'm one of the most timid people ever, I hate even asking for extra ketchup on a burger, but if I saw a newborn that distressed and a mom ignoring him I'd say "pick him up, let me pick him up or I'm calling 911. He could give himself brain damage from crying that hard that long" I would. No question. What if she let's him cry like that the 20 minutes home? Then while she unloads and puts away the groceries? He could go into shock or pass out. Choke, or burst a blood vessel.

Carolee - posted on 10/14/2011

Even some ointments have peanut oils in them.

Becky - posted on 10/14/2011

Wow, Mary, I have never seen those self-scanners before! That does sound like it would make a shopping trip much easier! The self-checkouts annoy me too. I like them for the convenience if I'm only picking up a couple of things, but seriously, I think the weight sensors in the bagging area are all broken!

In defense of people who stop to read labels, I am one of those now too, because my child has a peanut allergy. If I'm buying something for him, I have to make sure it doesn't have nuts or nut oils in it. I made the surprising discovery the other day that Fiber One bars, while not all have nuts in them, do all have peanut oil in them! But, I don't leave my cart in the centre of the aisle, I push right up to the shelf so people can get past, and I try to watch for people around me and move if it looks like someone's trying to get something where I'm standing.
Our grocery store bakery gives out free cookies to the kids, so that eliminates the problem of them asking to eat other stuff in the cart, usually.

Minnie - posted on 10/14/2011

Uuuugh, Laura(lai) I was at the store and there was a baby, couldn't have been more than two weeks old in a bucket in the cart. He was crying so hard that he was winding down into that spluttering gag that newborns do, with periods of silence and no breathing in between.

She was ignoring him and putting stuff on the belt. At least two people offered to help her get her groceries so she could help her baby and she brushed them off "oh no, no, don't worry, he's fine."

I wonder what makes mothers think that they have to do this? Did someone tell her she shouldn't 'give in' to her little one?

Laura Zoey - posted on 10/14/2011

My biggest peeve?

Tiny babies left in carseats crying or having pacifiers shoved in their mouths the whole trip.



It happens WAY too often and it makes my milk let down if they're crying and seriously I teared up a few times when I hear moms 'reasoning' with their newborns saying I know you're hungry just a minute, hold on I'll feed you when we get home.

#£%€^£#¥^€#¥%€%£$&$$%£$@@&

breaks my heart





Ok so we will often buy Eric a banana at the start of the trip. We buy it, then he eats it. But a few times we have gotten a few donuts and the lady told us it's ok to eat it since the price is already on the bag.

He usually won't sit in the cart but if I have to put him in it's because he won't quit trying to get me to chase him or play tag or hide and seek and so I'll put him in either spot if it means keeping him calm quiet and safe.



I love self checks! I hate baggers.

They never bag it well! Boxes in plastic?

Frozens with fresh?

Bread with cans!!!

So many bagging complaints which is why I prefer self checks but if we have a big trip it doesn't work in self check and if we are using WIC checks we have to go to the checker.



Another peeve is checkers who have NO idea how to use WIC checks! I mean it happens 9/10 times! No kidding!

They have to call over their manager and then everyone in line behind us gets all huffy and pissed and goes to another lane in a huge stomp.

I'm sorry but it's not our fault if the checker can't handle a WIC check! We separate it all to make it easy as possible but if they don't know how to ring it in all the coustemers think we are the jerks.



But yah, Fierna is in the moby while we shop and seeing other babies screaming the whole time in a car seat just kills my heart.

Sarah - posted on 10/14/2011

At one of the other supermarkets where I live they have a man who looks about 80 manning the self scan tills.......he's freaking useless! And trying to call him over if something goes wrong is just impossible!!

Yeah, people who don't know how to use self scan just shouldn't!

Mary - posted on 10/14/2011

Ok, maybe I'm odd, but I freakin love the self-checkout. Actually, what I love even more is the self-scanner. I scan my items and bag them as I shop. That way, when I get to the register, all I have to do is scan my card, scan any coupons, pay, and walk out the door. It has drastically decreased my overall time spent shopping, and my items are bagged just the way I want them. I absolutely detest grocery shopping at a store that doesn't have them.



What I do hate are the idiots who use the self-checkout lanes and are clueless about how to use them. Where I shop, things sold by weight, such as produce, can be measured at any one of the 50 million scales located throughout the store. You place your item on the scale, the weight and corresponding price come up, and you hit the little print button to get a sticker with a bar code and said info to stick on your bag. And yet, about 50% of shoppers skip this little step, and then I get stuck behind that fool at the self-checkout lane who then has to weigh about 15 different items, and can't figure out how to find vidalia onions, or navel onions on the touchscreen. Please, please, please use the full-service aisles if you don't know what the hell you are doing.



As annoying as I find that, it doesn't even compare to the rage I feel about people chatting on their cell phones while shopping. Most people really cannot multitask as well as they think. Your number comes up at the deli....end the fucking call and place your order. Neither the staff nor the rest of us appreciate waiting for you to finish your conversation before you place your order. As well, many people can not both talk on the phone and place their items on the belt as well as they think they can. I know this, because I am sitting in line behind you, and you are so engrossed in your conversation that you have failed to notice that your kid has emptied the contents of the candy rack into your cart, and you are slowly and absently placing those 16 snickers bars on the belt.



I wish cell phones were banned in all grocery stores.

Rachael - posted on 10/14/2011

people who stand in the middle of the aisle. move out of the way. there are other people shopping.
i'm guilty of your second pet peeve. it';s not possible for my son to stay home while i shop and he is an especially squirmy kid. i bring food for him to eat while there just to keep his hands busy, but sometimes i forget or run out and will open stuff to give to him

Tracey - posted on 10/14/2011

Arguements at checkout, usually customers fault.
Why can't I use this voucher?
You have to spend $20
I spent $19.95, that's close enough
It's under $20 you can't use the voucher
But why not etc etc.

Tracey - posted on 10/14/2011

Toddlers with toy buggies or toy shopping trollies who waddle their way round a busy supermarket getting in every ones way, walk right in front of you and the parent glares at you for almost running their child over.

Tina - posted on 10/14/2011

I use to hate it when I worked at a supermarket and people would always get there cold stuff first put it in the bottom of their trolley under all their other stuff by the time it got to me the plasitc would be torn and blood would run out onto my clothes and on the belt leaving you a mess to clean up and angry impatient customer. Also when people want the heavy things put in the trolley first but they put all the soft things through first like bread. I don't mind if people open things as long as they intend to pay for it many times i'd have one lady come through you could quite plainly see she given her son something but she thought she could sneak through without paying or not put some things up she didn't like it when I pointed it out. I also hate it when you're walkiing in an isle or something with a double pram and someone comes the other way and they just walk in front of you and expect you to move they can't take on step move over slightly