My wife makes two versions of the shopping list: one in her own code that she gradually jots down as the week goes by, and the preflight edited version she gives me so I won’t mess up. I usually go over it with her before I leave the house, to minimize the chance of :smack:
I try really, really hard not to be one of grocery-aisle cell-phone people. But as a last resort…
I had to run and get them last night…but my gf cramps so bad when it starts that I wouldn’t dream of making her go get them herself.
I don’t even ahve to ask what kind, I just have to find the Tampax Pearl Plastic Multipak and grab a bottle of Midol on the way out.
You know, this thread made me realize something: I’ve been menstruating for about 39 years now and I can’t remember ever asking anyone to buy plugs or pads for me.
I’m sure my hubby would if I asked, but to make sure he got the right kind I’d have to give him the empty package.
That and a map to the store. :rolleyes:
Oh gosh yes. Tampons, pads, AstroGlide ( well. that’s for me. 
), whatever it takes. What the heck- if I am living with a spousal unit, then I ought to be able to handle purchasing those items. I’m an adult. I also ought to be able to handle the fact that the Fem-Bot ™ daughter now requires said supplies.
However, this is an issue for me. How dare she grow up? Sorry for the hijack. We now return you to your regularly scheduled menstrual supplies aquisition thread already in progress on most of our Straight Dope Affiliate Stations.
I do like walking into that aisle, and finding eleven men, all staring at the ceiling pointedly NOT seeing each other, all with cellular phones smashed to an ear while they whisper loudly enough for Vlad Dracul to hear them, " Did you want the long ones with the wing things or the long thick ones with the wing things or the hyper sized overnight sleep like a zombie bleed like you’ve been gored by a Unicorn mattress jammed between your thighs pad that you detest more than you detest my Mother size with wings???
Cartooniverse
I use the divacup now but i don’t think that Mr Johnson would have any problem buying feminine products for me - as long as I gave him the specifics on what I want. He’d grab the biggest package of depends adult diapers and drop it in the cart - to be funny. Going to the store together is entertaining.
This question was asked on one of the local radio stations a while back. The DJ’s response was something like this: “Sure, that means I’ve got a girl, and she’s not pregnant!”
Good point, I thought.
Male here.
No prob with the tampon buying thing (girlfriend likes pads, though); been there, done that. I agree with the complaints that tampons aren’t labeled properly, but what they really need are numbers. Big, honkin’ numbers. You know, to give you one thing to remember. She tells me, “nighttime, heavy flow with wings, blah blah blah.” Jeezus, why can’t this be easy, like, I dunno, buying a quart of oil? I need 10W-30…what else is there to know? Howzabout sending me out for a box of 85s? Wouldn’t that make my life easier (hers, too…think she has nothing better to do than pick up every package in the store to get the ones she wants?)
With a name like Vlad why am I not suprised you have no problems with blood.
If I was in a relationship I’d have no problem buying them even the super “family” size from Costco or Sam’s Club
Oh and Corrvin How You doin?
I think the tampon and pad manufacturers think women really need variety and change in their menstrual products, in the same changing-fashion way as their shoes or clothes. They are wrong. I do not think it is fun to stand around saying to myself, “Self, do we want to try out the new black g-string type pantyliners, the new pearlized plastic accessorized coordinating medium flow tampons, or the extra thin chocolate-scented teflon-coated nighttime pads?”
How much expansion can there be for the market, anyway?
Mr. Lissar will buy me whatever I want provided I give him specific instructions. Same as most guys in this thread. He agrees with the ‘I’ve got a real live woman!’ comments, too
Ditto. Stop changing it! Don’t ever change it! I like the familiar when it comes to that time.
Freudian slip? 
And you know, I was just going to say, “Don’t answer that!”.
I agree with whomever said upthread that if men menstruated you’d be able to get a year’s supply of FHP from Home Depot for $15.
Yes, but a woman would still tell him that he could have got it for $12.99 if he’d waited another month for the sales.
This idea has merit. It also proves that tampons are designed by, and marketed by, females. Have you ever tried to buy anything female, clothing-wise? The numbers make zero sense. Men, it’s collar size in inches, sleevelength in inches, chest size in inches, inseam in inches, etc. Women’s clothes…not so much. If a man was put in charge of tampons, they would be standardized, numbered and available in bulk.
Okay, a few points to address here…
The idea of a mustard and tampons stand in the middle of New York City just made me snarf water all over my keyboard. That was awesome.
Also, how do you run out? Well, if you’re like me, you don’t know or care about the frequency of your menses (due to the BC I use playing screwy with my hormones). Which leads to an awful amount of “Oh sugar, do I have any tampons oh thank og there’s one left I need another box!”. And that happens every time with me. It’s like a ritual now.
I, too, wish that tampon and pad manufacturers would just pick a design and stick with it. Right now my preferred brand (for shape, size and absorbency) come in a brilliant pink pack, and each individual tampon comes wrapped in neon colours. Just what I need to fall out of my bag in the middle of the work day!
Also, I think hubby would be okay buying the fannyplugs for me. I’ve just never asked him to. If I need 'em, usually I’ll be able to get 'em myself. Or if I don’t need 'em, when I remember I pick them up with the rest of the shopping anyway.
Hmm, thanks for the replies, everyone. Seems it isn’t too common, at least among dopers. I’m glad.
Probably should have added my own experience. My father and mother did the grocery shopping together when I was growing up and I can remember each of fetching tampons/pads at different times. When my sister and I needed some, they just started buying more at the same time and we raided the cupboards.
I really only use tampons, I just find them better, more comfortable and more efficient than pads.
I live on my own, but haven’t had a boyfriend since I left my parent’s home so I really only have the reactions of my friend’s SO to relate. Out of 5, 3 are happy to do it, 2 absolutely will not. Hmm…
I’d bleed to death.
My husband was raised with 2 sisters, a mother and a father that is an OB/GYN. NFW would he go.
Then again, when my milk came in and I thought my boobs were going to explode and destroy the house, probably the block and perhaps the city, bless his little backwards heart. He went to Walgreens and bought…
A Breast Pump! Let me tell you. You want a man to buy something for you? Let him buy you a breast pump. You will end up with the electric, with gas generator, double pumping, portable, does everything but fillet a fish-pump of all pumps. And when your milk comes in, and he has to crawl around them to get out of the house? You want all of those things.
I think pregnancy is natures way of getting guys to get over themselves.
And there it is.
Those of us that are secure in our masculinity do not mind at all. In fact, we revel in the admiring glances of others who think, “Wow! What a secure man, who loves his mate so much that he will buy feminine products for her!”.
We ain’t dumb.
I think I saw that one; something like "I’m not embarassed; I wave it above my head and yell ‘I GOT A WOMAAAAN !’ " 
Now I’m reminded of a funny scene in one of Tanya Huff’s Summoning books, where 2 young heroines are captured by the Dark Lord. He’s rummaging through their belongings looking for a magic weapon or something and pulls out a white cylinder. From memory :
Dark Lord : “Aha ! What’s this ? An amulet of some kind ?”
Girl : “It’s a tampon.”
Dark Lord : “AH !” < drops tampon and shakes hand frantically >
Girl : “Men !”
Not that it’s ever come up, but I wouldn’t mind getting some for a girlfriend, sister, whatever.
Male here. When I had an SO, I was happy to get her that kind of stuff. Why should I be embarrassed? As others have noted, why shouldn’t I be proud to have a girlfriend?
However, I wish the manufacturers would get a clue from computer equipment manufacturers and put MODEL NUMBERS on the darn things. GF wouldn’t trust me to buy the stuff, though, because nine times out of ten, the exact brand/type/style would not be in stock, and she would have to pick the second best choice – something I’m just not qualified to do. (“You ended up getting what?!”)
Hell hath nothing like a woman who’s having mood swings and can’t find the right kind of pad on the shelf.
Guess I’m a caveman. This is one of those things that ain’t happening, unless she’s physically unable to do it herself. I will cheerfully slay bugs, mow yards, take vehicles to the shop and pretend I understand what the mechanic tells me, open jars, lift heavy things, beat the living snot out of burglars, cook meat on a grill, walk dogs, and various other manly duties.
My Wife is training for an Iron Man, but is having trouble with panic in the open water swim.
The closest lake to swim in is 40 miles away. At 8000 feet. It may be 60 degrees at this time of year. I hope it’s that warm.
She has a full (though thin) triatholon wet suit. I have a shorty diving suit.
I’m going to ask here if she wants to go to the ‘swim beach’ on this lake this weekend. I can wear fins and keep up with her a bit, and/or just bob around and swim back and forth as she practices so she can get used to open water. I’ll need to swim to stay warm.
Any ‘man’ that has a problem buying tampons for their SO isn’t one.