# How to grocery shop (Since there seems to be some confusion): A rant **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 3, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663 "2012-04-03T03:02:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/221 "2012-04-10T20:43:25Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > So that’s what the kids are calling it these days? 😃 Well I _do_ have to make sure they’re the appropriate size. Size matters, you know. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/222 "2012-04-16T14:06:43Z")
> [@codgerone](#): > > Great thread, and I have to agree that one of the worst things is the family shopping trip. OK, if you’re a single mother and can’t afford childcare then you have to bring your devil spawn to the supermarket. But if there’s two of you then why the hell do you both have to be there, along with your posse of bored offspring. The kids are obviously hating it, the two of you are getting stressed and everyone else in the shop is pissed off. > > My theory is that neither partner trusts the other to shop alone. If Wayne is left to do the shopping he’ll just come home with twenty pizzas, half a dozen six packs of beer and a bunch of tit magazines. If Waynetta goes on her own she’ll come home with eighteen packets of chocolate biscuits, ten litres of White Lightning and a bunch of celebrity magazines. If they go as a family the kids will hopefully point to some real food along the way. > . I think for some eople they really have no clue. They are so accustomed to the kids they don’t think about it. But for crying out loud people, teach your children about respecting property that doesn’t belong to them. So many people seem to think that if it’s in a store it must be okay for thier kids to play with. I understand the natural desire and curiouslty of children, but it is your responsibility as a parent to treach them to be careful, and not to touch, or to ask permission. And have some sense, don’t let your small children wander the store without you. Seriously, if you simply can’t control them, and haven’t taught them to mind thier manners in public, don’t bring them in. The other day our very laid back salesman had to tell one family that thier kids could no longer be in the store because the kids were banging on merchandise and the adults seemed oblivious. And unlike the grocery store, if you or your children break something, you’re expected to pay for it. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/223 "2012-04-16T14:26:42Z")
> [@codgerone](#): > > Great thread, and I have to agree that one of the worst things is the family shopping trip… Except for their names being Cletus and Charlene. you nailed it. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/224 "2012-10-20T21:07:11Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > From my selfish POV (specific to bag-it-yourself stores), **one thing I would like to see is a reusable bag that stays open.** Or perhaps some sort of rack that will keep it open. It’s annoying to try to fill a bag that constantly snaps its mouth shut like a one-year-old faced with strained peas, especially when the line is stacking up behind you. > > OdF (the dumpy bald guy with glasses who usually hits the store early Sunday morning) Just came across this thread (linked by **Smapti** ’s [newer supermarket customer rant](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=667825)). For whomever may find it useful, here’s my strategy: Those big brown paper bags serve this purpose perfectly well. (1) Shop as regular, using big brown paper bags. (Of course, stores don’t want you double-bagging. That’s fine.) (2) Save these at home, until you have a dozen or so. (3) NOW, double-bag those. (Once they’ve served their purpose in life once, I have no moral qualms about this.) (4) You now have a stash of perfectly good re-usable bags that will fold up nicely in your cart while you shop, **and stand up on their own while you bag.** Additional benefit: The conveyor belts are often filthy. I lay out these bags (still folded) on the belt and put my groceries on top of them. I find that I can re-use these doubled bags anywhere from 20 to 30 times (usually) before they begin to get too frayed to use. (I’m pretty sure that double-bagging them _more than doubles_ the number of good re-uses that I can get before they fall apart.) After that, they can serve one final mission as a garbage bag. Then it’s off to the landfill, after a grocery bag’s life well spent. ETA: You may call thee bags, thus used, _zombie grocery bags._ There. I beat everyone to it. More ETA: And at many stores around here, you get 5 or 6 cents off, for every re-usable bag you bring. _And these bags count for that too!_ ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/225 "2012-10-21T00:31:26Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Okay, let me add one from the the other side of the register tho: I don’t need every fucking item to have it’s own goddamn bag. If it’ll all fit in one bag, just gimme one fucking bag. > > And no, I don’t care if it’s a non-food item in with food items. That roll of paper towels or container of Windex isn’t going to contaminate the fucking box of cookies. Just put it all in the bag and lemme get outta there without more of those shitty plastic bags than I need. > > (Sorry, but I don’t always bring my own bags to the store. Sometimes, but not all the time. And yes I recycle the plastic ones regularly.) Another from the customer side: if I’m sorting stuff into categories as I put it on the conveyor belt, please assume I wish items bagged by category (e.g., refrigerator products together, cleaning products together, frozen goods together, etc.). Not only does this make my life easier when I’m putting stuff away at home, but if you put cold goods together, they help each other stay at least cooler longer. In summer, this is very helpful to a customer whose car’s AC is dubious at best. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/226 "2012-10-21T00:36:38Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > Yes, this. I have no idea why nearly every item has to get its own bag. I always tell the bagger to fill up the bag as much as possible, unless it’s eggs or bread. Those can be separate. And PLEASE do not put eggs or bread in the same bag with a 2-liter bottle (yes, this has been done to me). Eggs and bread are OK bagmates. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663.md?page=11)