# 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:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/141 "2012-04-04T22:44:52Z")
At Wal~Mart the cashier will put your stuff in a bag that’s attached to a merry-go-round, and then swing it around to start filling your next bag. Sometimes it’s really hard to tell how many bags they used. How about telling people how many bags there are, so they don’t forget one of them? I’ve started asking how many bags, and get all kinds of disgusted looks from the cashiers. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/142 "2012-04-04T22:53:53Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > It’s a good idea to bag the rat poison and the grapes separately, for instance. See, I would assume the rat bait to be hermetically sealed. ETA: this is why I go through the self serve checkout. The grapes and the rat bait go in one bag, and I snack on grapes during my drive home. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/143 "2012-04-04T23:26:14Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > At Wal~Mart the cashier will put your stuff in a bag that’s attached to a merry-go-round, and then swing it around to start filling your next bag. Sometimes it’s really hard to tell how many bags they used. > > How about telling people how many bags there are, so they don’t forget one of them? I’ve started asking how many bags, and get all kinds of disgusted looks from the cashiers. One approach is to unload the merry-go-round into your cart as the cashier rotates it to face you. Which leads me to my complaint - those cashiers who rotate it the _other way_ - you know you have bags there, but you can’t get to them until the cashier finishes ringing you up! Oh, and those disgusted looks you’re getting - you’re standing right there as they load them. Can’t you count? ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/144 "2012-04-04T23:45:39Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > I tend to park next to carts that have been left out, so I’m returning them where I got them. Then park near the corral. No matter where you got the cart from, you’re still leaving it where it doesn’t belong. > [@JohnGalt](#): > > How about telling people how many bags there are, so they don’t forget one of them? I’ve started asking how many bags, and get all kinds of disgusted looks from the cashiers. How about just counting yourself. It’s really not that hard when you’re standing there being rung-up, as opposed to being the one who is standing there doing the myriad of other tasks behind the register. Or, you know, you could just take them off as they are spun around. ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/145 "2012-04-05T01:27:20Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Oh, and those disgusted looks you’re getting - you’re standing right there as they load them. Can’t you count? Not necessarily–after all, the cashier doesn’t wait until I’ve finished unloading my cart to start bagging my groceries. By the time I’m done, she’s already accumulated several bags, none of which I watched being filled. (I use the word “filled” even though she’s put a four roll pack of TP in one bag and a magazine in another. This is how she’s managed to have a buttload of bags waiting when I finally get my cart emptied!) ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/146 "2012-04-05T01:36:22Z")
Drat, missed the edit window. I just wanted to say that I try to help the bagging process by putting items on the belt by category–cans, bags, boxes, etc. They seem to appreciate it and when I put my bags in the cart and ask if I’ve gotten everything, I’ve never gotten a nasty look. They just give the carousel a quick spin and look-see. It only takes a second, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/147 "2012-04-05T01:50:25Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > A note about stolen grocery carts. My supermarket has these security brakes on the carts. There is some sort of electronic device implanted around the perimeter of the parking lot. The second the front wheels of your cart pass over this electronic barrier, a metal brake releases, locking down the wheels and making it completely impossible for you to continue pushing the cart. Apparently, the employees have some magical key to unlock this braking device so they can retrieve their carts. If you’ve crossed the invisible cart barrier, you will be unable to push the cart back to the corral or back to the store. You just about have to carry it. I used to live in an area where they had those kind of carts. If you went over a curb, a 5th leg shot down, making the cart impossible to push or pull in a straight line without wrestling with it or having it tip over. Trouble was the same thing would happen if you accidentally tilted the cart in the store. If you continued to push or pull, it would careen left and right, banging on the aisles and making a terrible racket. I found a solution to this, as it happened to me in all innocence much too often. I kept pushing the cart forefully, letting it bang and hit things until an employee came running with the special tool. Darn, there it goes again! It wasn’t long before the supermarket gave up and replaced the carts with ordinary ones that didn’t insult the shopper. ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/148 "2012-04-05T01:51:00Z")
May I suggest the op export this rant to the customerssuck dot com website? This is right up their alley. And for all who enjoy rants such as this (and this is a good one) I suggest yous sepnd a little time surfing over there. Good stories, and they make me a lot more considerate of those who have to deal with the masses. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/149 "2012-04-05T03:23:55Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I don’t like everything left in a mess - I like to tidy things away. I don’t always go straight home after shopping, either. Don’t you worry about your frozen foods..oh wait, Calgary. Duh. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/150 "2012-04-05T03:38:32Z")
How about the deli? Why do I always get behind the person who wants their cold cuts “thinner. No thinner. Can’t you make it thinner? Oh, and put my 5 lbs. of the cheapest ham in 10 1/2 lb. packages.” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/151 "2012-04-05T04:19:34Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Also, please actually read the sale signs. > > 75-80% of the price checks at the register will determine that the charged price is correct, and that the customer has read the sign wrong. Yes we occasionally make mistakes with the signage or POS programming, and we will take care of the customer in such cases. If it rings up wrong, it is free. > > But most of the time, a customer has simply misread the sign. Meanwhile the line is held up while the price check is completed. I agree that most of the time the customer (i.e. me) has read the sign wrong, but I have also noticed that the store goes out of their way to lead you to mis-reading the sign - they have the sign for one size that is on sale right in front of the stuff that isn’t on sale, they have the sign reading, “$1.99 EACH!” (and in tiny letters underneath - “When you buy six or more”), etc. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Back when I was working, people asked me if it was difficult working in a prison. Threads like this illustrate why it wasn’t really that bad. On the negative side, I had to deal with a lot of annoying people. But on the positive side, when they got too annoying I was allowed to spray tear gas in their face. Well, hell, that would make ANY job better. 🙂 > [@curlcoat](#): > > Don’t you worry about your frozen foods..oh wait, Calgary. Duh. :smack: It _does_ get above freezing here some of the time, you know. 😃 (But yeah, it is handy in winter when you don’t have to worry about groceries in the car getting too warm.) ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/152 "2012-04-05T05:57:37Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > See, I would assume the rat bait to be hermetically sealed. > > ETA: this is why I go through the self serve checkout. The grapes and the rat bait go in one bag, and I snack on grapes during my drive home. 😃 The rat bait WAS hermetically sealed when it left the factory. After the Parent of the Year gave the package to Bundle O Joy to play with, the package is no longer sealed. And since PotY didn’t bring enough money to pay for everything, the rat bait got put back, because e can’t afford the rat poison AND the cigarettes. Gotta have priorities, you know. > [@akennett](#): > > Then park near the corral. No matter where you got the cart from, you’re still leaving it where it doesn’t belong. There’s not always a space near the corral. In fact, I’d say that the spaces near the corral fill up second-fastest, after the spaces closest to the store. I rarely see a space open next to or even near a corral. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/153 "2012-04-05T07:40:34Z")
You know, I get being broke; when I was in my 20s dinner would be the cheapest chicken franks and gerneric Hawiian Punch knock off. But when I went into a store, I knew exactly, and I mean to the penny, how much money I had in my pocket to spend on food. What I don’t get are people who get to check out and they have wildly over estimated how much funds they have availble. They get to the check out and it’s not like they have to delete a pack of gum from their purchases, they look through their items and have to select several expensive items to remove from their shopping while everyone in line waits and watches. It’s like some kind of game show of failure. ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/154 "2012-04-05T12:40:07Z")
There are still people who pick out some meats or frozen food who then decide to leave it on the magazine rack, when they don’t WANT it, and they need an ass-kicking for leaving shit to spoil and be wasted when they could give it to the cashier who can then put it in a cooler or all a utility clerk to take it back. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/155 "2012-04-05T13:15:52Z")
Hey, [some people](http://www.google.com/#hl=en&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=i%27m+eating+rat+poison+for+dinner) _plan_ on mixing the grapes and rat poison, thankyouverymuch! ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/156 "2012-04-05T13:49:20Z")
It seems most everything has been covered, except for people who leave their cart while they peruse a different aisle…and always in a place that’s the most inconvenient for other shoppers. These are the carts that I like to add little things to. Tube of Preparation H, Anti Monkey Butt, jar of Cheez Whiz, canned anchovies, anything within reach that makes me smile a bit. Those carts have wheels for a reason people. Take them with you. I once removed a lady’s purse she’d left in the cart while she went to the other end of the store, and I turned it over to the courtesy desk in order to keep it safe. She freaked out then realized she probably shouldn’t have left it. ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/157 "2012-04-05T14:41:18Z")
> [@akennett](#): > > Then park near the corral. No matter where you got the cart from, you’re still leaving it where it doesn’t belong. That’s actually how I pick parking spaces. I don’t care about shade (I’m in Phoenix), or being close to the store: I pull into the first space I see that’s nearest to a cart corral. I know I’m inherently lazy, so I do what I can to make sure I’ll actually return the cart. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/158 "2012-04-05T14:45:46Z")
> [@Tequila\_Mockingbird](#): > > It seems most everything has been covered, except for people who leave their cart while they peruse a different aisle…and always in a place that’s the most inconvenient for other shoppers. These are the carts that I like to add little things to. Tube of Preparation H, Anti Monkey Butt, jar of Cheez Whiz, canned anchovies, anything within reach that makes me smile a bit. Those carts have wheels for a reason people. Take them with you. > > I once removed a lady’s purse she’d left in the cart while she went to the other end of the store, and I turned it over to the courtesy desk in order to keep it safe. She freaked out then realized she probably shouldn’t have left it. Can I come shopping with you? ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/159 "2012-04-05T15:40:22Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > There’s not always a space near the corral. In fact, I’d say that the spaces near the corral fill up second-fastest, after the spaces closest to the store. I rarely see a space open next to or even near a corral. I’m willing to give a pass to not returning the cart in the following situations: 1. You’re of limited mobility 2. It’s raining really really really hard 3. Or other inclement weather of similar suckiness 4. There aren’t any cart corrals because the shopping center is stupid, and you’re parked really really far away, in which case all the carts should be in the same parking space and not scattered everywhere But most of the time, if the cart isn’t returned it’s because the person was just frikking lazy. Speaking of carts, anyone else get vaguely annoyed by the new insistence on there being wet wipes to clean off the cart. Because somehow the germs on the handle of the cart - the same germs that are everywhere else - are going to kill you? (Yes, okay, you touch the cart with someone’s germs and then select fruit or something - but you’re supposed to WASH your fruit). Frikking germaphobes. And of course, the end of the wet wipe is just hanging out in the breeze, but is somehow immune to germs in the air. I would assume - reasonably enough, I think - that if you’re that immune-deficient that you must disinfect every surface you touch, that you would carry your own frikking wet wipes. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663/160 "2012-04-05T15:52:34Z")
I’m pretty sure that the wet wipes are for cleaning up after the babies and toddlers. And not necessarily your own baby or toddler, either. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-grocery-shop-since-there-seems-to-be-some-confusion-a-rant/617663.md?page=9)