When I go shopping I get terribly bored (and insanely aggravated, but thats a different thread).
So, while I stand around waiting for shit to get scanned and bagged, I often look at what other people are buying.
I often observe that the groceries other folks are buying are WAY different than what I am buying. Note, this isnt generally a value judgement. I just find it amazing how different other peoples grocery preferences can be. I often imagine that if I went to the other peoples house to house sit I wouldnt find any of the stuff I typically eat at their house (besides the absolute basics of course).
Yup. Sometimes I look at my own groceries on the conveyor belt and think either, “Good for me! All healthy stuff!” or, “Damn! That’s a lot of chips and chocolate bars!”
I do the same thing, and try not to get judgmental. But when there’s an obese woman with 3 obese kids, and everything in her cart is the worst kind of junk food, I seriously have to bite my tongue. At least I never actually say anything.
There was a comedian that had a bit about buying a cart of groceries, and a package of toilet paper. He would then ask the checker “Do you think I got enough toilet paper for all of this stuff, or should I get another package?”
I often wonder what people think when they see me with half a cart full of salt-free canned green beans. I’ll buy up to 60 cans if they are on sale (two or three times a year they’re down from 89 to 50 cents). Even if they’re not on sale I have to buy about 12 every time I shop.
Sometimes it’s fun just to see what odd combinations folks get. Three rutabagas, a box of Cap’n Crunch and a cheesecake. You think “what kind of weird party is HE having ?”.
The other end of the spectrum is my trip to the liquor store the other night - a container of olives, a bottle of gin, a bottle of vermouth, and a bottle of vodka.
I had a good laugh with some other people in line about how they knew what I was serving that night!
I usually stand with the sad single guys in the 12-items-or-less line buying like 3 strands of green onions, 4-for-a-dollar ramen, and a bottle of jalepenos.
Well, obviously, he was on a health kick. Wine is good for you, and so is lettuce!
But yes, I also observe what’s in other people’s grocery carts - there’s always the obese person buying a bunch of junk food and sodas; the obviously single dude with a case of beer, loaf of bread, charcoal briquettes, and something random - bath tissue, one tomato, or Astroglide; and the Crazy Cat Lady, with 68 cans of cat food and 7 packs of Ramen.
Lately, with my husband off work because of health issues (third knee surgery will be in two weeks,) I send him to the store with the really odd grocery lists. Last week, his shopping trip consisted of 1 pack disposable diapers, 2 cucumbers, 6-pack of beer, and vegetable oil. If he didn’t love me so much, he’d hate me!
Between men, it’s all good when it’s clear your woman sent you to buy stuff. I am perfectly fine buying tampons, sanitary pads, chocolate BonBons and Mademoselle. It’s the same thing when we’re standing outside the changing room holding your purse: every man understands.
It’s not so bad when it’s a big supermarket. It’s pretty awful when it’s your corner store and you see the same people three times a week as you stockpile on oreos.
Speaking of being “known,” the photo developer at my Walgreens knows me by name (although I don’t know his, b/c he has a terribly thick German accent and I can barely understand him) and I sometimes wonder what he thinks of my apparent party-animal ways, as pictured.
Re the OP…I don’t think there’s anybody who doesn’t at least casually glance at what somebody else is buying. The people who buy tons of fresh fruit/veg/fish/meat etc always depress me a bit, because obviously they can cook and I can’t…so they’re way healthier than I will ever be…
But what baffles me more than anything are the people who buy the really cheap toilet paper. Rare is the cart that doesn’t also have something expensive and/or indulgent in it; obviously their priorities are just different from mine.
I can’t STAND cheap toilet paper. I do judge them.
I find other people’s shopping quite fascinating, especially if it includes some random article of food - I end up spending ages speculating on what they might do with it, when you consider it against the rest of the stuff they’re buying.
Quite often, I bump into other members of my slimming club in the supermarket and it’s a running joke that I have only ever met one of them in the booze aisle!
Just one thing: having worked for the largest food wholesaler in the country, I can assure you that the checkout clerks are utterly dis-interested in this. They see this all day long, every day, and are completely bored with what your buy after about 3 days.
for quite a while. Is there any drink involving beer and tomatoes?