I’m pretty sure people are going to pile on me or my victim (and people like him), so I’m putting this thread here simply to save time.
My wife and I were doing our weekly shopping this past weekend, and while cruising by the bulk bin area, I noticed one fellow who was purchasing a small bag of shaved, blanched almonds. The reason he was purchasing a small bag was that he was shoveling handfuls of them into his mouth at the same time. Literally. Some fell down the side of his face.
This is one of those things that get under my skin. It’s not a buffet, Chuckles. You’re stealing. Bad Chuckles! Bad!
Later on, I see him in another part of the store. Hmmm, time for some outlaw justice. His little bag of almonds is sitting front and centre. Yoink!
Of course, my wife is concerned that I’m now under video surveillance, and the Loblaw’s SWAT Team is going to come rappelling down from the rafters at any moment and take me away, never to be seen again.
Me, I’ve got different plans. I head to the front of the store and ask a clerk if I can borrow a pen. On the tag where he’s written down the bulk bin number, I write in “NO SNACKING!”
Then I head off. Chuckles is now in the seafood section, purchasing some a lovely piece of sole. He apparently hasn’t noticed his almonds are missing. Silly Chuckles!
I dump them back in his cart when he’s not looking. Having done some sleight of hand in my youth has come in handy!
My only wish was that I could have seen his face when he eventually saw the tag. Ah well. I’m still pretty chuffed with myself.
Well, I’m laughing, but I think you need a life, too…
I also don’t like folks who sample the merchandise while shopping. Unless a retired lady is badgering you to try this scrumptious new whatever–pay first, then indulge!
Glad you’re happy and have a sneaking suspicion that the Mrs wants to shop solo form now on…heh
The one that grossed me out was the guy I saw eating cherries in the produce section and spitting the pits back into the cherry bin. If there was ever a scene to convince you to wash your produce, that was it!
[obligitory Simpsons reference]
“Can I get a price check on two grapes? Yeah, you heard me…two lousy grapes…”
[/OBS]
For the record, I think you have every right to a bit of self-back-patting for that one, Dante.
Ugh! In my mind’s eye I see the guy shovelling handfulls into his mouth, slobbering all over his fingers, and going back for more. Even more of health problem than a theft problem, IMHO.
Since you didn’t get smacked or anything, I applaud your chutzpah and share your wish to have seen him go through the checkout.
You can rest easy. He was actually using the little shovely thingy to put almonds in his bag, then he would reach in and pull out a bunch, shove them in his mouth. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Although you could start a whole 'nother thread about people who reach into bulk bins with their hands. I won’t, because I grew up eating food that was made in my mad Irish granny’s kitchen. My system could easily handle a big heaping plate of poached salmonella with an ebola cream sauce and not break a sweat.
I was in the grocery store the other day and there was a little girl (7 or 8) standing in front of the bulk cashew bin ($19/kg!!!) holding the lid open with one hand and shovelling the cashews into her mouth with the other. Her mother was right near her picking out her produce, so she had to have seen her. The kid stood there eating for at least 10 minutes. I wanted to hiss, “Thief!” but I’m a nonconfrontationalist and have no spine. sigh
You should have taken the kid to the front, borrowed a pen from the clerk, and wrote “NO SNACKING!” on her forehead. Then put her back in front of the bin before her mom notices she’s gone.
Hoping not to get piled-on here - I sample a very small sample from the bulk bins before buying, to make sure they’re not stale (burned once, and all that). I usually just stick my head in and sniff, but some things I can’t tell for sure.
Chefguy, I saw a mother park her kid in the cart by the produce, and the kid fingered everything in reach while he was there. You know - finger up the nose, then all over the apples or whatever. Blecch. That’s when I figured out that washing produce gets other people’s germs off them too.
Yeah–maybe it depends on the grocery store, but I’ve definitely shopped at ones that explicitly allowed small-scale sampling from bulk bins (they had signs up explaining how to do it). Large-scale snarfing is pretty silly, though.
Our local grocery store got rid of the bulk bins when I was a kid for that very reason. Ugh ugh ugh…I don’t want to think about the bacteria and filth that had been swimming in those things.
I don’t really like it doing it either, but like I said, I’ve been burned on stale bulk bin food before. I rationalize that the five almonds I eat each year are covered in Safeway’s price gouging. Of course, if everyone eats five almonds a year…
In order to see if candy I intended to buy for a sick friend was tasty.
In the quantity of exactly one gummy ring.
The moment I did, a curly redhead in her late 40s with a gigantic, ox-like frame stormed up to me, and shouted in a bizarre slurred monotone the following:
“You are stealers and are sinners before God and you can only be saved if you accept Jesus as your lord and personal savior but you must be liberals our society’s moral standards are declining constantly teenagers anger me I need some NyQuil.”
What you should have done is gone back to the bulk bins and looked around until you found the most expensive item there and then replaced the twist tie with a new one with that item’s number. And then gotten in line behind him.