# Morning at Supermarkets: commonly "Man Shopping Time"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 1, 2015, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-at-supermarkets-commonly-man-shopping-time/726721 "2015-08-01T13:47:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-at-supermarkets-commonly-man-shopping-time/726721/1 "2015-08-01T13:47:37Z")
I am a guy. I do the shopping for my family. I have noticed that when I shop early on a weekend morning at the grocery stores in my area, the other shoppers are disproptionately guys - much more so vs. other times of day or week. Is that a Thing? i.e., do you see this in your neck of the woods? ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-at-supermarkets-commonly-man-shopping-time/726721/2 "2015-08-01T17:14:04Z")
Yes, but predominantly a variety known as _wordmen_. ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-at-supermarkets-commonly-man-shopping-time/726721/3 "2015-08-01T17:27:30Z")
I do my shopping at the same time (I’m a woman), and it’s generally just me and the old folks. Con: they are really slow and like to block aisles Pro: the store is empty enough that it’s easier to dart around them Con.2: there are very few checkouts open at that time and it’s guaranteed that if I get in line behind one of them they’re going to pay by check. Excruciatingly slowly. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-at-supermarkets-commonly-man-shopping-time/726721/4 "2015-08-01T18:35:27Z")
I do my shopping around 9 PM on weeknights. The store is dead. Weekends are a zoo no matter what time of day it is. Weekday mornings are full of slow, doddering old people. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-at-supermarkets-commonly-man-shopping-time/726721/5 "2015-08-01T18:48:15Z")
> [@MoonMoon](#): > > . . . and it’s generally just . . . the old folks. > [@Absolute](#): > > . . .Weekends are a zoo no matter what time of day it is. . Not around here: not too many old folks in the early morning. If I can get in Saturday morning about the time they open I can be out in about five minutes, ten minutes maximum. Weekend mornings are also better for me because of my weekday work schedule (many stores close at 9:00pm). Weekend mid-day is the worst, when all the slow-witted people are generally just getting in the way, as well as those people who enjoy shopping, (and so drag it out as long as possible,) selfishly assuming that the rest of the world does, too. It has nothing to do with being a man–it’s about being busy. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-at-supermarkets-commonly-man-shopping-time/726721/6 "2015-08-01T21:41:52Z")
Always get in the line with the solo male. They don’t use coupons, they know they are going to have to pay, so they either have cash or the card at hand. No chit-chat about babies, no check writing. Just head-down, sttraight-ahead do-it-and-get-out shopping. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-at-supermarkets-commonly-man-shopping-time/726721/7 "2015-08-01T23:42:00Z")
> [@GreenElf](#): > > Yes, but predominantly a variety known as _wordmen_. We are a hearty breed, it’s true. ---
**Author:** ![sevenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sevenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sevenwood)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-at-supermarkets-commonly-man-shopping-time/726721/8 "2015-08-02T00:17:37Z")
67 year old male who does the household shopping (because I’m retired and my wife is still working) checking in. I tend to do my shopping early in the afternoon (after my gym session). The mix at that time appears to be 50-50. My biggest gripe is that the magazine racks are filled with female stuff. You’d think they could put just one copy of Sports Illustrated in the racks for us guys… ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-at-supermarkets-commonly-man-shopping-time/726721/9 "2015-08-02T00:27:11Z")
I see women and men when I shop early in my neck of the woods. People run in to buy food for work . ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-at-supermarkets-commonly-man-shopping-time/726721/10 "2015-08-02T00:30:05Z")
> [@MoonMoon](#): > > Con.2: there are very few checkouts open at that time and it’s guaranteed that if I get in line behind one of them **they’re going to pay by check.** Excruciatingly slowly. These people need to die. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-at-supermarkets-commonly-man-shopping-time/726721/11 "2015-08-02T04:36:07Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > These people need to die. Such compassion for your fellow humans… They will die, and so will you ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-at-supermarkets-commonly-man-shopping-time/726721/12 "2015-08-02T04:48:58Z")
What’s with all the “check writing?” Is this some zombie thread from the 1980s? ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-at-supermarkets-commonly-man-shopping-time/726721/13 "2015-08-02T08:41:11Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > What’s with all the “check writing?” Is this some zombie thread from the 1980s? Yeah… I think the last time i wrote a cheque for groceries was …well, never actually (I’m 41 know) I do remember a receiving a few cheques when I was a teenage shop assistant though ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-at-supermarkets-commonly-man-shopping-time/726721/14 "2015-08-02T10:12:02Z")
3:00 pm is good for me. The office workers have gone back to work and the mums who have to pick up their kids have left. It’s usually pretty quiet about then. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-at-supermarkets-commonly-man-shopping-time/726721/15 "2015-08-02T12:33:32Z")
I try to go before noon on Sunday. It’s not too crowded - I guess most people are at church then. But it seems to be a fairly random mix of shoppers. The downside is, that’s when the store decides to stock the shelves, so I have to navigate around all that. They’re open 24 hours - I can’t figure out why they don’t have a crew come in overnight to do that. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-at-supermarkets-commonly-man-shopping-time/726721/16 "2015-08-02T16:07:06Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > The downside is, that’s when the store decides to stock the shelves, so I have to navigate around all that. They’re open 24 hours - I can’t figure out why they don’t have a crew come in overnight to do that. If it’s anything like my store, it’s because late at night is when all the families with bunches of pre-school-age kids show up to do their shopping for some reason, right along with the people who know their food stamp cards get loaded exactly at 12:38 AM and they can’t wait a single minute later than that to get their shopping for the month done, and the people who waited until half an hour before alcohol sales cut off to decide they need to restock the liquor cabinet. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-at-supermarkets-commonly-man-shopping-time/726721/17 "2015-08-02T16:16:00Z")
These days I go in at about 6 a.m. I’m temporarily disabled, and that’s when the motorized carts are available and freshly charged. Not many people in the store except employees restocking the shelves. Not even other old people. But there’s maybe one register open, and it’s manned by a crotchety middle-aged white woman, who reminds me not to take the cart out to my car. I don’t have a choice, so I do . . . then return it to the store. Shopping at any other time would be a disaster. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-at-supermarkets-commonly-man-shopping-time/726721/18 "2015-08-03T17:16:56Z")
I don’t usually notice the demographics of other people but as a guy, I do my grocery shopping only on weekend mornings ---
**Author:** ![Lowdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-at-supermarkets-commonly-man-shopping-time/726721/19 "2015-08-03T19:29:27Z")
Tough to say, I don’t really pay attention to the people at the store other than deciding if there are many or few. During the week I try to go _immediately_ after work. At that time it’s good, not great, from a numbers perspective. I believe most of my co-shoppers are women at that time, but I could be wrong. On the weekends, son #1 and I get there between 6:30-7:00AM. At that point we’re usually the only people in the store who aren’t employees. Getting there before seven is CRITICAL, since it greatly increases the chance we get the fire-truck cart, so we don’t have to settle for the lowly cop-car cart or the race-car carts with flames. Those carts are shit, apparently. Invariably, someone in produce says “You guys get up early!” and I’m like yeah dude, one of us is two. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-at-supermarkets-commonly-man-shopping-time/726721/20 "2015-08-04T15:38:34Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > What’s with all the “check writing?” Is this some zombie thread from the 1980s? 😕 I’ve seen one or two people paying at the supermarket (here in Chicago) with checks this year. Mind you, I recall some European Dopers being puzzled by the persistence of checks/cheques in the U.S., so maybe that explains the difference? [QUOTE=silenus] These people need to die. [/QUOTE] Ending checks (that is, having banks stop issuing checkbooks and processing checks) would be a less … drastic solution. 🙂 Some people will keep doing what they’ve always done as long as they are accommodated, but most manage to adjust when they have to. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-at-supermarkets-commonly-man-shopping-time/726721.md?page=2)