# "Sampling" grapes: theft, uncouth, or perfectly legit? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 7, 2014, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sampling-grapes-theft-uncouth-or-perfectly-legit/685521 "2014-04-07T01:53:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sampling-grapes-theft-uncouth-or-perfectly-legit/685521/121 "2014-04-09T13:33:03Z")
I’m arguing your ‘exact point’ because I was agreeing with you! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sampling-grapes-theft-uncouth-or-perfectly-legit/685521/122 "2014-04-09T13:48:21Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Crappy parenting is leaving your little kids alone in the house while you go out partying. > > Crappy parenting is not changing your kid’s diaper because you’re too busy snorting a line of coke. > > Crappy parenting is making your kids eat ramen noodles while you eat quality steak and seafood. > > Crappy parenting is beating the kids to a mushy pulp because they wouldn’t eat their noodles. > > Crappy parenting is pitting one kid against another. > > Crappy parenting is telling your kids you wish you’d never had them. > > Crappy parenting is a _whole lot of things_…but giving your kid a grape at the supermarket is not one of those things. I’m sure you don’t intend this post to come across the way I’m reading it, but because all the things you list as crappy parenting are outright physical or emotional abuse or neglect, it would seem like you’re saying only things that are outright abusive/neglectful count as crappy parenting. I would have to very strongly disagree with that. Crappy parenting is indeed a whole lot of things, in a whole lot of degrees of severity. And yeah, _repeatedly_ (often enough that you “always” feel a certain way when it happens) letting your kids get so hungry they can’t make it through the grocery store without a meltdown if you don’t open that unpaid-for box of granola bars RIGHT NOW is borderline crappy parenting. It’s not harmful or anything, but it would indicate that the parent in question either isn’t paying attention to the kid’s needs, or isn’t planning ahead (and by extension not teaching the kid to plan ahead.) You’d think, after the first or second or third time, you’d start either feeding the kid before you go shopping, or checking and double-checking that you have a paid-for snack on hand for when that sudden hunger surge hits. Not doing so isn’t _bad_ exactly, but a far, far cry from Parent of the Year material, ya know? As for grape sampling, I don’t think I’ve ever done that and I honestly don’t see the point. I mean, they’re grapes. Provided they’re smooth and shiny and firm and there’s no icky ones hiding in the bottom/middle (squish the bag around to check) they’re generally pretty good. I’ve been surprised by really sour ones a handful of times over the years, but that’s a tiny minority of the times I’ve bought grapes. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sampling-grapes-theft-uncouth-or-perfectly-legit/685521/123 "2014-04-09T14:32:49Z")
> [@butterfiles](#): > > Also it’s common sense. You can’t sample something that is sold by the unit (like a gallon of milk) or pre-packaged & weighed raw steak or a bite of an apple (then just eat the whole thing). But deli counters are happy to provide a small sample of deli meat or cheese upon request. That doesn’t mean lunch is on the grocer though 🙂 Whole Foods will let you sample milk if you ask them. Apples too. I know for a fact that some people ask to smell the meat before they buy it as well. Pretty much anything really. Yes I like shopping at Whole Foods. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sampling-grapes-theft-uncouth-or-perfectly-legit/685521/124 "2014-04-09T15:27:22Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I’m arguing your ‘exact point’ because I was agreeing with you! 🙂 …ah. Well then. More proof (as if I needed it) that I shouldn’t be allowed to do things before noon. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sampling-grapes-theft-uncouth-or-perfectly-legit/685521/125 "2014-04-09T18:12:04Z")
My opinion is that this is not a big deal at all, even though I don’t do it. However, I’ve got a couple of concerns that haven’t been brought up yet: 1. It’s only OK to eat grapes that you are going to purchase. Someone eating a grape or two from a package they are going to buy is socially acceptable. Grazing from grapes on display without buying any is like shitting in a urinal. People are mentioning this as if it occurs. I can’t imagine someone being such a colossal tool to actually to this. 2. It makes a difference if the grapes are sold by weight or not. Most of the grapes I buy are a package that has a fixed cost. So if you ate a few of them while you shopped, you aren’t costing the store any money since you’d pay the same amount anyway. This would be different if you were paying by weight and ate half of them, of course. Still not a big deal, IMO, but worth mentioning. 3. Kids and adults are different. It’s one thing for a hungry and bored toddler to be eating grapes while the parent shops. It keeps the kid entertained, and the rules of behavior are different for kids, for good reason. They don’t have the same self control and might not be able to wait until they get home to eat. 4. Adults shouldn’t eat in the store, period. When I’m with my kid, I’ll get a slice of cheese for the child. Sometimes I’ll see an adult ask for a slice for themselves and eat it. This is odd. What are you, six? Wait until you get home and eat cheese. Same thing with grapes. I’ve never bought sour grapes, so I doubt if this even exists. But if you must test one to ensure purity of flavor go ahead, you foodie. If you are munching on dozens of grapes as you walk the aisles, that’s just boorish. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sampling-grapes-theft-uncouth-or-perfectly-legit/685521/126 "2014-04-09T19:19:29Z")
> [@butterfiles](#): > > I regularly sample olives. Sometimes I sample one grape out of a bunch of loose ones. > > Here are my rules: > > 1. First, I’m serious about making the purchase. > 2. If it’s olives, they are not a variety I have had before (no reason to have to keep re-tasting). For the olives, the place I go to has little cups & spoons so it’s clean. Also there is a garbage nearby for disposal. It’s obvious it is okay to sample. > 3. If it’s grapes, first I do a sight check. If it passes that & looks promising, sometimes I sample one. My reason for sampling one is that I’m very picky with grapes. I like them firm & flavorful. If they’re not really really good, I’m not going to end up eating them and what a waste. > > I don’t sample anything I am not seriously considering buying, and I don’t take more than one bit. Also, because of my vague feeling that it is shady, I think I often over-buy the item! In other words, unless the item really is horrible, I’ll buy it because of sample guilt. Except for grapes. For grapes, no mercy. > > p.s. For anything else, loose candy, chocolate, cheese, etc. (like a gourmet cheese place), I ask for the sample. I limit myself to one or two cheeses and buy one. Or I ask whoever is on which is their current favorite & try that one. Good way to learn new foods 🙂 This is fair & reasonable. Intent is critical here. Are you _grazing_ or _sampling_? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sampling-grapes-theft-uncouth-or-perfectly-legit/685521/127 "2014-04-09T19:25:07Z")
I find myself shocked so many people, so reliably get sweet grapes, they just don’t see the need to sample! Count me astounded, I didn’t used to sample, but one too many times I found I’d paid a lot for grapes that were near to inedible they were so bitter. I’m sure part of it is how far I live from any grape producers, (wine grapes excepted!), the same reason they are more dear. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sampling-grapes-theft-uncouth-or-perfectly-legit/685521/128 "2014-04-09T19:56:09Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > Most of the grapes I buy are a package that has a fixed cost. I’ve never bought a bag that was sold by the package vs the pound. But I wonder if one grape would even register on the scale. Quick, someone go out and try it! ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sampling-grapes-theft-uncouth-or-perfectly-legit/685521/129 "2014-04-09T21:13:16Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > This is laughably incorrect. The idea that is being advanced is that taking a grape is stealing somehow, though on a very small scale. The margin the store earns on a given purchase has no impact whether that it is permissible or not. You get that right? Just because the Ferarri dealer makes great margins, doesn’t mean I can take one that’s just sitting on the lot. It is a binary situation - either it is stealing or it is not. If you think the margins on a product enter into that decision then you are utterly incorrect. > > My position of course is that it is not stealing because the store owner doesn’t object. Or it’s not worth it to their bottom line to make a big case out of it. I still disagree with you, despite all your bluster and scoffing and scorn, about margins. Your Ferrari dealership example doesn’t work because people don’t take one Ferrari for free, then perhaps come back and buy one every week for the next few years. How you can say margins have no impact on how a store feels about it, I can’t even begin to imagine. Let’s say a store has a 1% margin on an item they sell for a dollar. That means they pay 99 cents for it from the manufacturer. If they break open a package and give you a sample, that needs to work out to 99 additional packages of that they sell, that they otherwise would not have sold had they not given the sample, just to break even. And that’s not even accounting for the possibility that the additional sales of that item may just be cannibalising sales of something else they would have sold you anyway (certainly in my family, we have a set budget per week for groceries and are going to spend it all regardless of the specifics we buy). At a place like Whole Foods with higher margins, maybe they only pay two bucks for a box of crackers they sell for four bucks. In which case they only need to sell one package to recoup the cost of breaking one open. Additionally, they are not (for most people) the primary supermarket where people buy all their food, so selling something additional is less likely to cannibalise sales they would have gotten anyway. ---
**Author:** ![butterfiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@butterfiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butterfiles)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sampling-grapes-theft-uncouth-or-perfectly-legit/685521/130 "2014-04-09T23:13:56Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > Whole Foods will let you sample milk if you ask them. Apples too. I know for a fact that some people ask to smell the meat before they buy it as well. Pretty much anything really. > > Yes I like shopping at Whole Foods. I did not know this, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![butterfiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@butterfiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butterfiles)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sampling-grapes-theft-uncouth-or-perfectly-legit/685521/131 "2014-04-09T23:24:12Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > This is fair & reasonable. Intent is critical here. Are you _grazing_ or _sampling_? My intent is to sample sparingly. I am disabled and use a wheelchair. I could get away with eating half the produce section and most likely nobody would say boo to me! But I don’t do that because a) That would be wrong. b) I’m not intending to buy out the grocer and c) I don’t want to be the disabled woman drooling over her half a banana, handful of grapes, and box of corn pops. Many people already assume that I’m a drooling idiot as it is. 🙂 I just stick to my own universe of rules (as described above), which depending on the store might range from being considered theft, to presumption, to simply taking what is an acceptable amount of sample in a conscientious way (as in, not being a slob about it). I don’t expect the stores to have to place a sign saying “Don’t take a damn thing!” Neither do I expect them to need to say “by the way, if you want to check a grape, go ahead, buy if satisfied. p.s. Don’t be a slob.” ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sampling-grapes-theft-uncouth-or-perfectly-legit/685521/132 "2014-04-09T23:47:46Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > I believe $7.13 to be rather low cost when you consider grocery stores have a 40% waste margin on average. I don’t think their waste margin factors in here. They have that margin to make sure they don’t run out of things (or end up with a small amount of something, the least desirable small amount at that, before the next shipment comes in). The more people sample, the more they will have to increase the amount they buy in total, including the waste. > [@kanicbird](#): > > What I find telling about the poll, the people who don’t take grapes tend to consider it stealing, the people who do take grapes tend to consider it ‘not stealing’ (for lack of a better term). > > It is evident that there are more people who don’t take grapes then that take grapes who voted here, but if you normalize the numbers by if they take the grapes or not it is a very different story. Can you be specific about what you are trying to get at here? I am 80 percent sure I understand where you are going with this, but 20 percent uncertainty is high enough that I don’t want to potentially dispute a point you are not actually making. > [@Debaser](#): > > My opinion is that this is not a big deal at all, even though I don’t do it. > > However, I’ve got a couple of concerns that haven’t been brought up yet: > > 1. It’s only OK to eat grapes that you are going to purchase. > > Someone eating a grape or two from a package they are going to buy is socially acceptable. Grazing from grapes on display without buying any is like shitting in a urinal. People are mentioning this as if it occurs. I can’t imagine someone being such a colossal tool to actually to this. > > 1. It makes a difference if the grapes are sold by weight or not. > > Most of the grapes I buy are a package that has a fixed cost. So if you ate a few of them while you shopped, you aren’t costing the store any money since you’d pay the same amount anyway. This would be different if you were paying by weight and ate half of them, of course. Still not a big deal, IMO, but worth mentioning. > > 1. Kids and adults are different. > > It’s one thing for a hungry and bored toddler to be eating grapes while the parent shops. It keeps the kid entertained, and the rules of behavior are different for kids, for good reason. They don’t have the same self control and might not be able to wait until they get home to eat. > > 1. Adults shouldn’t eat in the store, period. > > When I’m with my kid, I’ll get a slice of cheese for the child. Sometimes I’ll see an adult ask for a slice for themselves and eat it. This is odd. What are you, six? Wait until you get home and eat cheese. Same thing with grapes. I’ve never bought sour grapes, so I doubt if this even exists. But if you must test one to ensure purity of flavor go ahead, you foodie. If you are munching on dozens of grapes as you walk the aisles, that’s just boorish. 1. I guess I should have been more clear. I wasn’t ever talking about “sampling” the grapes you have already put in your cart, but rather taking one off a bunch sitting on the shelf and _then_ deciding whether or not to buy. I \*think \*most people discussing it here are on the same page with that–right, everybody? And so while I don’t feel quite as strenuously as you do about it, I do (or did) share your general shock at the idea that this (taking a grape and eating it, then leaving the rest on the shelf) would be at all common. My wife said she thought it was something about 20 percent of the population would do–an order of magnitude higher than I would have guessed–and that seems to be roughly borne out by the discussion (including input from a produce manager of long standing), and the poll. 1. I am pretty sure grapes are always sold by weight where I have shopped. But this raises an interesting point: you say they are sold by a fixed unit price where you live; therefore, where you shop, anyone who has “sampled” out of the package you buy before you buy it is stealing (if it is stealing, which is disputed) from \*you \*rather than from the store. Or maybe it is taking something from both of you, since you not only get less but perceive yourself to have gotten slightly less value for your purchase, which can hurt the store over the long run (they might even potentially lose you as a customer). Or they might just be less likely to sell that package at all once it has fewer grapes in it. (Which also raises a point of aesthetics: a semi-depleted bunch of grapes, with little spiky twigs sticking out and nothing but tufts of dried-up grape goo where once grapes clung, is just not as appealing to the shopper as a full bunch. And those depleted spots are, by definition, going to be in the most visible area. Maybe this is part of why you characterise it as akin to “shitting in the urinal”, which makes me laugh every time I read it.) 2. Agreed, and I wish certain others were as understanding. 3. Agreed, and I too am puzzled by where all these people are finding grapes that look good but are secretly sour or otherwise awful. This happens to me with oranges and tomatoes, but not grapes. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sampling-grapes-theft-uncouth-or-perfectly-legit/685521/133 "2014-04-09T23:50:05Z")
Wow, so many goody two-shoes on this board… ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sampling-grapes-theft-uncouth-or-perfectly-legit/685521/134 "2014-04-10T00:06:19Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > This is fair & reasonable. Intent is critical here. Are you _grazing_ or _sampling_? Yeah, I wish the poll had specified or distinguished between these to begin with, rather than just asking about “sampling” in quotes. For people who really do sample a grape in order to decide whether to buy some: I don’t necessarily think any less of them, but, like others have said, I don’t really see the point. I know what grapes taste like, and I’ve never felt the need to try one to see whether the rest of the batch was any good. For people who are grazing: I wouldn’t necessarily call it theft, but I’d suspect such people of having poor impulse control, or of being fuzzy about the boundary between what does and does not belong to them; and I wouldn’t leave my lunch or my personal belongings unattended around such people. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sampling-grapes-theft-uncouth-or-perfectly-legit/685521/135 "2014-04-10T00:14:32Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I don’t think their waste margin factors in here. They have that margin to make sure they don’t run out of things (or end up with a small amount of something, the least desirable small amount at that, before the next shipment comes in). The more people sample, the more they will have to increase the amount they buy in total, including the waste. > > . But it hasn’t been proven that sampling creates waste, it may indeed create revenue do to people buying when they taste what they like. If the default position is sampling creates waste, why then do grocery stores set up sampling booths all over the stores on weekends to shuck whatever products thy’re trying to sell? Clearly, the sampling business model generates revenue. Why else would the do it? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sampling-grapes-theft-uncouth-or-perfectly-legit/685521/136 "2014-04-10T00:22:13Z")
First off, I’m not saying “sampling creates waste”, full stop. It may or may not–though there are plausible reasons to suspect it might, it is pretty hard to prove one way or another. I’m saying that the sampling does not come out of the waste portion–it presumably comes out of the most desirable looking bunches. With sampling booths, I posted upthread a link that discussed the possibility that many stores may think the sampling raises revenue but are perhaps mistaken in that view. And it gets more complicated: in my city, there is a Hy-Vee, a Wal-Mart, and an Aldi. There is never sampling in Aldi, the most “discount” oriented of the stores; at Wal-Mart it is rare; at Hy-Vee (the most upscale) it is frequent. This presumably relates to different margins at the stores as discussed upthread with the Whole Foods examples; it also presumably becomes a thing over time that patrons of more upscale stores come to expect and thus stores are reluctant to stop. You referred to “booths” though: in my experience, these are usually staffed by representatives of a new brand of an item (or often a completely new invention) that are trying to pierce through shoppers’ habits and get them to add it to their regular shopping list. Grapes do not remotely qualify for this status. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sampling-grapes-theft-uncouth-or-perfectly-legit/685521.md?page=6)