# What are your unusual rules for shopping? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 13, 2004, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555 "2004-12-13T05:46:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Althea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eada6e/32.png) [@Althea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Althea)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555/41 "2004-12-15T23:25:54Z")
Heinz catsup, Northern Quilted toilet paper (double rolls only), Hellman’s mayonnaise, Quaker oatmeal, and Jif peanut butter (the rest are too oily). Then there is the one product for which no substitutions will be accepted, ever, even at a friend’s/family member’s home: there is only one macaroni and cheese that comes from a box and that is Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. (Homemade macaroni and cheese excepted, of course, because yum!) ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555/42 "2004-12-16T12:59:06Z")
I buy mostly generic foods unless I have a coupon for the Big Name Brand. I also worry about _front box contamination_ and usually spend more time looking at the top row ( more expensive & GOOD FOR YOU FOODS) than the middle or bottoms shelves. I try to buy foods that are whole wheat and low in sugar. I would buy free range eggs except we eat alot of eggs. So, until I get a hen house (never, according to Mr. Ujest.) I have to live with my guilt of enslaving the chicken population. I buy all my milk from our local dairy. It is more expensive than th BIG NAME DAIRY but I do my best to support local businesses first, then the family owned Mom and Pop companies like Bob’s Red Mill Flour. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555/43 "2004-12-16T16:20:37Z")
> [@Ashes](#): > > Putting a jesus fish on your product will make me find an alternative… Well Ashes, Ashes, I’ll take that to mean we won’t be seeing you doing any [tire kicking here](http://www.ofb.net/~epstein/sl/0403/20040305-born-again.jpg) > [@Althea](#): > > Heinz catsup, Northern Quilted toilet paper…Kraft Macaroni and Cheese _[Ultimate Nitpick]_ Heinz spells it Ketchup, the toilet tissue packaging reads: Quilted Northern and according to the commericals, it’s Kraft Cheese & Macaroni. _[/UN]_ > [@Biotop](#): > > I always purchase the box behind the front one on the shelf. Though not exactly the same as Biotop’s practice, the ethics of [taking milk with the latest expiration date](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=277082) was covered recently. I’m still waiting to see a free range egg debate in GD. ---
**Author:** ![lightingtool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/57b2e6/32.png) [@lightingtool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightingtool)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555/44 "2004-12-16T18:03:09Z")
I only buy brown eggs. While growing up in Connecticut, there were commercials for brown eggs with a little jingle that went, “Brown eggs are local eggs/ And local eggs are fresh!” Seeing as I want fresh eggs, I buy brown eggs. Even here in California, where the brown eggs are probably imported from CT and no longer fresh. I also only buy Cabot Cheddar (from Vermont) when I’m buying cheddar cheese. I can’t stand the commercials for California cheese with all those smug cows standing in the sun, making fun of the VT cows that have to deal with weather. I don’t want no uppity cheese! ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555/45 "2004-12-16T18:30:18Z")
> [@brachyrhynchos](#): > > Eggland’s Best, check. > Scott’s toilet paper, check. > Non-antibacterial liquid handsoap, check. > Liquid body soap/shampoo/detergent that doesn’t gag me, whoa, that’s a big check. That sounds a lot like my shopping list, although I only use Lever 2000 soap. I also buy only by Fair Trade chocolate, aged basalmic vinegar, organic tamari sauce, and fancy gourmet aged cheddar cheese. Something are worth spending a little extra on. Oh, and my paper towels have to be the select-a-size becasue that’s I usually only use a half sheet at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555/46 "2004-12-16T21:17:06Z")
We don’t really have ‘unusual’ rules about what we eat, but have a lot of favorite brands of various everyday groceries, some to the point where there is only one brand we will buy of that item. So I guess my unusual rule is that my typical grocery shopping trip takes me to at least two stores, three or four depending on what we are out of. This is because Kroger is the only place that carries this, and Giant Eagle is the only place that carries that, etc. But no WalMart. Actually now that I think about it there is one thing I do. If there is a brand of something we buy, and most of the stores carry all the same flavors of this item, and I am somewhere new and see a flavor of that item that the other stores don’t have - I will definitely buy that flavor. To make up an example, everybody carries the Yoplait cherry, strawberry, vanilla, etc. flavor yogurt, but if I ever see kumquat, I will have to buy it, even though I have no idea what kumquat tastes like. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555/47 "2004-12-16T22:43:08Z")
Don’t know how accurate this is, but my neighbor who use to have chickens told me that the eggs on the shelf at the store are usually 3-6 months old. Eggs seem to keep a long time. The yolk gets a little harder. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555/48 "2004-12-16T23:17:26Z")
> [@lightingtool](#): > > I also only buy Cabot Cheddar (from Vermont) when I’m buying cheddar cheese. I can’t stand the commercials for California cheese with all those smug cows standing in the sun, making fun of the VT cows that have to deal with weather. I don’t want no uppity cheese! I think the smug cows are making fun of the cold cows in Wisconisn, not Vermont. Those cows hang out in what looks like my backyard where I grew up in California. And people are always surprised when I tell them I’m from a dairy farming area. Cause cheese is from Wisconsin! Mmmm…not always! ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555/49 "2004-12-16T23:24:23Z")
If I can’t find something, I won’t ask. My philosophy is, if they wanted me to buy it, they’d put it in a logical location. So if the cupcake liners aren’t in the cake mix aisle, I’m not going to ask where they are. If I stumble across them on my trip, that’s one thing, but I won’t specifically look for them. I’ll cut costs on some items, but I refuse to buy generic Kleenex. It has to be the real deal. Same with Coke - I’d rather pay to drink Coke than drink Pepsi (or generic) for free. I also buy cage-free eggs, but I use so few eggs it doesn’t really make a difference. StG ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555/50 "2004-12-16T23:50:45Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > I drop the groceries off wherever it is I decide I don’t want it within reason. I’ve seen produce in the freezer section and ice cream in the bakery and that’s ridiculous. I have no problem leaving a box of cereal in the snack food aisle though. :mad: The following isn’t directed entirely at you, but at everyone who does this: Grocery workers’ jobs are difficult enough as is. Why are you trying to make them harder? Leaving stuff anywhere you want is my second-highest pet peeve – Number one is people who _hide them on the registers while they’re in line_ instead of just handing them to the cashiers. We spend over an hour a day putting back stuff we find lying on the registers and in the aisles where it doesn’t belong. 1 hour a day \* 365 \* ~ $7.50 is about $3000 a year which could be saved. Doesn’t sound like much, but that’s ~ $2.6 MM over the whole chain. Given that our profit last year was ~$150 MM, that’s approximately 2% of our profit gone on something so ridiculous, and since our profit is passed back to us (we’re 100% employee-owned), it’s money out of my pocket, because you don’t want to put it back. Anyway, my rules aren’t really unusual. Store brands (my store specifically) for almost everything we buy – except sodas, toilet paper, and tampons. Oh, and I don’t shop at Wal\*Mart, but that’s not really a rule as opposed to a boycott. My chain for the food, and Target for my housewares and food items my chain doesn’t carry. BTW: > [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > Don’t know how accurate this is, but my neighbor who use to have chickens told me that the eggs on the shelf at the store are usually 3-6 months old. Eggs seem to keep a long time. The yolk gets a little harder. YMMV. I have been buying and using eggs for a long time, and I have never gotten a bad one. Even after I left a dozen in my fridge for almost 2 months past “expiration”, it was still fine. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555/51 "2004-12-17T00:14:34Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Those cows hang out in what looks like my backyard where I grew up in California. And people are always surprised when I tell them I’m from a dairy farming area. Cause cheese is from Wisconsin! Mmmm…not always! People are always surprised when I tell them I’m from a dairy farming area, not because “cheese is from Wisconsin,” but because New York is obviously entirely made up of skyscrapers. The entire state. All of it. Actually, “the entire state” consists of the island of Manhattan. The rest of it? Oh, that’s Canada. I didn’t know they kept cows in Central Park. That must’ve been weird growing up with cows in a big city like that. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555/52 "2004-12-17T03:49:16Z")
> [@racinchikki](#): > > People are always surprised when I tell them I’m from a dairy farming area, not because “cheese is from Wisconsin,” but because New York is obviously entirely made up of skyscrapers. The entire state. All of it. Actually, “the entire state” consists of the island of Manhattan. The rest of it? Oh, that’s Canada. I didn’t know they kept cows in Central Park. That must’ve been weird growing up with cows in a big city like that. Oh god, yeah. There have been threads on weird stereotypes about your home state before, but suffice to say, a lot of peoples’ image of California is…uh, incomplete. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555/53 "2004-12-17T04:39:09Z")
> [@Bambi Hassenpfeffer](#): > > :mad: The following isn’t directed entirely at you, but at everyone who does this: > > Grocery workers’ jobs are difficult enough as is. Why are you trying to make them harder? Leaving stuff anywhere you want is my second-highest pet peeve – Number one is people who _hide them on the registers while they’re in line_ instead of just handing them to the cashiers. We spend over an hour a day putting back stuff we find lying on the registers and in the aisles where it doesn’t belong. 1 hour a day \* 365 \* ~ $7.50 is about $3000 a year which could be saved. Doesn’t sound like much, but that’s ~ $2.6 MM over the whole chain. Given that our profit last year was ~$150 MM, that’s approximately 2% of our profit gone on something so ridiculous, and since our profit is passed back to us (we’re 100% employee-owned), it’s money out of my pocket, because you don’t want to put it back. I understand your frustration… I worked for two years at Wal Mart in a small Southern town. For a year and a half of that time, I was a cashier but the other six months were split up between layaway in Christmas '00 and Toys in Christmas '99. I couldn’t begin to tell you the crap I had to pick up and take to Customer Service for the other departments to take care of, including half eaten bags of deli chicken strips… some of them with half eaten strips still in them. Not just pieces missing but actual proof. The thing is though, that was my job. I was there to straighten up and to keep the place tidy. And while it might be arrogant or condescending of me, I think much the same way now, even while no longer working in retail. I’m never an asshole to anyone and I try my hardest to be pleasant because I know what people working in grocery stores have to go through but I’m lazy and I only shop at chains anyway, so I’m sticking it to the man in a way. Or something. (that was a really lame joke, by the way. I wasn’t serious.) Wonder if I’ll get a pitting for this? ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555/54 "2004-12-17T05:20:42Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > The thing is though, that was my job. I was there to straighten up and to keep the place tidy. And while it might be arrogant or condescending of me, I think much the same way now, even while no longer working in retail. You’re right – it is our job. It’s also our job to clean up when some bratty little kid shits on the floor (last Wednesday was the latest), but that doesn’t make it OK. I knew you had worked retail in the past, so I was surprised to see you say that you did this. I never do this, even when I’m at the ginormous SuperTarget, because I don’t mind the walk. > [@](#): > > Wonder if I’ll get a pitting for this? Not from me. But if I ever make it to Oregon… I’ll say hello. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555/55 "2004-12-17T15:25:48Z")
> [@Bambi Hassenpfeffer](#): > > :mad: The following isn’t directed entirely at you, but at everyone who does this: > > Grocery workers’ jobs are difficult enough as is. Why are you trying to make them harder? Leaving stuff anywhere you want is my second-highest pet peeve – Number one is people who _hide them on the registers while they’re in line_ instead of just handing them to the cashiers. We spend over an hour a day putting back stuff we find lying on the registers and in the aisles where it doesn’t belong. 1 hour a day \* 365 \* ~ $7.50 is about $3000 a year which could be saved. Doesn’t sound like much, but that’s ~ $2.6 MM over the whole chain. Given that our profit last year was ~$150 MM, that’s approximately 2% of our profit gone on something so ridiculous, and since our profit is passed back to us (we’re 100% employee-owned), it’s money out of my pocket, because you don’t want to put it back. Ummm…this does not make any sense to me. If you didn’t spend that hour putting back missplaced items, wouldn’t you do it doing something else? The company would still pay you for that hour, and I don’t think the profits of the company are affected in any way by you putting back items for an hour as oppossed to mopping the floor, or what have you. And before you accuse me of being mean, or not sympathetic, I have worked in retail before. I worked in both a hardware store, and a Wal-Mart, King of Bad Places to Work. Yes, I had to put back mis-placed items, Did I complain? No, because it was part of my job. And I do think there is a big difference between cleaning up some little kid’s sh_t and fixing the shelves. Fixing the shelves is more akin to having to clean up the toilet after a kid sh_t’s in it. And are you going to yell at people for sh\*tting in a toilet, too, cause you or the janitor have to clean it? As for my shopping habits, well, not many. I have learend what store brands to avoid (I always shop at Price Chopper.) I don’t get generic or store root beer. I splurge and get the IBC, or Stewart’s if they have it (which they hardly ever do.) I get the mid-range cheese, I guess you could call it. Cabott. I’m from VT, so I feel some loyalty to the brand, but it’s also the best cheddar in the world. Seriously, they win competitions all the time for having the best cheddar in their catagory. I don’t get the newest milk. I live alone, yet I still go throguh about a gallon a week, and even the stuff in the front generally has an expiration date well over a week, usualyl about two weeks, from when I buy it. ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555/56 "2004-12-17T22:58:20Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Ummm…this does not make any sense to me. If you didn’t spend that hour putting back missplaced items, wouldn’t you do it doing something else? The company would still pay you for that hour, and I don’t think the profits of the company are affected in any way by you putting back items for an hour as oppossed to mopping the floor, or what have you… It’s time that could be spent better doing something actually productive in the store, unloading stock, rearranging stock, stocking the shelves, helping the customers. And not all of the picking up is done while the store is open to the public: once the store closes, the employees still have to search through the store, making sure everything is put back in the right places, meaning employees (may) have to work longer than heir scheduled shift - ever just want to get out of work at your scheduled time because you’re exhausted and just want to get home and shower, but no, some dipstick has to leave a half-effing full grocery cart parked in the middle of produce and you have to run through the whole store putting back the grits and the spaghetti sauce and the canned pimentos and the sugar and the crushed loaf of bread and now you and the rest of the staff are forty-five minutes past your usual time to leave. That’s extra pay but extra unneeded work. Oh, and not to mention all of the ruined food - steak packages bleeding all over the shelves (not only ruined food, but now you have to wipe and disinfect the shelves), melted ice cream in the middle of the apples, and candy bar wrappers shoved into the bottom of the dump displays. **That’s** where the profits go (extra labor and ruined product), and that’s part of why prices go up. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555/57 "2004-12-17T23:55:13Z")
When buying food I try to get 1000 calories for every dollar I spend. If I want something i’ll look at how much it costs, how many calories it has and hope it is over 1000. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555/58 "2004-12-18T00:43:00Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > When buying food I try to get 1000 calories for every dollar I spend. If I want something i’ll look at how much it costs, how many calories it has and hope it is over 1000. So I’m guessing you’re not a fan of bottled water? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2004, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555/59 "2004-12-20T16:27:18Z")
> [@chaoticdonkey](#): > > So I’m guessing you’re not a fan of bottled water? 😉 Or…on the other side of the coin, An entire Cheesecake Factory’s **Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake** - With: 12,960 calories, 852 grams of fat and 1,200 grams of carbohydrates - Is 27,040 calories short of being worth its $40 retail price. ---
**Author:** ![Fanny\_May](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3be4f8/32.png) [@Fanny\_May](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fanny_May)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2004, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555/60 "2004-12-20T16:54:22Z")
I only buy bananas that are ripe. Usually they put them in a discount bag for 1/3 price. I have no idea why anyone would buy all-yellow or even greenish bananas and save them for three or four days when they can have fresh-now bananas for 1/3. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-unusual-rules-for-shopping/279555.md?page=4)