# Why do some cashiers ask WHY you're buying something? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 16, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-cashiers-ask-why-youre-buying-something/175601 "2003-05-16T03:28:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonko_The_Sane)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-cashiers-ask-why-youre-buying-something/175601/121 "2003-05-20T21:05:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by clipper \* > \*\* > I also get comments on my food purchases. If it something like Healthy Choice the cashier might tell me that I’m so thin that I don’t need that. On the other hand, if it is ice cream, I get told that if I eat too much of that I won’t be able to “keep my figure.” \*\* I was a cashier in my younger days, and I notices a trend with the type of person that buys diet-esque tv dinners and such. Normally (and I suspect that this isn’t the case with you) it was not thin people that bought them. Thin people bought more stuff from the produce dept. I suspect that you are thin. I know that the cashier is rude to say that stuff, or is just trying to flirt with you, and doing so very badly. Also, what’s the crap with “getting permission” from your husband? You’re a grownup! You might try messing with the pharmacist next time. Talk to invisible people in your shirt pocket, and have the conversation be about the pharmacist. Look into your pocket, and “listen” for a bit, then say “no, he’s too scrawny, and besides, vegetarians taste better, and have less fat and gristle” It might be fun to watch the pharmacist’s reaction. ---
**Author:** ![Juniper200](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@Juniper200](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Juniper200)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-cashiers-ask-why-youre-buying-something/175601/122 "2003-05-21T02:27:21Z")
I was at the store one day doing the grocery shopping for my family. The clerk kept making comments on the food I was buying; there was a lot of produce, and apparently that wasn’t Jake with him. When he got to the tofu, he gave me a “what the hell?” look and asked, disbelievingly, “What are you, some kind of _vegetarian_?” Most people who know me know I am a bad person. My brain-to-mouth filter is broken and my snark-o-meter is set on “high.” But I managed to reign myself in and say, “No, but I like to have a healthy diet. Tofu isn’t bad.” The clerk raised his eyebrow above his hairline, but he kept scanning and bagging. I’d decided to pick up some magazines for myself that day, too. At the end of my order, he scanned my copy of _PC Gamer_, gave me a smile and said, “Picking this up for your boyfriend, huh?” It was too much to resist. “No, that one’s for me,” I said sweetly as I slapped my copy of _Cosmo_ on the belt, “_This_ one’s for my boyfriend.” ---
**Author:** ![Road\_Rash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Road\_Rash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Road_Rash)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-cashiers-ask-why-youre-buying-something/175601/123 "2003-05-21T03:44:24Z")
With my first de-flowering I was squeamish about buying the condoms. She had been a cashier at Target since age 15 and was used to it, so we bought it together. Now I slap it down with pride! If the cashier is cute, and looks at me funny, I smile and wink. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-cashiers-ask-why-youre-buying-something/175601/124 "2003-05-21T05:07:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Now I slap it down with pride! The condom package, I’m hoping. ---
**Author:** ![Zelmph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/46a35a/32.png) [@Zelmph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zelmph)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-cashiers-ask-why-youre-buying-something/175601/125 "2003-05-21T07:51:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Road Rash \* > \*\*With my first de-flowering I was squeamish about buying the condoms. \*\* Me too. I was visiting my girlfriend in her tiny little hometown (think a depopulated Mayberry), and the only place that sold condoms was the supermarket. For some reason I couldn’t face the grandmotherly clerk with just a box of condoms, so I thought I’d just grab the first thing I saw and buy that, too. The first thing I saw was a pineapple. In retrospect, I’m amazed the clerk DIDN’T ask what the hell I was planning to do that night. Nervous 15-year-old + condoms + pineapple would seem to indicate trouble. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-cashiers-ask-why-youre-buying-something/175601/126 "2003-05-21T08:21:02Z")
And painful trouble at that. Ouch! ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-cashiers-ask-why-youre-buying-something/175601/127 "2003-05-21T09:49:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Road Rash \* > \*\*With my first de-flowering I was squeamish about buying the condoms. She had been a cashier at Target since age 15 and was used to it, so we bought it together. > > Now I slap it down with pride! If the cashier is cute, and looks at me funny, I smile and wink. \*\* Your _first_ one?! Wow! I only had one, period. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-cashiers-ask-why-youre-buying-something/175601.md?page=6)