# Zone out in the supermarket **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 6, 2015, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zone-out-in-the-supermarket/736808 "2015-11-06T15:02:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zone-out-in-the-supermarket/736808/1 "2015-11-06T15:02:29Z")
Did you ever fancy a snack and go to get chocolate at the supermarket, and end up standing there looking at all the myriad gaudy packages of sweeties, experiencing a conflicting barrage of buying fantasies that causes unbreakable indecision until you realize you’ve been standing there for five minutes zoning out and then realize that really you didn’t want the chocolate, you prefer just to stare into space for a while doing nothing and letting the mental marketing war grind your will to a halt but feel that a supermarket is an inappropriate place for zen ? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zone-out-in-the-supermarket/736808/2 "2015-11-06T15:13:20Z")
No. I buy my stuff and leave. People do this? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zone-out-in-the-supermarket/736808/3 "2015-11-06T15:14:22Z")
Also, not seeing a real GQ thing here, seems like a poll or opinion request. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zone-out-in-the-supermarket/736808/4 "2015-11-06T15:15:22Z")
> [@MrQwertyasd](#): > > Did you ever fancy a snack and go to get chocolate at the supermarket, and end up standing there looking at all the myriad gaudy packages of sweeties, experiencing a conflicting barrage of buying fantasies that causes unbreakable indecision until you realize you’ve been standing there for five minutes zoning out and then realize that really you didn’t want the chocolate, you prefer just to stare into space for a while doing nothing and letting the mental marketing war grind your will to a halt but feel that a supermarket is an inappropriate place for zen ? Sounds kinda like the scene in _Moscow on the Hudson_ where Robin Williams’ defecting Russian musician first walks into an American supermarket and sees all the varieties of coffee available. “Coffee…coffee…COFFEE…COFFEE…COFFEE…COFFEE!” > **[youtube moscow on the hudson - Bing](http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube%2Bmoscow%2Bon%2Bthe%2Bhudson&qpvt=Youtube%2BMoscow%2Bon%2Bthe%2BHudson&FORM=VDRE#view=detail&mid=937282FFC33A1CC49C33937282FFC33A1CC49C33)** > > Intelligent search from Bing makes it easier to quickly find what you’re looking for and rewards you. ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zone-out-in-the-supermarket/736808/5 "2015-11-06T15:15:37Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Also, not seeing a real GQ thing here, seems like a poll or opinion request. Can I have a poll ? ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zone-out-in-the-supermarket/736808/6 "2015-11-06T15:28:31Z")
Poll? Be sure to have a check box labeled. “I came here for something. But now that I am here, I can’t remember what it was”. Oooh! Fresh cookies and pies! ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zone-out-in-the-supermarket/736808/7 "2015-11-06T15:35:39Z")
> [@MrQwertyasd](#): > > Can I have a poll ? Yes you can. Best posted in another forum. I would request this thread be moved as it not a GQ-type question. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zone-out-in-the-supermarket/736808/8 "2015-11-06T15:46:09Z")
> [@MrQwertyasd](#): > > Did you ever fancy a snack and go to get chocolate at the supermarket, and end up standing there looking at all the myriad gaudy packages of sweeties, experiencing a conflicting barrage of buying fantasies that causes unbreakable indecision until you realize you’ve been standing there for five minutes zoning out and then realize that really you didn’t want the chocolate, you prefer just to stare into space for a while doing nothing and letting the mental marketing war grind your will to a halt but feel that a supermarket is an inappropriate place for zen ? **Moderator Note** **MrQwertyasd** , I think you’ve been here long enough to know that this is not really a General Question. Since it’s asking for personal experiences, it’s more appropriate for IMHO or possibly MPSIMS. Please pay closer attention to which forum you are posting in in the future. I’m moving this to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zone-out-in-the-supermarket/736808/9 "2015-11-06T16:12:54Z")
Doesn’t happen often… esp around the chocolate. I sometimes let thoughts run wild in the seafood section, however I’ve never been quite as mesmerized as you suggest. Your topic reminded me of this song from The Uninvited, though. “Too High for the Supermarket” It’s “safe for work”, but does refer to casual self-medicating with marijuana (in case you didn’t get that from the song title). [Too high for the Supermarket - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUjhbeiJddo) ---
**Author:** ![ElderSign](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eldersign/32/8263_2.png) [@ElderSign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElderSign)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zone-out-in-the-supermarket/736808/10 "2015-11-06T18:58:58Z")
> [@MrQwertyasd](#): > > Did you ever fancy a snack and go to get chocolate at the supermarket, and end up standing there looking at all the myriad gaudy packages of sweeties, experiencing a conflicting barrage of buying fantasies that causes unbreakable indecision until you realize you’ve been standing there for five minutes zoning out and then realize that really you didn’t want the chocolate, you prefer just to stare into space for a while doing nothing and letting the mental marketing war grind your will to a halt but feel that a supermarket is an inappropriate place for zen ? I am surrounded by poison and a deluge of marketing at supermarkets. I walk in hungry yet don’t buy much. I stare down entire aisles, and realize there is nothing for me to buy. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zone-out-in-the-supermarket/736808/11 "2015-11-06T21:24:06Z")
Definitely, yes! Not so much in the candy aisle, but the chips and crackers! Pepper and olive oil Triscuits? Honey-mustard Wheat Thins? Oh, look, Bugles are back! Damn, I love me a bag of Bugles! Wait, Pringles! The answer, of course, is perfectly obvious: I buy one of each! ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zone-out-in-the-supermarket/736808/12 "2015-11-07T06:35:58Z")
No, but grocery shopping with me is at least an hour or more. I look up and down most of the aisles. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zone-out-in-the-supermarket/736808/13 "2015-11-07T16:06:42Z")
It is very very important not to go supermarket shopping if you’re hungry. In that event everything looks good, and you wind up with enormous packages of Fig Newtons and gallon jars of imported capers. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zone-out-in-the-supermarket/736808/14 "2015-11-07T21:26:39Z")
I think the OP’s scenario is much more likely late of an evening after a few intoxicating beverages. I doubt it’s happened to me any other way.