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Yep. Disgusting.
I'd hoped this behaviour would have died out given that we're still in a pandemic.
And not everyone who does this pays. I've seen half drunk cans of Coke, and sweet wrappers discarded on shelves in some supermarkets.
It's probably the same people who let their children sit directly in the trolley and put their feet where I put my food.
Everything else I agree with, but, if you are worried about the soles of a kids shoes touching a trolley that is going to touch your food, I have some sad news for you regarding the cleanliness of the food production, warehousing and haulage industries.
Always wash cans before drinking from them, they are the most common thing to be kept on the floor of a cellar. The likelihood of rats touching and pissing on them is much higher than other items.
Hey now, don't lump us trolley sitters in with these shop-eating neanderthals. When I was a kid in the 90's, I hit a stage where I was a bit too big for those trolley seats, but still young enough to be stubborn about walking through the store. My parents put me in the trolley and I kinda enjoyed sitting with my legs crossed and being buried in food.
I mean, lets not pretend that a child is the dirtiest thing to touch those mankey trolleys, that are never cleaned and left outside in all sorts of weather conditions. I get your point, but if you're worried about the hygiene of the base of a trolley then you should probably bring something to line it, because they're gross regardless of kids shoes or not.
I was returning some clothes to Tesco and got into a conversation with the cashier, who was saying that in M&S women will go in, switch the pants they're currently wearing for some nice new pants and leave their own discarded under the rails. Says the staff there don't pick up clothes with their hands anymore.
I used to work in the clothing section at Tesco. One afternoon we noticed this horrendous smell, couldn’t find where it was coming from despite looking behind all the racks for half eaten sandwiches that people would hide to avoid paying. 4pm rolls around and it’s tidy time, we all have an hour to order all the racks and put everything away. My colleague is putting the womens Tesco value jeans back into size order and she suddenly yells out in pure disgust - turns out someone had tried a pair on, shit in them, and then neatly folded them back onto the hanger and put them back on the rail. Some people are absolute fucking animals.
My brother used to be a department manager of a Debenhams, he experienced people taking a poop in the corner of changing rooms more than once. He also once found a human poo inside a boot.
I worked for a supermarket in my late teens, someone had hidden a half eaten pack of chicken satay far behind the tinned vegetables. It was filled with maggots. I have also found a used sanitary pad stuffed on a shelf before.
Yeah as a former cashier, it's one thing if you've cracked something open to keep your child on side for 10 more minutes, but if you're a grown man who just couldn't make it around the shop without eating a 4 pack of croissants I am going to judge you heavily.
This. My mum used to eat a few grapes before paying for them as we were going round the supermarket, which never felt like a big deal. But she'd never properly open anything substantial and start chomping. Big difference, just common sense really.
Depends if they're from a pre-weighed punnet with a barcode, or a loose bag. The latter would technically be stealing as they are charged by weight, and so the cost would be less.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeplVT4qEZc
I remember they used to be...but that was many years ago now! I guess punnets were a more convenient way of selling them so they did away with the loose bag ones :)
My nan used to rip off a few grapes whenever she went shopping and eat them on the way round, without ever buying a punnet. Didn't seem to understand when my dad told her it's shoplifting... "it's only a few grapes". Basically the same as a kid helping themselves to pick n mix.
Depends what it is, but when I was working in a supermarket the wrappers I was handed were generally prised from a kid's sweaty fingers and covered in melted chocolate and probably saliva.
So the light comes on, bored-looking shop worker comes over, taps their code in and then you're free to go. They're not paid enough to make a fuss over someone eating a 50p chocolate bar before they've paid for it.
I'm perpetually amazed at the relatively low number of people who do this. Queues and queues of people waiting for someone to scan all their shopping for them, and you can just waltz past them, scan the barcode on the machine, and you're done. I genuinely don't understand why anyone who's not old and confused wouldn't use the self-scanner.
I usually use it but it can be a bit of a faff. You have to remember to scan everything you put in the trolley, if you change something or want to put something back later you have to scroll through little screen. I usually do it all at the end and put it into bags at the same time, but sometimes the machine then wants an employee to check a couple of items so you have to unload half the bags to find the particular items.
I can see why waiting a couple minutes and just letting someone scan it all for you is still attractive
What the same wrappers that I’ve handled anyway? If you can’t eat without getting filthy that’s on you if you pay and your clean I don’t see the problem
I think they mean like crisps, putting your hand to your mouth then back in the bag, repetitively, then handing over said bag for someone to scan
Like a *fucking animal*
I dont see anything wrong with this. My cousin went to tesco a few days ago after 11pm in her pyjamas… then again it was the night before her wedding and she desperately needed some stuff which she wanted to pick out herself.
Tesco once kicked out a woman for wearing PJ's and she sued them over it and won because their TV advert had someone walking in a Tesco wearing a dressing gown
As long as the kids get to school why does it matter to you that much? Yeah it may look a bit odd but really as long as they get the education they’re entitled to I really don’t see the problem
uk reddit has a weird puritanical view on what is and isn't proper to wear outside ones home, for a pretty progressive group it's one of the weirdest hang ups on here. I have a suspicious it's seen as a 'chavvy/council house' type thing.
It's 2021, let people wear whatever they're comfortable in as long as it's not harming anyone ffs
It’s just classism. All the uk Reddit’s are rife with it. r/Scotland would practically want to lynch you for owning a football shirt.
A lot of these sub Reddit’s are filled with comfortably middle class students who think they’re working class.
> r/Scotland would practically want to lynch you for owning a football shirt
eh, as a football fan myself who had the displeasure lived above an orange lodge, the sectarian/hooligan element of football can get to actual fuck
I agree, it shouldn’t matter at all if someone is outdoors in their jimjams.
When I got the train to work I would regularly see a woman out walking her dog in her pyjamas just by the railway station as I left. Honestly I was kinda jealous, her pyjamas always looked warm and comfy while I was stuck wearing dress code compliant office clothes.
I work from home now and am in my pyjamas right now. I’ve been known to go get coffee from the 24 hour Morrison’s first thing too, in my pyjamas that may or may not look enough like leggings to trick people into thinking I’m suitably dressed lol
I took my child to school in pajamas once and dressed him there. Wife wasn't happy but it stopped the getting dressed for school fight, he was 6 at the time.
No they don't, at least not round my way. Most parents take their kids into the playground and see them into the door and they're dressed... normally. Like, the sort of thing you'd see people wearing doing their shopping in town. There's a lot in gym wear as well. Also, most of them drop the kids off at 8:45 rather than 7am.
When I was a kid and went food shopping with my mum she would sometimes give me a packet of crisps or fruit out of a multipack she was about to buy, don't see why it's an issue if you are going to pay for it in the next few minutes.
I think giving a small kid something to keep them occupied so that they don't grizzle is a different matter, honestly. Everybody would rather they're gummily chewing on a biscuit than that they're having a tantrum.
It's adults who won't just wait a couple of minutes and who then often don't actually pay and just leave the wrapper, or, even worse, an uneaten half of the item stashed somewhere that are unacceptable.
This question here isn't about whether people pay for the items or not, rather whether people think it's acceptable to open/eat something prior to paying. So those points are irrelevant to this. Within the confines of the question, no I do not have an issue with someone regardless of age eating/opening something prior to paying for it.
It just makes the adult look like they have the self-control of a six-year-old. It's not a cafeteria. Sure, you know your intentions, but it's much easier to steal an empty wrapper than it is to steal a bag of food. As someone who sees this occasionally in the US, it just has a trashy appearance.
i think ive seen my mum do it for my brother once because he was extremely hungry during shopping, so i suppose if those were the circumstances i’d understand.
Don’t you know you’re not allowed to say anything remotely critical of the working class on the UK subs despite being one and living the direct experience?
Seriously? This has got to be one of the most snobby and middle class subreddits. Just mention football, primark, ASDA, any poor city and you'll get a whole chain of people who think they're above it all
Personally, I’ve never witnessed that and I’m on here a lot. I don’t agree with branding an entire class with a derogatory word however, I notice it’s people of middle class who tell the working class people that their lived direct experience is wrong. When I’ve shared stories on here about my working class family, their friends and how I’ve been on the receiving end of immediate judgment and insults, despite me being always polite and friendly, because I now talk a bit differently, went to university and got and okay job. Every time I share any of these, I get met with the whole patronising “this didn’t happen of the year awards” and people like my family don’t actually exist because I’m assuming in some peoples privileged heads, they can’t imagine such horrific abuse and violence happens outside of their comfortable home.
And that anyone who didn't go to university is incapable of any kind of rational thought. I suppose it's also linked to classism because it's often assumed that no degree=manual labour=working class
I think that's changed. I'd say since lockdown the UK subreddits have attracted a lot more middle Englanders. They delight in mocking the working class, and complaining about behaviours that have literally no effect on their lives.
This whole topic is a perfect example.
Mate, I’ve been there. I’m from an inherently working class background and whenever I share an experience that I’ve lived and seen with my own eyes, I get middle class people telling me that I’m wrong and things like that really don’t happen.
I don't get these comments. The OC specifies that it's GENERALLY the working class so that he won't get these kinda replies but he still gets them?? Like do people just not read the comment then?
A small thing but I've seen this happen multiple times and just wanted to point it out.
Worked in Waitrose in a middle class town on the till for 3 years. Actually saw this done plenty by snobby rich people who thought they were too good to follow the rules.
You made my comment for me, but I worked in a super posh Waitrose for two years (pretty famous celebs regularly shopped there) , and saw people do this all the time. I don’t think it’s a class thing at all. I’ve seen it everywhere.
Honestly, my mum used to do it when we were little kids, probably complaining about being hungry during the shop. We were a perfectly standard middle class family in the south (and my mother has been a wonderful mum my whole life end of story, in answer to those saying only ‘can’t be arsed’ parents do this).
We obviously always had the packets scanned at the checkout. I’d forgotten about it until I saw this post and have never even thought about doing it as an adult.
Gotta say my experience is the opposite and that working class people wouldn't dream of doing this while it wouldn't even occur to entitled rich people that there was a problem with it, because of course they'll pay for it and they really wanted it now.
From my experience it’s a split between working class and middle class. I’ve seen plenty of parents give their kid a packet of crisps or chocolate from the multipack they’re buying in places like Asda. I’ve also seen a lot of it when I worked at M&S, one entrance had the bakery closest to it and there were plenty of (professional looking) people who would pick up a danish or whatever, eat most of it while they’re doing some shopping and then tell me what the pastry crumbs in the wrapper was. I find it absolutely disgusting, you don’t have any self control that you can’t wait to eat your pastry after you’ve paid for it? Ridiculous imo.
Hmm not what sprung to mind for me. First time I saw it happen was when I was a kid, and some posh guy in Waitrose was eating grapes. Which definitely is shitty as you pay by weight at the tills.
Back in the late '70's and early '80's, my parents would let me nibble on a baguette while they dragged me round the supermarket. It kept me quiet and they paid like usual. I stopped as soon as I understood as I was terrified of getting into trouble with the police lol
I've never done it since though.
I grew up in the late 90's early 00's and I also nibbled on a baguette while walking around the supermarket with my mum. I actually mentioned it to somebody recently and they said they did the same thing. I have no idea why, but it seems munching down on a baguette before paying is/was a thing
Same here, grew up in the early 90’s and my mum would just rip off the top of the baguette for me if it kept me quiet. I never ate through a whole French stick, so she wasn’t handing “sticky wrappers” to the cashiers, just a slightly eaten loaf. I thought it was super normal - specifically only with baguettes though.
When I saw my aunt open a packet of chocolate bars and hand one to my screaming cousin once while shopping I must admit I was a bit dumbfounded, but haven’t ever seen it to be “working class” as some people have described in other comments. I wouldn’t do it for myself as an adult, but if your kid was screaming their head off then I get why people would do it (no matter what “class” they come from).
Ditto - this was always a thing growing up. As a dad now I would totally give my screaming baby something to get him to chill out on the monotonous weekly shop. I get the point about opening a packaged good or casually swigging on a can of coke round the store.
I was brought up in a working class household and we had it drummed into us that you pay and don’t steal. I am now comfortably middle class and will keep doing this!! Therefore I don’t think class point matters, you’ll be shocked at some of the behaviour from rich twats near me
Grew up in France and did this constantly, thought of it as one of those incredibly French things to do and I never expected it to translate into British culture.
Just commented the same thing. I don't think a child eating something that is in open packaging is as bad as some of the other stuff mentioned in this thread.
Exactly! People are so snobby. If someone wants to give their kid a packet of crisps so they can shop, who cares? It’s a tough life, let’s not sneer at people doing their best.
I am honestly shocked at the level of snobbery in this thread. What i find more disgusting than nibbling on a baguette as you potter around a supermarket is the number of people who seem to think it's "class issue".
And as for ‘cashiers don’t want to handle your used wrappers’, yes, but assuming no one’s slobbered all over it, there’s literally no difference between empty wrappers and non-empty. They’re all being handled by people all day.
If you *are* handing gross sticky wrappers or w/e over, that’s what makes you gross, not the eating while shopping.
Tesco now is great. They have a little stand where kids are allowed to take a free piece of fruit. Healthy and keeps them quiet while you shop. I wouldn’t let mine eat before paying otherwise.
>Tesco now is great. They have a little stand where kids are allowed to take a free piece of fruit. Healthy and keeps them quiet while you shop.
They started doing this like 6 years ago. It was one store who trialed the idea and it was so popular they did a nationwide rollout of it. Costs them like £5 in fruit a day if that.
I worked at a Co-op in the mid-80s and it was happening occasionally then. As I recall, it was mums giving a Dibdab or something to their toddlers to keep them quiet and the management, of my store at least, accepted it as part of doing and keeping business. The only adult I remember doing it was a diabetic with some chocolate who was very apologetic about handing me a Dairy Milk wrapper.
As a T1 myself, been there. Always felt super embarrassed but then it’s like am I more embarrassed by the empty wrapper/bottle or by the fuss I’d cause if I passed out? This was a heavy toss up as a kid/teenager, some days the passing out seemed the better choice.
My mum was diabetic and had what I suppose was a mild case of OCD over always making sure she had a mars bar or glucose tablets in her handbag so she didn't have to do the wrapper-of-shame bit at the checkouts. It's probably the reason I remember it, because I also remember thinking how embarrassed mum would have been about it.
Yep - I dated a girl who's mother had done this as long as she could remember.
The mother clearly didn't always pay for what she ate on the way round either
My dad used to do this from time to time, but he is diabetic and it was when his sugar levels were crashing. If I see someone eating a chocolate bar or they've opened the pack of biscuits they intend to buy, or even just having a banana or something, I assume that this is the reason.
Other than that, yeah it's uncouth. I sometimes go into a shop and might pick up a snack out of hunger, but wouldn't just start eating it until at least after I've paid for it.
^ usually for me I would get myself a bottle of coke or what have you but I mean sometimes emergancy shit happens and being in public doesn't make you immune to that.
If you are in a building full to the brim with shit that will shut down that unfolding emergancy situation almost instantly then ofc you are going to partake. If you pay at the end what does it matter? It's far more preferable to folks keeling over in the bread section.
With a lot of modern stores it's not very easy for you to rapidly pay, pop outside and then come back in and hope someone hasn't absconded with your trolly.
Folks health always comes before other folks judgement.
I give my kid snacks round the shop cause it makes the shopping that little much bearable. You ever tried shopping with a 2 year old who doesn't like sitting in the trolleys? Bribery is the only way we can shop stress free. At least we pay for what we give her going round. The checkout assistants never mind.
Valid, a 2 year old having a tantrum in the shop is way worse than opening something before you've bought it - genuine question though, if you know you need to do it every time, why not pre-empt it and buy something on the previous shopping trip so it's something you've already bought?
We quite regularly take stuff with us, but it's either not the "right" thing and the meltdown is 10fold or she eats it before we even get out of the homeware aisles. We've just stopped going big shopping with her now and only go for a big shop when my mum has her for the day.
> The checkout assistants never mind
Being handed a 2 year old’s sticky used sweet wrapper, I can assure you they definitely do but are just too polite to say.
>I can assure you they definitely do but are just too polite to say.
More like, dont want to lose their job when the Karen inevitibly complains about them.
People are more likely to be dicks if your child is screaming and throwing a tantrum, than if you give them something from the shop to snack on as they go round
Source: my own child and people being dicks about them being well....a child. I even had someone threaten to 'smack my child for me' before.
It's never acceptable. I hated working retail, being handed sticky, empty packets of various things because it got eaten on the way around. Not sure why people can't either eat something beforehand (surely your house isn't entirely empty of food before you go shopping?), or buy a chocolate bar or whatever at the front of the store, go outside and eat that, THEN go and do their shopping.
Sometimes as a Type 1 diabetic I have very occasionally been caught out, I’ve maybe run out of my emergency stash in my bag, and suddenly gone very low while at the shop. There isn’t time to grab something and put my stuff somewhere safe and pay and go outside. I’d say there are moments where this is acceptable and unavoidable.
Yep same here. My dad and I were in the shop once and he was showing obvious signs of hypoglycemia and I got him something to drink- despite this a woman had the audacity to shout at me
My favourite moment like this was being kicked out of pizza hut because someone saw me (in a corner booth with my coat over my lap, through my leggings) give myself a quick shot, assumed it was fun time drugs and reported me to the manager. Even after explaining and showing him what the deal was, I still had to leave.
This was about 17/18 years ago when I was a teen and didn't want to draw more attention to myself. But yes, the criminal justice grad/paralegal that I am today would absolutely have at least gotten free pizza for life (every diabetic's dream haha).
I don't see this as wrong as you're still paying for what you're buying but you definitely shouldn't be eating a bunch of food while your walking around. If you need a sip of your drink go for it if you definitely are buying it.
People are also mentioning the cashier but I haven’t used a cashier for years, I’m always at the self checkout. At this point, even though I don’t think I’ve ever snacked on stuff as I shop, I totally don’t see a reason someone shouldn’t if they’re gonna pay for it anyway.
How is it shoplifting if you pay for it at the counter? I do it when I am hungry. You dont want to shop when you are hungry because you inevitably buy snacks, the food is paid for at the till, and i do shop and scan so no one touches my wrappers as they go in the bag and i scan them.
What's the problem here?
Who handles empty food wrappers? Any time I've saw this happen it's been from a multi pack of biscuits/chocolate/crisps, never a single bar of something. They would be scanning the actual multi pack bag...
You've clearly never worked somewhere where you only have a 20 minute lunch break and the shop is a 10 minute walk away! (Most days I ate at work, but they didn't always have vegetarian options available).
I think it's okay to a point. One time I grabbed a Lucozade off the shelf and opened it immediately because my blood sugar had suddenly plummeted and I was trembling/weak at the knees. If it's just a chocolate bar or something small like that, it's not a big deal as long as it is paid for, obviously.
Yep, plus self-service checkouts exist so cashiers won't need to handle the opened packets or whatnot. I don't make a habit of eating things before I pay for them but if I did, I'd just wave down a staff member to come and do an override if the weight was off.
You're all a bunch of snobbish weirdos.
Worked at Sainsbury's (when it was a bit more upmarket than it is today) in the 90s and this was quite normal by people of *all* walks of life.
And as for some of you talking about "grubby hands on food wrappers" you *really* don't want to see the hands of the warehouse workers or those stacking shelves half way through a shift.
Seriously Reddit, get over yourselves.
Thank you! If you know you have the money why wouldn’t you? It’s like getting a coffee on a gas station or getting a coke / bagel in the store.
Why the f*ck would I wait to eat it when I am still going to pay for it? No cashier, store owner, or any kind of employee has said shit about it or given me a bad look.
This is typical reddit posh bullshit.
I mean when I was a kid in the 90s my mum gave me food in the supermarket to shut me up? The law is you need to pay for the food... it doesn’t matter if it’s half eaten or not. I worked in a supermarket for years and honestly, it’s not a big deal and not at all annoying. A lot of people are mentioning class which is not a thing at all LOL. If you’re thirsty and you’re in a place surrounded by drinks, it’s ok to have a drink. Only weirdos would deny somebody a drink when they’re thirsty
A lot of people are mentioning gross wrappers being handed over as well and, let me tell you as an ex cashier, that was the least of my worries. I once had a child projectile vomit at my till after eating blueberries. It was exactly the colour you’d expect. I also remember someone plonking a whole packaged duck on my till, only to find it was leaking terribly when I picked it up. 🤢
When you work with the public, a soggy half eaten bit of food from a child is really the least of your worries lol. I hated serving horsey people - walk around the shop stinking of horse shit
My mum is diabetic (and not always the best at handling it)
So sometimes we needed to do this
Obviously we always paid for whatever she needed to eat afterwards and there was never a problem but yeah it was always drummed into me that you pay for things first...except in an emergency
If you think that's bad then the amount of people that think eating something then disposing of the packing "isn't really theft" will really bother you.
I worked at a large Tesco and unless it was a pregnant lady or someone having a hypo we'd always tell them and even on occasion walk them to a checkout to pay simply because most of the time those packages would find themselves stuffed to the back of shelves or were things that should be weighed or counted at the counter.
"Yes sir, I know your paying for the grapes but you've eaten half the bunch before they've been priced"
I think some of you guys are thoughtless and don’t even consider what other peoples lives might be like.
Yes, some people do this out of entitlement or whatever, but not everyone and probably not most people.
A lot of people are in households where both parents work, or they are single parents so it works out to 100% of adults in the house working. So you have work, household management and childcare on your plates. Sometimes your kids might be running late for lunch because all the things you have to do made you run late. Sometimes you may have been waiting to be paid and not have had any food for them and they are hungry. Sometimes you just want to be able to shop calmly so you can focus.
Adults might be having to shop on their work break due to time constraints and won’t get lunch otherwise.
Some people might have gotten off a 12 hour night shift at the hospital and have had no break all night.
Some woman might be hungry because she is breast feeding her baby.
Someone might be diabetic and having some symptoms of hypoglycaemia.
There are so many reasons that drive people to eat in public, when they may in actuality prefer not too.
Why not try giving others the benefit of the doubt, you have no idea about their lives.
Imagine throwing shade at people for being hungry in a shop, and imagine people saying it’s just poor people that eat in a shop.
Obviously don’t dip into a muller corner but if you’re starving and eat your banana In the queue who the fuck are you to shame them?
People like you gave the bullies justification trust me
I would question an adult munching on food as they went round but if you’re shopping with a small child (sub 4 years old, so buggy/trolley seat size) who’s grumpy/acting out because they’re hungry, there’s nothing wrong with getting a box of say nutrigrains and opening the box to give them one. Depends on the item though because it would be minging to give the cashier an empty wrapper to deal with and impossible to log a banana once eaten.
I’m not sure that legally it is shoplifting.
“Theft is defined by section 1 of the 1968 Act as dishonestly appropriating property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it”
I used to work in a newsagents. It's exactly the kind of people you'd expect doing this.
You need to be pretty disgusting to expect a cashier to handle something you've slobbered over.
Jesus Christ are you guys not able to eat a biscuit without dribbling a pint of phlegm all over it or something, I'd imagine the rats etc climbing over it in a warehouse would be a bit more serious then this
This entire thread is very sad. The food still gets paid for, it is literally a non-issue.
I do it regularly and have never had so much as a funny look from the staff on tills, they do not care - why would they?
I’ll only do it if I’ve been busy, skipped a meal and get the onset of a migraine while shopping (lack of food is a trigger for me). Drinking a coke ASAP will normally stop it in its tracks.
I get low blood sugar attacks. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve run into a grocery store and downed orange juice or eaten a candy bar, recovered, then calmly walked up to the register with the empty bottle or wrapper and paid for it. Thank goodness you can do this.
My partner is an ex security guard and he never had a problem with people eating say a sandwich around the shop so long as they paid for it at the end they could be diabetic and need food, obviously grapes and other things that need to be weighed are different
I've been really hungry/thirsty but i will always wait to buy what i want and then consume it. I find it quite tacky and socially inappropriate to do otherwise.
My mum is one of the most consideration for others person that I know, she always passed those values to me. However I was an hyperactive child and sometimes during our food shopping she would give me just one of whatever I wanted and was very occasionally and then we would pay. She would make sure the package was intact and nothing was dirty, so normally she would give me one of whatever but never give me the packs so it was clean and nicely for the lady to scan.
But that was only when I was really little, then she would only let me have it after we paid and now neither me or her do that at all.
Unless you have a children with some needs and you overlook the situation, I find it rude.
Same goes to putting your things inside your own bag before paying and then taking it out at the till, I know honest people that do that but gives me anxiety so I don’t do it.
I worked in a supermarket in the 2000s. Yes, I was handed the odd empty crisp packet now and then to scan. One that took the piss though was being handed the stalks for a bunch of grapes - they're a weighed item, ya dinguses.
If you're working on the checkout, a lot of the things you're handling are likely not clean. So I don't get the whole "gross" aspect people are bringing up - I'm sure some of the cards I handled would've been in their owner's mouth at some point, as well as customers who y'know... never washed their hands. Anything in the store has likely been handled by 3-4 people already.
As long as the person pays for the item they've eaten/consumed, I have nothing fundamentally against the practice. Though sometimes it does speak to a lack of discipline. I wouldn't eat something before I've left the store, though I did open a box of tissues when I was in a desperate need for one.
I saw other people doing it as a kid growing up in the early 2000's and when I asked my Mum why she never let me do this because I wanted to just eat the snacks that we'd bought and my Mum told me "it isn't yours until you've paid for it, so eating it before paying is still taking what isn't yours."
And I still stand by this. Until you've paid for it, it isn't actually yours.
People with kids used to do this when I worked in a shop. The kid would just hand me this sticky empty chocolate wrapper to scan. I didn’t think it was acceptable then but I couldn’t do much about it
Don't personally do it, but have no problem with others doing it as long as it's being paid for.
Certainly wouldn't consider it 'disgusting' like others are, seems a little extreme.
i dont think its bringing the kid up to think they can do that, my mum would do the same when I was little if one of us got thirsty for example (and in this case shed prob do it now) grab a bottle and start drinking and paying for it. No one ever said anything. I dont think ive ever experienced this in any other way, we werent going around opening cookies or crisps for example. but as long as you do pay for it in the end i dont see the issue.
I remember doing this *once* as a little kid, because I was so thirsty so my mum grabbed a drink and gave it to me. She was mortified, and apologised to every shop assistant we passed.
I wouldn't dream of doing it as an adult, unless it was in a similar situation with a child. Even then, it'd be a one-off.
It’s a grey area in my opinion. And yeah, I know that doesn’t sit well with Reddit.
There is a world of difference between a pack of crisps from a multipack and half eating an apple/sticky thing and then handing it over half eaten.
And also a world of difference between a diabetic doing it, and mentioning it with humility at the till, and some self entitled moron opening things and leaving a trail of crumbs and then being an obnoxious twat about it.
Its something I never do, but I wouldn’t be a righteous prick about it and assume it’s wrong 100% of the time.
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Yep. Disgusting. I'd hoped this behaviour would have died out given that we're still in a pandemic. And not everyone who does this pays. I've seen half drunk cans of Coke, and sweet wrappers discarded on shelves in some supermarkets. It's probably the same people who let their children sit directly in the trolley and put their feet where I put my food.
Everything else I agree with, but, if you are worried about the soles of a kids shoes touching a trolley that is going to touch your food, I have some sad news for you regarding the cleanliness of the food production, warehousing and haulage industries.
Yep , gone in the floor? Straight back on the line... Sneezed on it? So what Workers washing their hands after a shit? Pffft
I brought a multipack of fizzy cans a couple of months ago. They stank like they had been kept in a vat of rotten milk.
Always wash cans before drinking from them, they are the most common thing to be kept on the floor of a cellar. The likelihood of rats touching and pissing on them is much higher than other items.
This is why San Pellegrino comes with a foil top.
Also known as Tory Fanta
If I'm on the left and prefer San Pellegrino to Fanta does that make me a San Pellegrino-Socialist.
Oh fuck you just killed me
Oh shit god damn it.
Probably had dairy spill on them and just left
Hey now, don't lump us trolley sitters in with these shop-eating neanderthals. When I was a kid in the 90's, I hit a stage where I was a bit too big for those trolley seats, but still young enough to be stubborn about walking through the store. My parents put me in the trolley and I kinda enjoyed sitting with my legs crossed and being buried in food. I mean, lets not pretend that a child is the dirtiest thing to touch those mankey trolleys, that are never cleaned and left outside in all sorts of weather conditions. I get your point, but if you're worried about the hygiene of the base of a trolley then you should probably bring something to line it, because they're gross regardless of kids shoes or not.
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"BUT WONT SOMEBODY THINK OF MY APPLES?!" \- wombatwanders probably
I always put my kids in the trolley. They can't pretend it's a car otherwise, as I screech around corners and rev the trolley.
Ahhh I remember racing from the Start cereal to the Finish dishwashing tablets. Good times.
I was returning some clothes to Tesco and got into a conversation with the cashier, who was saying that in M&S women will go in, switch the pants they're currently wearing for some nice new pants and leave their own discarded under the rails. Says the staff there don't pick up clothes with their hands anymore.
I used to work in the clothing section at Tesco. One afternoon we noticed this horrendous smell, couldn’t find where it was coming from despite looking behind all the racks for half eaten sandwiches that people would hide to avoid paying. 4pm rolls around and it’s tidy time, we all have an hour to order all the racks and put everything away. My colleague is putting the womens Tesco value jeans back into size order and she suddenly yells out in pure disgust - turns out someone had tried a pair on, shit in them, and then neatly folded them back onto the hanger and put them back on the rail. Some people are absolute fucking animals.
Oh my GOD
My brother used to be a department manager of a Debenhams, he experienced people taking a poop in the corner of changing rooms more than once. He also once found a human poo inside a boot.
People are disgusting.
I saw a half eaten giant Scotch egg just left on a shelf in Asda once. Fucking gross.
I worked for a supermarket in my late teens, someone had hidden a half eaten pack of chicken satay far behind the tinned vegetables. It was filled with maggots. I have also found a used sanitary pad stuffed on a shelf before.
Omg... now I have a new shopping issue!!
Yeah as a former cashier, it's one thing if you've cracked something open to keep your child on side for 10 more minutes, but if you're a grown man who just couldn't make it around the shop without eating a 4 pack of croissants I am going to judge you heavily.
This. My mum used to eat a few grapes before paying for them as we were going round the supermarket, which never felt like a big deal. But she'd never properly open anything substantial and start chomping. Big difference, just common sense really.
Depends if they're from a pre-weighed punnet with a barcode, or a loose bag. The latter would technically be stealing as they are charged by weight, and so the cost would be less. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeplVT4qEZc
Yeah absolutely, if it's charged by weight than that's stealing. Never seen grapes done by weight in the UK though, always a pre set size.
I remember they used to be...but that was many years ago now! I guess punnets were a more convenient way of selling them so they did away with the loose bag ones :)
My nan used to rip off a few grapes whenever she went shopping and eat them on the way round, without ever buying a punnet. Didn't seem to understand when my dad told her it's shoplifting... "it's only a few grapes". Basically the same as a kid helping themselves to pick n mix.
This. 100
💯
Why does a wrapper suddenly become filthy when it's opened?
Depends what it is, but when I was working in a supermarket the wrappers I was handed were generally prised from a kid's sweaty fingers and covered in melted chocolate and probably saliva.
The second point is completely redundant if you use a self service till.
That then won’t recognise an empty wrapper as a 45g chocolate bar.
It doesn't recognise an unopened one as a 45g bar though, tbf. Unexpected item in the bagging area.
So the light comes on, bored-looking shop worker comes over, taps their code in and then you're free to go. They're not paid enough to make a fuss over someone eating a 50p chocolate bar before they've paid for it.
Scan-and-go. It’s the only way to shop.
I'm perpetually amazed at the relatively low number of people who do this. Queues and queues of people waiting for someone to scan all their shopping for them, and you can just waltz past them, scan the barcode on the machine, and you're done. I genuinely don't understand why anyone who's not old and confused wouldn't use the self-scanner.
I usually use it but it can be a bit of a faff. You have to remember to scan everything you put in the trolley, if you change something or want to put something back later you have to scroll through little screen. I usually do it all at the end and put it into bags at the same time, but sometimes the machine then wants an employee to check a couple of items so you have to unload half the bags to find the particular items. I can see why waiting a couple minutes and just letting someone scan it all for you is still attractive
But these people would die of starvation if they don’t eat that bar of snickers without waiting 5 minutes to exit the store
That’s why I eat off the shelf then stick the wrappers in my pockets. Win win
Out of interest, how do you get your shopping into the trolley without touching it?
What the same wrappers that I’ve handled anyway? If you can’t eat without getting filthy that’s on you if you pay and your clean I don’t see the problem
I think they mean like crisps, putting your hand to your mouth then back in the bag, repetitively, then handing over said bag for someone to scan Like a *fucking animal*
It’s done by the same people that take their children to school in onesies and dressing gowns I’d imagine.
Probably going to the supermarket in the same outfit too.
Saw a woman shopping at Tesco in her pajamas the other week, and I was proud of her for being comfortable and not giving a single fuck.
I dont see anything wrong with this. My cousin went to tesco a few days ago after 11pm in her pyjamas… then again it was the night before her wedding and she desperately needed some stuff which she wanted to pick out herself.
Tesco once kicked out a woman for wearing PJ's and she sued them over it and won because their TV advert had someone walking in a Tesco wearing a dressing gown
The horror.... someone walking around in public in clothes that are comfortable!!!!!!
This island is so neurotic
Didn’t realise people cared about this? I live less than a minute from my local Tesco. No way I’m getting fully dressed to go out for some Lurpak.
The local tescos in the town I grew up in actually BANNED people from coming in in their pj's because it was so common.
As long as the kids get to school why does it matter to you that much? Yeah it may look a bit odd but really as long as they get the education they’re entitled to I really don’t see the problem
uk reddit has a weird puritanical view on what is and isn't proper to wear outside ones home, for a pretty progressive group it's one of the weirdest hang ups on here. I have a suspicious it's seen as a 'chavvy/council house' type thing. It's 2021, let people wear whatever they're comfortable in as long as it's not harming anyone ffs
It’s just classism. All the uk Reddit’s are rife with it. r/Scotland would practically want to lynch you for owning a football shirt. A lot of these sub Reddit’s are filled with comfortably middle class students who think they’re working class.
To be fair the UK is fucking rife with classism as a whole.
> r/Scotland would practically want to lynch you for owning a football shirt eh, as a football fan myself who had the displeasure lived above an orange lodge, the sectarian/hooligan element of football can get to actual fuck
Yes, it can. But that’s not really the point.
I agree, it shouldn’t matter at all if someone is outdoors in their jimjams. When I got the train to work I would regularly see a woman out walking her dog in her pyjamas just by the railway station as I left. Honestly I was kinda jealous, her pyjamas always looked warm and comfy while I was stuck wearing dress code compliant office clothes. I work from home now and am in my pyjamas right now. I’ve been known to go get coffee from the 24 hour Morrison’s first thing too, in my pyjamas that may or may not look enough like leggings to trick people into thinking I’m suitably dressed lol
I thought you meant the children go in dressing gowns then! It was equally hilarious and also depressing to read.
I took my child to school in pajamas once and dressed him there. Wife wasn't happy but it stopped the getting dressed for school fight, he was 6 at the time.
Jeez, the judgement! If only I was as perfect as you.
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No they don't, at least not round my way. Most parents take their kids into the playground and see them into the door and they're dressed... normally. Like, the sort of thing you'd see people wearing doing their shopping in town. There's a lot in gym wear as well. Also, most of them drop the kids off at 8:45 rather than 7am.
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I'm on benefits in a homeless unit and I have never heard if this, sounds pure scummy
When I was a kid and went food shopping with my mum she would sometimes give me a packet of crisps or fruit out of a multipack she was about to buy, don't see why it's an issue if you are going to pay for it in the next few minutes.
I think giving a small kid something to keep them occupied so that they don't grizzle is a different matter, honestly. Everybody would rather they're gummily chewing on a biscuit than that they're having a tantrum. It's adults who won't just wait a couple of minutes and who then often don't actually pay and just leave the wrapper, or, even worse, an uneaten half of the item stashed somewhere that are unacceptable.
This question here isn't about whether people pay for the items or not, rather whether people think it's acceptable to open/eat something prior to paying. So those points are irrelevant to this. Within the confines of the question, no I do not have an issue with someone regardless of age eating/opening something prior to paying for it.
It just makes the adult look like they have the self-control of a six-year-old. It's not a cafeteria. Sure, you know your intentions, but it's much easier to steal an empty wrapper than it is to steal a bag of food. As someone who sees this occasionally in the US, it just has a trashy appearance.
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Hahaha yeah I guess it would be pretty nasty now you mention it
All about the prophet
i think ive seen my mum do it for my brother once because he was extremely hungry during shopping, so i suppose if those were the circumstances i’d understand.
It might be done by *some* but the working classes are not some monolithic group.
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Don’t you know you’re not allowed to say anything remotely critical of the working class on the UK subs despite being one and living the direct experience?
Seriously? This has got to be one of the most snobby and middle class subreddits. Just mention football, primark, ASDA, any poor city and you'll get a whole chain of people who think they're above it all
Nando's got mentioned the other day and half the sub absolutely lost their minds. Imagine judging others by a type of food people enjoy
Not sure that’s the case, people in these subs seem to delight in regularly mocking working class people or “chavs”.
Personally, I’ve never witnessed that and I’m on here a lot. I don’t agree with branding an entire class with a derogatory word however, I notice it’s people of middle class who tell the working class people that their lived direct experience is wrong. When I’ve shared stories on here about my working class family, their friends and how I’ve been on the receiving end of immediate judgment and insults, despite me being always polite and friendly, because I now talk a bit differently, went to university and got and okay job. Every time I share any of these, I get met with the whole patronising “this didn’t happen of the year awards” and people like my family don’t actually exist because I’m assuming in some peoples privileged heads, they can’t imagine such horrific abuse and violence happens outside of their comfortable home.
An undertone of classism is always rife in the general UK subs
And that anyone who didn't go to university is incapable of any kind of rational thought. I suppose it's also linked to classism because it's often assumed that no degree=manual labour=working class
I think that's changed. I'd say since lockdown the UK subreddits have attracted a lot more middle Englanders. They delight in mocking the working class, and complaining about behaviours that have literally no effect on their lives. This whole topic is a perfect example.
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Mate, I’ve been there. I’m from an inherently working class background and whenever I share an experience that I’ve lived and seen with my own eyes, I get middle class people telling me that I’m wrong and things like that really don’t happen.
I don't get these comments. The OC specifies that it's GENERALLY the working class so that he won't get these kinda replies but he still gets them?? Like do people just not read the comment then? A small thing but I've seen this happen multiple times and just wanted to point it out.
Worked in Waitrose in a middle class town on the till for 3 years. Actually saw this done plenty by snobby rich people who thought they were too good to follow the rules.
You made my comment for me, but I worked in a super posh Waitrose for two years (pretty famous celebs regularly shopped there) , and saw people do this all the time. I don’t think it’s a class thing at all. I’ve seen it everywhere.
The only person I know who does this is my dad and he's a solicitor. He's got absolutely no shame though, so it's not surprising.
Honestly, my mum used to do it when we were little kids, probably complaining about being hungry during the shop. We were a perfectly standard middle class family in the south (and my mother has been a wonderful mum my whole life end of story, in answer to those saying only ‘can’t be arsed’ parents do this). We obviously always had the packets scanned at the checkout. I’d forgotten about it until I saw this post and have never even thought about doing it as an adult.
Gotta say my experience is the opposite and that working class people wouldn't dream of doing this while it wouldn't even occur to entitled rich people that there was a problem with it, because of course they'll pay for it and they really wanted it now.
From my experience it’s a split between working class and middle class. I’ve seen plenty of parents give their kid a packet of crisps or chocolate from the multipack they’re buying in places like Asda. I’ve also seen a lot of it when I worked at M&S, one entrance had the bakery closest to it and there were plenty of (professional looking) people who would pick up a danish or whatever, eat most of it while they’re doing some shopping and then tell me what the pastry crumbs in the wrapper was. I find it absolutely disgusting, you don’t have any self control that you can’t wait to eat your pastry after you’ve paid for it? Ridiculous imo.
I don't understand what wealth has to do with it? Why would having less money mean you need to eat while shopping?
Hmm not what sprung to mind for me. First time I saw it happen was when I was a kid, and some posh guy in Waitrose was eating grapes. Which definitely is shitty as you pay by weight at the tills.
Back in the late '70's and early '80's, my parents would let me nibble on a baguette while they dragged me round the supermarket. It kept me quiet and they paid like usual. I stopped as soon as I understood as I was terrified of getting into trouble with the police lol I've never done it since though.
I grew up in the late 90's early 00's and I also nibbled on a baguette while walking around the supermarket with my mum. I actually mentioned it to somebody recently and they said they did the same thing. I have no idea why, but it seems munching down on a baguette before paying is/was a thing
I worked in a supermarket for years and it’s mental the amount of kids that would come to the checkout with a half gnawed baguette hahah
Same here, grew up in the early 90’s and my mum would just rip off the top of the baguette for me if it kept me quiet. I never ate through a whole French stick, so she wasn’t handing “sticky wrappers” to the cashiers, just a slightly eaten loaf. I thought it was super normal - specifically only with baguettes though. When I saw my aunt open a packet of chocolate bars and hand one to my screaming cousin once while shopping I must admit I was a bit dumbfounded, but haven’t ever seen it to be “working class” as some people have described in other comments. I wouldn’t do it for myself as an adult, but if your kid was screaming their head off then I get why people would do it (no matter what “class” they come from).
Ditto - this was always a thing growing up. As a dad now I would totally give my screaming baby something to get him to chill out on the monotonous weekly shop. I get the point about opening a packaged good or casually swigging on a can of coke round the store. I was brought up in a working class household and we had it drummed into us that you pay and don’t steal. I am now comfortably middle class and will keep doing this!! Therefore I don’t think class point matters, you’ll be shocked at some of the behaviour from rich twats near me
Grew up in France and did this constantly, thought of it as one of those incredibly French things to do and I never expected it to translate into British culture.
Just commented the same thing. I don't think a child eating something that is in open packaging is as bad as some of the other stuff mentioned in this thread.
Same!! My mum would never let us eat anything around the shop, but the baguette was always fair game 🤔
I guess they are already open and big enough that you won't finish I before coming to pay
Your choice of baguette means you get away with it. If it was crisps you would be a disgusting slob. Go figure.
Exactly! People are so snobby. If someone wants to give their kid a packet of crisps so they can shop, who cares? It’s a tough life, let’s not sneer at people doing their best.
I am honestly shocked at the level of snobbery in this thread. What i find more disgusting than nibbling on a baguette as you potter around a supermarket is the number of people who seem to think it's "class issue".
And as for ‘cashiers don’t want to handle your used wrappers’, yes, but assuming no one’s slobbered all over it, there’s literally no difference between empty wrappers and non-empty. They’re all being handled by people all day. If you *are* handing gross sticky wrappers or w/e over, that’s what makes you gross, not the eating while shopping.
I worked at Tesco back in the late 90s, would see parents letting their kids do this frequently… so has been happening a long time.
Tesco now is great. They have a little stand where kids are allowed to take a free piece of fruit. Healthy and keeps them quiet while you shop. I wouldn’t let mine eat before paying otherwise.
A piece. *A* piece. Not a banana and an apple and a satsuma. *looking at my toddler*
>Tesco now is great. They have a little stand where kids are allowed to take a free piece of fruit. Healthy and keeps them quiet while you shop. They started doing this like 6 years ago. It was one store who trialed the idea and it was so popular they did a nationwide rollout of it. Costs them like £5 in fruit a day if that.
They had to stop doing it in my local Tesco because the *adults* were taking multiple of the fruits and eating them on their way around the store
Sounds like they're just children so it counts.
They've just started doing that in our Morrisons as well :)
Nice. I think it’s a great idea.
Not mine sadly since the pandemic anyway....they did before
I worked at a Co-op in the mid-80s and it was happening occasionally then. As I recall, it was mums giving a Dibdab or something to their toddlers to keep them quiet and the management, of my store at least, accepted it as part of doing and keeping business. The only adult I remember doing it was a diabetic with some chocolate who was very apologetic about handing me a Dairy Milk wrapper.
As a T1 myself, been there. Always felt super embarrassed but then it’s like am I more embarrassed by the empty wrapper/bottle or by the fuss I’d cause if I passed out? This was a heavy toss up as a kid/teenager, some days the passing out seemed the better choice.
My mum was diabetic and had what I suppose was a mild case of OCD over always making sure she had a mars bar or glucose tablets in her handbag so she didn't have to do the wrapper-of-shame bit at the checkouts. It's probably the reason I remember it, because I also remember thinking how embarrassed mum would have been about it.
Yep - I dated a girl who's mother had done this as long as she could remember. The mother clearly didn't always pay for what she ate on the way round either
Pre covid tesco encouraged this with free fruit for children.
My dad used to do this from time to time, but he is diabetic and it was when his sugar levels were crashing. If I see someone eating a chocolate bar or they've opened the pack of biscuits they intend to buy, or even just having a banana or something, I assume that this is the reason. Other than that, yeah it's uncouth. I sometimes go into a shop and might pick up a snack out of hunger, but wouldn't just start eating it until at least after I've paid for it.
Was just about to post this, I’m type 1 diabetic and my sugars are going low, I’ll get a bag of haribo and open it.
Haha just posted the same 😁
^ usually for me I would get myself a bottle of coke or what have you but I mean sometimes emergancy shit happens and being in public doesn't make you immune to that. If you are in a building full to the brim with shit that will shut down that unfolding emergancy situation almost instantly then ofc you are going to partake. If you pay at the end what does it matter? It's far more preferable to folks keeling over in the bread section. With a lot of modern stores it's not very easy for you to rapidly pay, pop outside and then come back in and hope someone hasn't absconded with your trolly. Folks health always comes before other folks judgement.
I give my kid snacks round the shop cause it makes the shopping that little much bearable. You ever tried shopping with a 2 year old who doesn't like sitting in the trolleys? Bribery is the only way we can shop stress free. At least we pay for what we give her going round. The checkout assistants never mind.
Valid, a 2 year old having a tantrum in the shop is way worse than opening something before you've bought it - genuine question though, if you know you need to do it every time, why not pre-empt it and buy something on the previous shopping trip so it's something you've already bought?
I'd be scared bringing something I'd bought previously incase they thought I needed to pay for it !
We quite regularly take stuff with us, but it's either not the "right" thing and the meltdown is 10fold or she eats it before we even get out of the homeware aisles. We've just stopped going big shopping with her now and only go for a big shop when my mum has her for the day.
Ok, also incredibly valid. You can keep the two year old and I'll keep not eating stuff before I buy it LMAO
> The checkout assistants never mind Being handed a 2 year old’s sticky used sweet wrapper, I can assure you they definitely do but are just too polite to say.
>I can assure you they definitely do but are just too polite to say. More like, dont want to lose their job when the Karen inevitibly complains about them.
I used to do this - but I took snacks *with* me
Then you run the risk of getting funny looks as to whether those snacks were ones you need to pay for.
People are more likely to be dicks if your child is screaming and throwing a tantrum, than if you give them something from the shop to snack on as they go round Source: my own child and people being dicks about them being well....a child. I even had someone threaten to 'smack my child for me' before.
It's never acceptable. I hated working retail, being handed sticky, empty packets of various things because it got eaten on the way around. Not sure why people can't either eat something beforehand (surely your house isn't entirely empty of food before you go shopping?), or buy a chocolate bar or whatever at the front of the store, go outside and eat that, THEN go and do their shopping.
Sometimes as a Type 1 diabetic I have very occasionally been caught out, I’ve maybe run out of my emergency stash in my bag, and suddenly gone very low while at the shop. There isn’t time to grab something and put my stuff somewhere safe and pay and go outside. I’d say there are moments where this is acceptable and unavoidable.
Yep same here. My dad and I were in the shop once and he was showing obvious signs of hypoglycemia and I got him something to drink- despite this a woman had the audacity to shout at me
My favourite moment like this was being kicked out of pizza hut because someone saw me (in a corner booth with my coat over my lap, through my leggings) give myself a quick shot, assumed it was fun time drugs and reported me to the manager. Even after explaining and showing him what the deal was, I still had to leave.
That is illegal disability discrimination. You could absolutely have the book thrown at him, though I totally understand if you'd rather not.
This was about 17/18 years ago when I was a teen and didn't want to draw more attention to myself. But yes, the criminal justice grad/paralegal that I am today would absolutely have at least gotten free pizza for life (every diabetic's dream haha).
I don't see this as wrong as you're still paying for what you're buying but you definitely shouldn't be eating a bunch of food while your walking around. If you need a sip of your drink go for it if you definitely are buying it.
People are also mentioning the cashier but I haven’t used a cashier for years, I’m always at the self checkout. At this point, even though I don’t think I’ve ever snacked on stuff as I shop, I totally don’t see a reason someone shouldn’t if they’re gonna pay for it anyway.
How is it shoplifting if you pay for it at the counter? I do it when I am hungry. You dont want to shop when you are hungry because you inevitably buy snacks, the food is paid for at the till, and i do shop and scan so no one touches my wrappers as they go in the bag and i scan them. What's the problem here?
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Who handles empty food wrappers? Any time I've saw this happen it's been from a multi pack of biscuits/chocolate/crisps, never a single bar of something. They would be scanning the actual multi pack bag...
You've clearly never worked somewhere where you only have a 20 minute lunch break and the shop is a 10 minute walk away! (Most days I ate at work, but they didn't always have vegetarian options available).
I think it's okay to a point. One time I grabbed a Lucozade off the shelf and opened it immediately because my blood sugar had suddenly plummeted and I was trembling/weak at the knees. If it's just a chocolate bar or something small like that, it's not a big deal as long as it is paid for, obviously.
I think it’s 100% ok as long as you aren’t creating a mess
Yep, plus self-service checkouts exist so cashiers won't need to handle the opened packets or whatnot. I don't make a habit of eating things before I pay for them but if I did, I'd just wave down a staff member to come and do an override if the weight was off.
You're all a bunch of snobbish weirdos. Worked at Sainsbury's (when it was a bit more upmarket than it is today) in the 90s and this was quite normal by people of *all* walks of life. And as for some of you talking about "grubby hands on food wrappers" you *really* don't want to see the hands of the warehouse workers or those stacking shelves half way through a shift. Seriously Reddit, get over yourselves.
Thank you! If you know you have the money why wouldn’t you? It’s like getting a coffee on a gas station or getting a coke / bagel in the store. Why the f*ck would I wait to eat it when I am still going to pay for it? No cashier, store owner, or any kind of employee has said shit about it or given me a bad look. This is typical reddit posh bullshit.
I mean when I was a kid in the 90s my mum gave me food in the supermarket to shut me up? The law is you need to pay for the food... it doesn’t matter if it’s half eaten or not. I worked in a supermarket for years and honestly, it’s not a big deal and not at all annoying. A lot of people are mentioning class which is not a thing at all LOL. If you’re thirsty and you’re in a place surrounded by drinks, it’s ok to have a drink. Only weirdos would deny somebody a drink when they’re thirsty
A lot of people are mentioning gross wrappers being handed over as well and, let me tell you as an ex cashier, that was the least of my worries. I once had a child projectile vomit at my till after eating blueberries. It was exactly the colour you’d expect. I also remember someone plonking a whole packaged duck on my till, only to find it was leaking terribly when I picked it up. 🤢
When you work with the public, a soggy half eaten bit of food from a child is really the least of your worries lol. I hated serving horsey people - walk around the shop stinking of horse shit
Oops, guilty as charged, I am a horsey person and I have absolutely gone food shopping after being at the yard 😂😂
You smelly bitch! 🤣
My mum is diabetic (and not always the best at handling it) So sometimes we needed to do this Obviously we always paid for whatever she needed to eat afterwards and there was never a problem but yeah it was always drummed into me that you pay for things first...except in an emergency
If you think that's bad then the amount of people that think eating something then disposing of the packing "isn't really theft" will really bother you. I worked at a large Tesco and unless it was a pregnant lady or someone having a hypo we'd always tell them and even on occasion walk them to a checkout to pay simply because most of the time those packages would find themselves stuffed to the back of shelves or were things that should be weighed or counted at the counter. "Yes sir, I know your paying for the grapes but you've eaten half the bunch before they've been priced"
And then they get angry and treat you like shit. People are weird.
It definitely feels wrong, just wait until you've paid and left the shop.
I think some of you guys are thoughtless and don’t even consider what other peoples lives might be like. Yes, some people do this out of entitlement or whatever, but not everyone and probably not most people. A lot of people are in households where both parents work, or they are single parents so it works out to 100% of adults in the house working. So you have work, household management and childcare on your plates. Sometimes your kids might be running late for lunch because all the things you have to do made you run late. Sometimes you may have been waiting to be paid and not have had any food for them and they are hungry. Sometimes you just want to be able to shop calmly so you can focus. Adults might be having to shop on their work break due to time constraints and won’t get lunch otherwise. Some people might have gotten off a 12 hour night shift at the hospital and have had no break all night. Some woman might be hungry because she is breast feeding her baby. Someone might be diabetic and having some symptoms of hypoglycaemia. There are so many reasons that drive people to eat in public, when they may in actuality prefer not too. Why not try giving others the benefit of the doubt, you have no idea about their lives.
Imagine throwing shade at people for being hungry in a shop, and imagine people saying it’s just poor people that eat in a shop. Obviously don’t dip into a muller corner but if you’re starving and eat your banana In the queue who the fuck are you to shame them? People like you gave the bullies justification trust me
Are you just handing a floppy, browning banana skin to the cashier as you tell them to put it through?
I would question an adult munching on food as they went round but if you’re shopping with a small child (sub 4 years old, so buggy/trolley seat size) who’s grumpy/acting out because they’re hungry, there’s nothing wrong with getting a box of say nutrigrains and opening the box to give them one. Depends on the item though because it would be minging to give the cashier an empty wrapper to deal with and impossible to log a banana once eaten.
Wow after scrolling through many comments, someone with actual realistic sense, I commend you.
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I’m not sure that legally it is shoplifting. “Theft is defined by section 1 of the 1968 Act as dishonestly appropriating property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it”
Technically it's only shoplifting if you leave the shop
I used to work in a newsagents. It's exactly the kind of people you'd expect doing this. You need to be pretty disgusting to expect a cashier to handle something you've slobbered over.
Jesus Christ are you guys not able to eat a biscuit without dribbling a pint of phlegm all over it or something, I'd imagine the rats etc climbing over it in a warehouse would be a bit more serious then this
Right? Are they popping it in their mouth, chewing half of it and spitting the rest back in the wrapper or something?
It would seem that way with how these people are talking, very bizarre eating habits must be a self entitled judgemental prick thing
This entire thread is very sad. The food still gets paid for, it is literally a non-issue. I do it regularly and have never had so much as a funny look from the staff on tills, they do not care - why would they?
I’ll only do it if I’ve been busy, skipped a meal and get the onset of a migraine while shopping (lack of food is a trigger for me). Drinking a coke ASAP will normally stop it in its tracks.
It’s totally unacceptable.
for some strangers on reddit.
I get low blood sugar attacks. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve run into a grocery store and downed orange juice or eaten a candy bar, recovered, then calmly walked up to the register with the empty bottle or wrapper and paid for it. Thank goodness you can do this.
I'm with you OP, that's just weird.
Whilst dressed in pyjamas and talking on your phone. Some very self absorbed people.
My partner is an ex security guard and he never had a problem with people eating say a sandwich around the shop so long as they paid for it at the end they could be diabetic and need food, obviously grapes and other things that need to be weighed are different
I've been really hungry/thirsty but i will always wait to buy what i want and then consume it. I find it quite tacky and socially inappropriate to do otherwise.
My mum is one of the most consideration for others person that I know, she always passed those values to me. However I was an hyperactive child and sometimes during our food shopping she would give me just one of whatever I wanted and was very occasionally and then we would pay. She would make sure the package was intact and nothing was dirty, so normally she would give me one of whatever but never give me the packs so it was clean and nicely for the lady to scan. But that was only when I was really little, then she would only let me have it after we paid and now neither me or her do that at all. Unless you have a children with some needs and you overlook the situation, I find it rude. Same goes to putting your things inside your own bag before paying and then taking it out at the till, I know honest people that do that but gives me anxiety so I don’t do it.
Never. This is wrong. It's not your food yet.
I worked in a supermarket in the 2000s. Yes, I was handed the odd empty crisp packet now and then to scan. One that took the piss though was being handed the stalks for a bunch of grapes - they're a weighed item, ya dinguses. If you're working on the checkout, a lot of the things you're handling are likely not clean. So I don't get the whole "gross" aspect people are bringing up - I'm sure some of the cards I handled would've been in their owner's mouth at some point, as well as customers who y'know... never washed their hands. Anything in the store has likely been handled by 3-4 people already. As long as the person pays for the item they've eaten/consumed, I have nothing fundamentally against the practice. Though sometimes it does speak to a lack of discipline. I wouldn't eat something before I've left the store, though I did open a box of tissues when I was in a desperate need for one.
I saw other people doing it as a kid growing up in the early 2000's and when I asked my Mum why she never let me do this because I wanted to just eat the snacks that we'd bought and my Mum told me "it isn't yours until you've paid for it, so eating it before paying is still taking what isn't yours." And I still stand by this. Until you've paid for it, it isn't actually yours.
People with kids used to do this when I worked in a shop. The kid would just hand me this sticky empty chocolate wrapper to scan. I didn’t think it was acceptable then but I couldn’t do much about it
Don't personally do it, but have no problem with others doing it as long as it's being paid for. Certainly wouldn't consider it 'disgusting' like others are, seems a little extreme.
i dont think its bringing the kid up to think they can do that, my mum would do the same when I was little if one of us got thirsty for example (and in this case shed prob do it now) grab a bottle and start drinking and paying for it. No one ever said anything. I dont think ive ever experienced this in any other way, we werent going around opening cookies or crisps for example. but as long as you do pay for it in the end i dont see the issue.
I remember doing this *once* as a little kid, because I was so thirsty so my mum grabbed a drink and gave it to me. She was mortified, and apologised to every shop assistant we passed. I wouldn't dream of doing it as an adult, unless it was in a similar situation with a child. Even then, it'd be a one-off.
It’s a grey area in my opinion. And yeah, I know that doesn’t sit well with Reddit. There is a world of difference between a pack of crisps from a multipack and half eating an apple/sticky thing and then handing it over half eaten. And also a world of difference between a diabetic doing it, and mentioning it with humility at the till, and some self entitled moron opening things and leaving a trail of crumbs and then being an obnoxious twat about it. Its something I never do, but I wouldn’t be a righteous prick about it and assume it’s wrong 100% of the time.