Standing at a supermarket checkout

I always feel guilty if I'm in the queue and the person in front has all this healthy stuff, vegan this and organic that and I'm loading baked beans and a microwavable ready meal . Also, have you ever been in the queue Christmas Eve and you see someone with 12 loaves of reduced bread? They must have a freezer the size of small car?

Hahaha! Today I had 19 packets of raspberries. They were on sale and grandson ADORES raspberries.

But I bet other people in the queue thought I was nuts.

When I did voluntary work for a well known charity one volunteer was in charge of supplies. He said that checkout personnel gave him a funny look at the checkouts when he put through several dozen packets of of loo roll and mega packets of biscuits! And nothing else. (Well someone had too!).

I was advised by someone on here to buy tins of pre-cooked potatoes and instant mash donations for food banks (usually I'd buy pasta / pasta sauce / soup / beans etc) so today I did. In addition to raspberries, I had a basket full of precooked spuds in different manifestations.

A while back an elderly couple behind me in Aldi had a trolley with nothing in it apart from swedes, which covered the whole of the base. There must have been several dozen in there. Unfortunately, I was in a hurry, which was a shame as I wanted to know whether the cashier would put them all through the till individually or count them and then ring up 47 x 50p or however much they cost.

19 packs of raspberries is a funny number, GagaJo! My GD loves raspberries too, but they have to be worn on her finger first like a hat. ———>

I never have this experience these days as I do all my shopping online and just collect it at a point far away from checkouts.

However, when I was able to shop like a normal person (have I ever been a normal person?) I always seemed to get stuck behind someone whose trolley was full to the brim with dozens and dozen of loaves of bread.

Or a person with a trolley piled high who then quibbled about many of the prices, necessitating a bell to be rung and a supervisor to check. <sigh>
,sigh.

Usually, this same person, when told the final total, only then started rummaging for her purse.

I do remember, ages ago, a man in front of me desperately trying to juggle packages which kept slipping out of his arms (he should have been using a basket) and each time he bet down to pick one up, another would fall.

I thought he was carrying chocolates but when he'd been checked through, the assistant was giggling so much I asked her why.
'Didn't you see that guy had 25 packets of condoms? He's going to have a wild weekend!'

A while back I bought a white fluffy/looped fleece bath mat. We put it through the checkout along with our other purchases, 4 legs of lamb which was on rollback so we decided to fill the freezer (OH portions each leg into steaks, a small leg joint and meat for casserole) standing waiting for it to be scanned I realised it looked a bit... Odd.

The checkout guy did a double-take. I then got the giggles imagining he was thinking we were planning some weird Frankenstein’s Lamb creation

I was at the checkout all my things was on the belt and this man decided he liked everything what I was buying. He picked everything up I really hate anyone messing with my food and would like to slap his hand but I just gave him a hard look and he stopped messing.

Yes, it’s fun trying to imagine what meals people are going to make, or what lives they lead. Years ago, when I was a frazzled mother of teenagers and deputy-head in a school, I had a bottle of wine ( for me) a bottle of sherry ( for the trifle) a bottle of gin (for elderly neighbour) and 20 cigarettes from the cupboard behind the checkout (same elderly neighbour, I didn’t judge) and, at the last minute, a “sharing” pack of Maltesers. The woman behind me tutted audibly, and I snapped “I’ve had a hard day!” But I did wonder if she imagined me glugging back sherry and gin, smoking, and cramming maltesers into my tear-soaked face.....

DoraMarr.

I thought it was just ME! Can’t help looking at other people’s’ purchases- often wondering what they plan on doing ?.

I very nearly asked one who had a shed load of lemons and two hairbrushes (nothing else). IF She had found a shampoo recipe? Thankfully I resisted...

I think it's down to pre Christmas panic. Despite the fact that shops are open almost all the time, there is a still the Hunter Gatherer mentality. We may starve. I must buy this now while it's cheap. I may never get another chance.

I saw the customers eyeing up the Christmas stock, half price, yesterday. and bought a snow globe...

I hope no-one gives us an ornamental reindeer!
Tigerdove

In M& S food yesterday- OMG some of those trollies!!!

Tedber, sometimes I don’t refrain from commenting.
However I’ve trained myself to make positive comments and some pleasant conversations have ensued.

Now I am on my own I often wonder what other shoppers think of my trolley contents. I buy bags of ready prepared fresh mixed vegetables and ready prepared meat roasts. I wonder if they think - poor old soul or lazy old biddy!

When my children were very tiny I used to work in a supermarket on checkouts. A man used to shop every Sunday afternoon and have a trolley full of lettuce. I raised my eyebrows and asked him why so many? He laughed&told me he liked lettuce. He then proceeded to tell me that he kept lots of hens and pecking at lettuce keeps them nice and calm. I now know that this is true because in my current job, we sell a tincture of lettuce to aid relaxing and calming of humans.

I would have bought the raspberries!
Perhaps not 19 packets, but I am just wondering if I have any left from our own crop to put in the Christmas trifle.

Cling film - must be the 51st shade of grey.
Loads of bread - kids party/cricket tea
Swedes - elderly couple got muddled up about Halloween.
Lol.

Just going to check my freezer as otherwise I may have to nip down to see if I can find any reduced packets of raspberries in the supermarket.

I got confused in our supermarket this morning - there were only 2 packets of fresh raspberries and weren't looking too fresh. In my predicament I took one but put them in the wrong trolley and sailed off around the supermarket . After a few minutes I realised my mistake and ran around searching for the person . I recognised her as she was running around too ! Her trolley was full of posh stuff , mine's was utility !
She gave me my raspberries back !

Years ago I remember in Safeway Hammersmith (remember that store?) a person next to me had nothing in his trolley except for tins and tins of lager and bags of cat food. That must have been some party......

I once picked loads of sloes. A late evening trip to the supermarket saw me with a trolley containing only six bottles of export strength gin, a bag of sugar and a small packet of almonds. It took me a while to work out why both the cashier and the security people were watching me very closely.

:D LightAmber - what an image Now I need screenwipes...

ooer. I loooove looking at what other people are buying, when I am waiting in a checkout queue! lovely!

The loaves of bread I can understand - when my DC were small, we got through a loaf a day..!
I also had a large chest freezer, and it cost less to run when it was full (less space to fill with warmer air every time the lid was opened) so I often bought 20 loaves - especially if they were reduced- and packed them in...
If I didn't have the money to buy that many loaves, I used to fill large ice-cream tubs with cold water (lids on firmly!) and put them at the bottom of the freezer to reduce the empty space. It was amazing how much money it saved when every penny counted...!!