I've never done this before and it makes me really uncomfortable to see ppl doing it.
I'd only ever consider it if I was about to throw up/pass out from dehydration and time was a factor.
I've done it once. I was pregnant and forgot to eat lunch before grocery shopping. Halfway through the store, I had to chug half a bottle of sweet tea and sit on the floor for 10 minutes, shaking and trying not to throw up.
Which, I know, still doesn't make it okay. But one of the few situations someone should have to be in before they stoop to that level.
I had a guy try to pay for oj before drinking it and he was clearly not well. I asked if his blood sugar was ok and he shook his head. I told him to sit and just drink, do not worry about it, get yourself right first.
I mean, it's technically still stealing. But no one is going to kick out a person sitting next to a cart of groceries with half a drink/snack who's clearly trying not to be sick. A medical need is an important excuse and should be met with sympathy. It's just an issue with the letter of the law, plus I still feel kinda gross handing something half finished to a cashier to ring up.
One person stopped by and asked if I was okay. I explained and told them I'd be okay in a minute, and they nodded and moved on. It was a middle aged woman, so she probably understood what was up.
I had a known troublemaker (holding up closing, making messes, probably shoplifting) come in and when she came up to the register her card declined (this happens a lot with her). She had drunk a few swallows of a soda at that point. I made her give it back. She said “but I already drank some of it, it will go to waste.” Didn’t care. Threw it in the trash in front of her. Aggravates me so much.
it’s even worse when you work at a clothing retail store, so any snacks are overpriced. people will start to eat snacks before getting checked out and then get insanely upset when their snack rings up $4. $4 is crazy for a snack or candy but you are in a clothing store and hopefully that teaches you not to open something before buying!
I will only do this in an emergency situation. I have some blood sugar issues and once in a great while the wait is too long and I can feel myself starting to crash so I have to slam some juice. I always apologize because I hate when customers do that, too. Once I say "medical condition" most cashiers are totally sweet and make sure I'm okay before letting me leave. I'm extremely well regulated so this doesn't happen often.
Oh I hate that especially when it's a produce item like an apple or banana that's priced per/lb and the customer plays dumb and says "oh I didn't realize they were by pound" Yes you did!
*I hate hearing ppl drinking and swallowing...*
I'm with you on this, in fact this isn't just a personal quirk but may actually be a case of undiagnosed *Misophonia.*
Loud chewing noises can cause annoyance and frustration for anyone, but for people living with the condition called misophonia, originally known as selective sound sensitivity syndrome, these noises are more than just bothersome. With misophonia, those sounds, and plenty of others, can be downright unbearable.
It's really awful. Makes me want to rip my head off and throw it at the source, or rip my arm off and beat them (just punching them would not get my point across fully). And I don't have anger issues, it's just this one thing.
I hate open mouth chewing the most since I can hear *everything* that's going on.
I have something similar with high pitches and tones sometimes. It gives me that cringe where my shoulders go up, and I shrink down. It makes me sick almost immediately, and sometimes, it does bring me to the point of vomiting or at least gagging. I have to turn down our scanning beepers at work or it gets to me
Me too, it’s like just because you’re eating doesn’t mean I want to hear your mouth chewing like a cow and making noises. Eat with your mouth closed pig. It’s not cute and some people are just so nasty.
Sorry. It’s hot out and sometimes I’ll open a drink before I get to the register. I’ll always pay for it and I only do it 1/100 times. But eating? I can’t understand.
That’s the only reason I’d do it. It’s about to hit a month of +100 degrees Fahrenheit topping out at a week of 110 (37-42 Celsius for the rest of the world) where I’m at. I try to drink a gallon of water every day.
Ive only ever done that once when i walked to publix in the florida heat and forgot to bring water so i had a few sips and then paid. But i wouldnt do it with FOOD
I would just be too afraid something would happen like I forgot my wallet and didn’t have a way to pay, Apple Pay wasn’t working, card got locked for some reason, power went out before I could pay, etc. I’ve had a few times I had a drink in the store but I always paid for it first.
it was always repulsive to me when customers would be pushing a shopping cart while eating (unpaid for food).
those things don’t get wiped down, at least at the grocery store where i worked, and there‘s no knowing when the person who used that cart before them last washed their hands.
Yeah the amount of times I have to reset the self scan scale because it doesn’t match the weight of the item because they’ve eaten half of the product ..
Stores should be able to have their cashiers charge an additional fee for customers coming up with empty wrappers because they were hungry and needed to eat something while shopping.
This. My workplace stipulates an added fee of €0.10 to €0.20 for the weighed sweets (to make up for sweets that are eaten before checkout or fall on the floor).
However, if I see a customer eating the sweets before paying, or they're annoying in some way (like clogging the line by checking lotto tickets, complaining about a clearly marked price, being a delinquent, etc), I'll charge an extra €0.40 or more, depending on the size of their bag (the larger the bag, the larger the add-on).
The anount of times they just hand you the wrapper and tell you to throw it away for them after scanning it is annoying. If they dont have enough, I usually just tell them to Bugger off because my drawer isnt going to be short because of your idiotic choice.
I have diabetes and one day, I got to the grocery store right about the time my blood sugar was crashing. I feel if it was bad enough, I would have been justified in just eating something and paying after, but it wasn't. So in the middle of what is arguably a medical emergency, I grabbed a snack and a soda, asked them to put a bright orange "PAID" sticker on it, and sat my happy butt down to fix myself. It's really not hard to pay before eating.
There’s people like this and then I had a customer having a mild allergic reaction. He goes to the back of the store, calmly grabs his Benadryl tabs, pays for his medicine. 🫣 I would not fault him for taking it as soon as he got some.
I’ve only done it when desperate (super hot, low blood sugar, kid was well past lunch and was losing his gd mind and I had to shop for groceries and couldn’t exactly leave and let him chill since the grocery store was an hour away).
The only thing that bothers me as an employee is when people make a mess like you were saying, or leave an item for you to touch when they’ve clearly had it in their mouth so you’re either forced to touch where their mouth has been or something like that. Or when a kid has that OH MY GOD WHY ARE YOU TAKING IT fit? Like, just ask them to hold it up, I’ll scan it. I’ve got 2 kids, I can talk to this one too. But you just snatch it away and the kid is freaking out…
I don’t either, all these comments are so hostile for no reason. If I want water, I can drink it and still scan it. The only problem would be if it’s a by weight item.
I understand if people are making a mess and leaving trash everywhere, but if they pay for what they ate without a fuss then...whatever. "It's technically theft if you haven't paid" is ridiculous.
tbh i dont mind as long as you dont leave a mess/your fingers get gunky when youre trying to pay for it. if you need a snack then snack. just dont give me $1 with added cheeto dust
Once had a woman come in with her kids and they tore up all kinds of bags of food to eat. They took a soda from up front and drank it. If that wasn’t bad enough they took some cups that we sell and poured it into them to drink like they were having a little tea party or something.
Personally, I consider it shrink until it's paid for.
Anytime I go into a store hungry/thirsty, I'll buy something before shopping then munch on or drink it will I shop, keeping the receipt in case any employee says something.
I grew up with a family that did this and it's always driven me crazy. I don't understand why so many feel it's is okay behavior.
Had a former Cub Scout friend who I went with him and mom and brother grocery shopping once. Mom said we could pick a donut out to eat so I was like “cool we can have them later”. Him and his brother start eating right away and mom did nothing. She tells my brothers and I we could eat ours. I’m autistic (didn’t know it at the time) but my mom always had us pay for anything before opening it.
I felt pretty guilty eating that donut right there and I was just a kid
the stores I've seen with this have a bar in the store, so you can get a glass of beer or wine while you shop but you pay for it at the bar not the register.
Where I've seen it it is the grocery carts telling you to do this. There is a seperate beer can cup holder with a paragraph explaining how you are welcome to drink in the store. All these stores have a wine bar and liquor license to serve on premis.
Edit; Premises?
My store PA you can drink but need to pay and drink in designated area. No open containers in store. We’ve only had like 3-4 incidents where we’ve told people they can’t bring it out of that area in the 5 yrs it’s been open. Nothing bad either and most of the customers were like “oh didn’t realize that” and apologetic.
I will grocery shop while drinking a water because the cashiers know me very well and that I am not stealing. But I would never walk around eating or stand at the register eating and drinking. My ex-husband stood at the register once, eating string cheese while our purchases were being rang up and I was so embarrassed, I just walked away.
it was always repulsive to me when customers would be pushing a shopping cart while eating (unpaid for food).
those things don’t get wiped down, at least at the grocery store where i worked, and there‘s no knowing when the person who used that cart before them last washed their hands.
Personally this doesn’t bother me too much. I know it’s not exactly the same but in a restaurant you eat the entire thing before you pay.
Now the customers that open and eat food from a package and put it back without the intention to pay are the infuriating ones. Those “customers” can go to hell
I usually bring my own drinks to work but if I don't have anything I ask MOD first and they usually okay it. My employer refuses to turn our ac on so we're sweating our tails off and need to keep hydrated. MOD always comes up when they have a chance and ring my out for whatever drink I have and it's fine. We run on 2 person coverage most of the time so it's iffy when it happens but I always make sure it gets paid for before I leave for the day. Medical situations are always okay. I dont see alot of it though as I work in a craft store.
We got a krispy kreame in our shopping center and 3 nights ago I had some people in my produce section touching shit while eating donuts. It was disgusting and they showed no care in the world
When I was a child I ate a grape while at the grocery store and my mom scolded me so thanks Mom, that's forever ingrained in me 👍 on the real though, I have only ever had to do this once when my blood sugar crashed really suddenly. I never once considered eating while shopping, that's a wild thought to me.
I hate hearing people chew lol also the sounds coming from a person who sounds like hes tasting the hell out his food🤣🤣🤣jk
But yea it’s technically stealing cuz hasnt been paid for yet. Ive never done this b4 ever. Only way id do is if medically necessary. Its never a good idea to shop when hungry, people tend to buy things that arent necessarily healthy ugh
one of my coworkers had a customer who ate a banana and then put the peel on the till.. the customer was laughing about it the whole time saying how she always does this and it’s fine. my coworker told her it was a weighted product and the customer said it’s not like that everywhere (it literally is though), so my coworker went and grabbed another banana to weigh
Honestly, I don’t care as long as you pay for it before you leave the store. Unless it’s an item that is priced by weight. That drives me crazy. Like watching a grown woman snacking on the grapes as she shops. Drives me crazy. But if your kid is hungry and you open the box of fruit snacks before you get to the register, I really don’t care.
I try not to, honestly. I usually only will break that personal rule if it's water. Arizona law says it is illegal to deny water to people in the summer (or in general? I'm not sure)
If it's an emergency, I'll gravitate towards asking for a water cup or fountain. That sometimes isn't an option, though.
Sorry not sorry but i hate it when adults or parents themselves allow their kids to open foods or drinks that hasnt been paid for. Our store has baskets of fresh fruit for children or anyone to snack on for FREE along for their shopping. What irritates me also is when they leave their rubbish down the isles, on the shelves, in their trolleys and some how "forget" to tell the operaters. I hate to see kids opening up foods that hasnt been paid for yet because their parents allows it or either has seen them do it. Feed your kids before shopping damn or at least pay for it before eating or so god, I hope your card declines so i can embarass tf out of u
If I’m thirsty, I’ll get a drink while I’m shopping. Why do you care at all? It gets paid for, I don’t leave trash, I’m not thirsty. Nobody loses. It hurts no one.
I've never done this before and it makes me really uncomfortable to see ppl doing it. I'd only ever consider it if I was about to throw up/pass out from dehydration and time was a factor.
I've done it once. I was pregnant and forgot to eat lunch before grocery shopping. Halfway through the store, I had to chug half a bottle of sweet tea and sit on the floor for 10 minutes, shaking and trying not to throw up. Which, I know, still doesn't make it okay. But one of the few situations someone should have to be in before they stoop to that level.
I had a guy try to pay for oj before drinking it and he was clearly not well. I asked if his blood sugar was ok and he shook his head. I told him to sit and just drink, do not worry about it, get yourself right first.
That's what I mean. It's a medical need at that point.
...I feel like that makes it ok
I mean, it's technically still stealing. But no one is going to kick out a person sitting next to a cart of groceries with half a drink/snack who's clearly trying not to be sick. A medical need is an important excuse and should be met with sympathy. It's just an issue with the letter of the law, plus I still feel kinda gross handing something half finished to a cashier to ring up.
Did anyone notice and ask if you needed help?
One person stopped by and asked if I was okay. I explained and told them I'd be okay in a minute, and they nodded and moved on. It was a middle aged woman, so she probably understood what was up.
That absolutely makes it okay? If I worked in that place I’d have not even charged you for it, tbh.
I have done it. I don't see the issue.
I had a known troublemaker (holding up closing, making messes, probably shoplifting) come in and when she came up to the register her card declined (this happens a lot with her). She had drunk a few swallows of a soda at that point. I made her give it back. She said “but I already drank some of it, it will go to waste.” Didn’t care. Threw it in the trash in front of her. Aggravates me so much.
it’s even worse when you work at a clothing retail store, so any snacks are overpriced. people will start to eat snacks before getting checked out and then get insanely upset when their snack rings up $4. $4 is crazy for a snack or candy but you are in a clothing store and hopefully that teaches you not to open something before buying!
The worst ones are the ones who ask you to watch their child in the buggy while they grab something. Nope, a cashier is not your baby sitter.
It is technically stealing, I believe
at every job i’ve ever had, employees would get fired for stealing if they did it.
That's your fault for being an employee and not a customer. Shame on you. /s
It really is stealing if you haven’t paid for it already. It’s not yours until you buy it.
In some places it's legal as long as it's not something by weight. Like chips or biscuits
I think you're right cause it devalues the item
I will only do this in an emergency situation. I have some blood sugar issues and once in a great while the wait is too long and I can feel myself starting to crash so I have to slam some juice. I always apologize because I hate when customers do that, too. Once I say "medical condition" most cashiers are totally sweet and make sure I'm okay before letting me leave. I'm extremely well regulated so this doesn't happen often.
Oh I hate that especially when it's a produce item like an apple or banana that's priced per/lb and the customer plays dumb and says "oh I didn't realize they were by pound" Yes you did!
Came here to say this.
As if fruit by the pound isn’t how it’s sold 95% of the time.
*I hate hearing ppl drinking and swallowing...* I'm with you on this, in fact this isn't just a personal quirk but may actually be a case of undiagnosed *Misophonia.* Loud chewing noises can cause annoyance and frustration for anyone, but for people living with the condition called misophonia, originally known as selective sound sensitivity syndrome, these noises are more than just bothersome. With misophonia, those sounds, and plenty of others, can be downright unbearable.
Misophonia gang!!!! For me is the ASMR whispering voices.
It's really awful. Makes me want to rip my head off and throw it at the source, or rip my arm off and beat them (just punching them would not get my point across fully). And I don't have anger issues, it's just this one thing.
I hate open mouth chewing the most since I can hear *everything* that's going on. I have something similar with high pitches and tones sometimes. It gives me that cringe where my shoulders go up, and I shrink down. It makes me sick almost immediately, and sometimes, it does bring me to the point of vomiting or at least gagging. I have to turn down our scanning beepers at work or it gets to me
Me too, it’s like just because you’re eating doesn’t mean I want to hear your mouth chewing like a cow and making noises. Eat with your mouth closed pig. It’s not cute and some people are just so nasty.
Unless there were free samples, this should be treated as theft. Literally needs to stop.
I agree. But easier said than done.
But...we ignore theft.
Sorry. It’s hot out and sometimes I’ll open a drink before I get to the register. I’ll always pay for it and I only do it 1/100 times. But eating? I can’t understand.
If someone has a blood sugar issue or metabolic issue it can be a medical need. Just like water when you're dehydrated.
That’s the only reason I’d do it. It’s about to hit a month of +100 degrees Fahrenheit topping out at a week of 110 (37-42 Celsius for the rest of the world) where I’m at. I try to drink a gallon of water every day.
Ive only ever done that once when i walked to publix in the florida heat and forgot to bring water so i had a few sips and then paid. But i wouldnt do it with FOOD
I would just be too afraid something would happen like I forgot my wallet and didn’t have a way to pay, Apple Pay wasn’t working, card got locked for some reason, power went out before I could pay, etc. I’ve had a few times I had a drink in the store but I always paid for it first.
I check my wallet on the way in. I did that once and had to leave a cart full of groceries and run home. I won’t do that again.
I don’t mind paying and THEN eating but eating before paying… Seriously…do they have any shame?
it was always repulsive to me when customers would be pushing a shopping cart while eating (unpaid for food). those things don’t get wiped down, at least at the grocery store where i worked, and there‘s no knowing when the person who used that cart before them last washed their hands.
Yeah the amount of times I have to reset the self scan scale because it doesn’t match the weight of the item because they’ve eaten half of the product ..
Stores should be able to have their cashiers charge an additional fee for customers coming up with empty wrappers because they were hungry and needed to eat something while shopping.
This. My workplace stipulates an added fee of €0.10 to €0.20 for the weighed sweets (to make up for sweets that are eaten before checkout or fall on the floor). However, if I see a customer eating the sweets before paying, or they're annoying in some way (like clogging the line by checking lotto tickets, complaining about a clearly marked price, being a delinquent, etc), I'll charge an extra €0.40 or more, depending on the size of their bag (the larger the bag, the larger the add-on).
The anount of times they just hand you the wrapper and tell you to throw it away for them after scanning it is annoying. If they dont have enough, I usually just tell them to Bugger off because my drawer isnt going to be short because of your idiotic choice.
I have diabetes and one day, I got to the grocery store right about the time my blood sugar was crashing. I feel if it was bad enough, I would have been justified in just eating something and paying after, but it wasn't. So in the middle of what is arguably a medical emergency, I grabbed a snack and a soda, asked them to put a bright orange "PAID" sticker on it, and sat my happy butt down to fix myself. It's really not hard to pay before eating.
There’s people like this and then I had a customer having a mild allergic reaction. He goes to the back of the store, calmly grabs his Benadryl tabs, pays for his medicine. 🫣 I would not fault him for taking it as soon as he got some.
I’ve only done it when desperate (super hot, low blood sugar, kid was well past lunch and was losing his gd mind and I had to shop for groceries and couldn’t exactly leave and let him chill since the grocery store was an hour away). The only thing that bothers me as an employee is when people make a mess like you were saying, or leave an item for you to touch when they’ve clearly had it in their mouth so you’re either forced to touch where their mouth has been or something like that. Or when a kid has that OH MY GOD WHY ARE YOU TAKING IT fit? Like, just ask them to hold it up, I’ll scan it. I’ve got 2 kids, I can talk to this one too. But you just snatch it away and the kid is freaking out…
I honestly don’t see what the big deal is
I don’t either, all these comments are so hostile for no reason. If I want water, I can drink it and still scan it. The only problem would be if it’s a by weight item.
I understand if people are making a mess and leaving trash everywhere, but if they pay for what they ate without a fuss then...whatever. "It's technically theft if you haven't paid" is ridiculous.
tbh i dont mind as long as you dont leave a mess/your fingers get gunky when youre trying to pay for it. if you need a snack then snack. just dont give me $1 with added cheeto dust
Yeah. Those annoying bratty kids need to learn to wait
Once had a woman come in with her kids and they tore up all kinds of bags of food to eat. They took a soda from up front and drank it. If that wasn’t bad enough they took some cups that we sell and poured it into them to drink like they were having a little tea party or something.
Ew
Ew, I think I would have told her to gather her feral brood and leave. Wouldn't be surprised is they started howling though.
Its the worst when they finish the snack and the parent hands you a drooly crumb covered wrapper to scan
Annoying bratty kids are from parents with their head up their rear end not being a parent. No ifs, ands or buts about it.
Personally, I consider it shrink until it's paid for. Anytime I go into a store hungry/thirsty, I'll buy something before shopping then munch on or drink it will I shop, keeping the receipt in case any employee says something. I grew up with a family that did this and it's always driven me crazy. I don't understand why so many feel it's is okay behavior.
Had a former Cub Scout friend who I went with him and mom and brother grocery shopping once. Mom said we could pick a donut out to eat so I was like “cool we can have them later”. Him and his brother start eating right away and mom did nothing. She tells my brothers and I we could eat ours. I’m autistic (didn’t know it at the time) but my mom always had us pay for anything before opening it. I felt pretty guilty eating that donut right there and I was just a kid
There are a couple stores in my area that actually encourage you to crack open a beer while doing your grocery shopping.
the stores I've seen with this have a bar in the store, so you can get a glass of beer or wine while you shop but you pay for it at the bar not the register.
Where I've seen it it is the grocery carts telling you to do this. There is a seperate beer can cup holder with a paragraph explaining how you are welcome to drink in the store. All these stores have a wine bar and liquor license to serve on premis. Edit; Premises?
My store PA you can drink but need to pay and drink in designated area. No open containers in store. We’ve only had like 3-4 incidents where we’ve told people they can’t bring it out of that area in the 5 yrs it’s been open. Nothing bad either and most of the customers were like “oh didn’t realize that” and apologetic.
I will grocery shop while drinking a water because the cashiers know me very well and that I am not stealing. But I would never walk around eating or stand at the register eating and drinking. My ex-husband stood at the register once, eating string cheese while our purchases were being rang up and I was so embarrassed, I just walked away.
If someone needs something to drink, they should drink.
it was always repulsive to me when customers would be pushing a shopping cart while eating (unpaid for food). those things don’t get wiped down, at least at the grocery store where i worked, and there‘s no knowing when the person who used that cart before them last washed their hands.
Personally this doesn’t bother me too much. I know it’s not exactly the same but in a restaurant you eat the entire thing before you pay. Now the customers that open and eat food from a package and put it back without the intention to pay are the infuriating ones. Those “customers” can go to hell
I usually bring my own drinks to work but if I don't have anything I ask MOD first and they usually okay it. My employer refuses to turn our ac on so we're sweating our tails off and need to keep hydrated. MOD always comes up when they have a chance and ring my out for whatever drink I have and it's fine. We run on 2 person coverage most of the time so it's iffy when it happens but I always make sure it gets paid for before I leave for the day. Medical situations are always okay. I dont see alot of it though as I work in a craft store.
We got a krispy kreame in our shopping center and 3 nights ago I had some people in my produce section touching shit while eating donuts. It was disgusting and they showed no care in the world
When I was a child I ate a grape while at the grocery store and my mom scolded me so thanks Mom, that's forever ingrained in me 👍 on the real though, I have only ever had to do this once when my blood sugar crashed really suddenly. I never once considered eating while shopping, that's a wild thought to me.
I hate hearing people chew lol also the sounds coming from a person who sounds like hes tasting the hell out his food🤣🤣🤣jk But yea it’s technically stealing cuz hasnt been paid for yet. Ive never done this b4 ever. Only way id do is if medically necessary. Its never a good idea to shop when hungry, people tend to buy things that arent necessarily healthy ugh
one of my coworkers had a customer who ate a banana and then put the peel on the till.. the customer was laughing about it the whole time saying how she always does this and it’s fine. my coworker told her it was a weighted product and the customer said it’s not like that everywhere (it literally is though), so my coworker went and grabbed another banana to weigh
Honestly, I don’t care as long as you pay for it before you leave the store. Unless it’s an item that is priced by weight. That drives me crazy. Like watching a grown woman snacking on the grapes as she shops. Drives me crazy. But if your kid is hungry and you open the box of fruit snacks before you get to the register, I really don’t care.
I try not to, honestly. I usually only will break that personal rule if it's water. Arizona law says it is illegal to deny water to people in the summer (or in general? I'm not sure) If it's an emergency, I'll gravitate towards asking for a water cup or fountain. That sometimes isn't an option, though.
It shocks me how many people walk around in stores eating and drinking. And a lot of them don’t pay. How do they not know it’s stealing?
They know, they're just assholes
Sorry not sorry but i hate it when adults or parents themselves allow their kids to open foods or drinks that hasnt been paid for. Our store has baskets of fresh fruit for children or anyone to snack on for FREE along for their shopping. What irritates me also is when they leave their rubbish down the isles, on the shelves, in their trolleys and some how "forget" to tell the operaters. I hate to see kids opening up foods that hasnt been paid for yet because their parents allows it or either has seen them do it. Feed your kids before shopping damn or at least pay for it before eating or so god, I hope your card declines so i can embarass tf out of u
If I’m thirsty, I’ll get a drink while I’m shopping. Why do you care at all? It gets paid for, I don’t leave trash, I’m not thirsty. Nobody loses. It hurts no one.
Then quit the job and become a hobo.
The asshole clients follow me even here.. . Please don't eat inside the store. . Pay before you open anything. . . It's just the store rules
Alright. Now, that you asked us we’re going to reimagine our behaviour. Have a wonderful day, sir or madam.