Would you say anything to a customer overhandling fruit at the grocery store?

Ugh. As a retail manager I hate shit like this, because these are always the people who have a total meltdown in the store.

Unless she’s ripping open sealed bags, I don’t think she’s technically doing anything wrong. But it is definitely annoying and borderline not ok.

Wegman’s is a food paradise. It’s a gleaming cornucopia of awesome. Love that place!

Best case, I would point it out to an employee. Worse case, I would either hit her in the head with said bag of produce, or ask her what the f*** she was doing. Which I have done recently on several occasions. My mouth and my temper get away at times.
Wegman’s is amazing. Anyone that hasn’t been in one should check them out.

You both know that Wegman’s is top notch and there was no need to select since every bag is perfect already. The bags had a resealable top so they could be opened and closed without breaking a seal. I was so tempted to stick my hand in her bag and stir it around like she was ultimately doing to other customers’ fruit. But I did not. I would be the one to get in trouble.
I wish I had taken a video of her doing it.

Does anyone have a suggestions about what I should have done? Even if I managed to call a manager in time, Wegman’s is so customer oriented I doubt they would have said anything to her.

True, they do let the customer be right all the time. Then my plan B is best. Take a bag of the cherries to the cashier, pay for it, then bash her in the head with it while your better half brings the car to the door for a fast getaway.

Ignore it. She’s not the first to do this and she won’t be the last. I wash my fruit before I eat it anyway, so unless she came up to my cart and went through my bag that I picked out, I have bigger fish to fry elsewhere,

Comment out loud to nobody in particular making sure she gets the message!

I haven’t yet read the previous answers. If I know myself, I would have a hard time not saying anything. I would probably say something along the lines of “Do you think everyone wants to buy fruit that you had your hands on? Is everyone supposed to buy the fruit that you rejected?”

I think it’s not a matter of her having her dirty hands on the fruit, because obviously it’s been picked in the fields and handled by multiple people previously anyway. It’s a matter of that people usually pick out the fruit that feels the way they want it (firm, usually). If she is picking out the firm ones from all the bags and leaving the rest for others, it’s like she’s taking the superior ones for herself and leaving the rest for those who come after.

I’d probably crack a joke, along the lines above. ” Sooo, a self appointed cherry picker ey?”
“Well…as long as your sorting please bag all the rejects and set them aside so I don’t get them.”
Some people have such nerve. I’d turn it into a comedy routine and she’d be gone in seconds after I embarrassed her. I’m sure I’d be able to draw in some audience participation too. haha

Now that there are some responses I will admit I did do something. I walked around the cart and stood next to her and just watched. after she went through about 5 bags. Then I said to picky one
Me: Seriously? Seriously?
PO: What?
Me: Do you think that is fair to everyone else”
PO: Oh everyone does it.
Me: I don’t. And I think most people do not want your hands in their bags.
PO: (In a huff) Well I’m finished here!
Me: Have a nice day!

Then I followed her up and down a few aisles.

(Thanks for letting me vent.)

Then I followed her up and down a few aisles.

I hate to say it, but that’s kind of creepy.

I know, right? I did do my shopping though.
I just happened to be going the same way: up that aisle and down the next. I did not try to avoid her or change my normal pattern.
Although I did have to spend a little extra time studying the various types of black olives.

I agree with @jonsblond‘s responses. That was a person you saw, what about the ones that you didn’t? Do you know that she didn’t have some sort of sorting disorder? If you were so concerned, ask a manager to get you a fresh bag from the back. I’d worry more about the ones you didn’t see that perhaps sneezed on stuff.

No, I wouldn’t have said anything – not because of an aversion to the conflict or lack of annoyance, but because I have thoroughly resigned myself to this situation already. I work in a tiny grocery co-op in direct view of the produce, and it grosses me out how much people handle all of it. And that I then touch it with my dirty money-handling hands to weigh it at the checkout. I have started lightly scrubbing most of my produce under cold flowing water, rather than just rinsing for a few seconds.

If anything, I’d do what @Coloma said. That’s what I tend to do when situations like this occur: when it’s something that is out of my control and won’t have a huge effect on anyone, yet still bothers me. Although it all depends on if I can find the right thing to say in time.

One of the things that bothered me was that she was effectively taking the “best ones” out of other (future) customers’ bags. If she wanted to buy all the bags and then do a sort that is fine. But at that point the cherries do not belong to her. She went through and manhandled 25 bags to find the few cherries she wanted.
She must be one miserable person.

@LuckyGuy It bothers me, too. My aunt does this with bananas. Another thing I don’t like is when people rummage through milk or bread to find the on with the latest date.

@dxs Going through bread or milk to find the latest date is just good buying practices.
Why would I buy the milk in front that expires tomorrow when I can get the one in the back that expires in 7 days?
As for the cherrie picker, I wouldn’t have said anything but I would have made eye contact and from a look from me, she would know I thought she was doing the wrong thing.

@chyna I’ve never seen it that exaggerated with dates. Usually it’s one that expires in 10 days vs. one that expires in 2 weeks. If everyone lived by your standard, a lot of food will go to waste. As if 40% of it doesn’t already…

@dxs @chyna I’m the guy buying the product with the oldest date! I like my grocery store and want them to do well. Also, I hate wasting food. I figure I’ll finish the food around the expiration date anyway. I leave the latest date stuff for the picky people with weaker immune systems and digestive tracts. :-)

No, i’d probably laugh & shake my head, if she then threw me a remark along the lines of “what you laughing at?” I’d feel obliged to return with something very simple like “an idiot”

If they are damaging the fruit it would bother me enough to say something.

As far as cherries, they are always sold in bags too large for me in my market so I usually create my own portion by taking half a bag of fruit from one bag and put it into the plastic produce bags. If the cherries seem to be almost all in good condition I just pour a half bag into the other. If they look like they need to be picked through I do just that. I don’t take from seven different bags though, and I don’t spend a ton of time on it. If they need that much picking over I don’t bother at all and buy a different fruit.

@ucme I’ll have to remember that line.
@JLeslie I can understand pouring out half a bag. This was going through many bags and selecting one or two from each. It was ridiculous.

@LuckyGuy Back in the day cherries were sold loose and everyone was picking at them. Now everything comes in bags. Maybe it is better when transporting? Maybe it gets the consumer to buy more? Maybe it helps keep the farm name in front of the consumer? Maybe it guarantees a few substandard pieces of fruits will be purchased. I don’t know why they have gone to prepackaged so much in recent years. Everyone touches fruit to see if it is ripe, I don’t think it is that big of a deal. Are you upset about the germs. I’m a quasi germaphobe and I don’t think about it with fruit.

@JLeslie Our small local grocery sells cherries the old fashion way. They are loose in a large crate and bags are available next to the crate. All the larger chain stores in the largest town near us sells them in individual bags. I love our local grocery, but they don’t always have what I need.

@LuckyGuy I have many, many fine comebacks for many, many occasions…said in my best Commandant Lassard voice

I think cherries are sold in bags now to prevent people from eating them. If each person samples one, that’s a bunch of cherries.

“Hello Ma’am, Would you like to be the one left to choose from all bad cherries? And see what she would say.