Did you eat crackers and snacks and drink pop at the grocery store, and give the cashier the empty box or bottle to scan?

Yes, sometimes, and why not? If you pay for it you’re not stealing.

I personally don’t. But I see it all the time at the Safeway on campus that is wildly expensive.

So if you want to focus on the Walmart part it is spanning all spectrum of income.

And really. Kids are a fucking nightmare to shop with. Shove shit in the face to keep em happy and settle the bill. Everyone is a winner.

I had a customer who would eat an ice cream sandwich and forget to keep the bar code. Pissed me off. We ended up unplugging the microwave, because we would have to scan a hot barcode and burn our hands. Some people would not have the money to pay for the snacks . I had s regular who would only have a $100 bill and get his friends to pay for his coffee . One time I got sick and cashed his $100 and gave him $96 dollar coins change.

If the person has diabetes , and has low blood sugar, then I let it slide.

I just thought it was odd. Can’t get through an hour of shopping with out eating?

People like that should be lined up and shot.
Until you paid for the product, opening, damaging, or eating it, is vandalism.

I don’t think there is any harm in it. I just think it’s strange.

It is a capital crime.

Off with their heads!

LOL! I never used food for any reason other than to feed the kids when they’re hungry. Never for a bribe or reward.

This is what should happen to them

Not acceptable. Until you’ve paid for it it isn’t yours. Is it asking to much to pretend you are human beings rather than animals.

I would never do it. I used to work at a grocery store, many years ago, and it was considered stealing. I actually saw a very polite sign in a grocery store a few months back that suggested that people wait until they’ve paid at the register to enjoy their snacks.

Reddeer…if a person had diabetes or low blood sugar they should be prepared no matter where the are. They should have what the need on hand and immediately accessible.

@Dutchess_lll Life happens.

My friend, who has 2 kids, always brings her own snacks (already bought and paid for) to the geocery store when she shops, as should everyone.

Don’t eat the merchandise, until you’ve paid for it.

I’ve never done this. I’m kind of with you on this one @Dutchess_lll. Unless you are diabetic and need something quick you can wait a few minutes until you are done shopping.

My father keeps cookies in his car for emergencies. If he’s in the store shopping and needs something ASAP, that cookie in the car won’t help. How is he supposed to carry it on himself? His pocket? If he got to a point where he needed something immediately, most likely someone would notice and help him. I see nothing wrong with eating something in this situation.

I think it’s kind of rude to do so.

Never. I can wait the 10 minutes it takes to finish up and get outside the store. It seems rude and shows a lack of control.
Unless you’re in diabetic shock wait a couple of minutes until you’ve paid for it. .

I don’t do it but I don’t judge others who might especially if they are shopping with cranky children. The older I get the more aware I am trying to become that I haven’t walked in other people’s shoes.

There are certainly moments in all our lives as parents – or even daily practices – that we would not want others to critique.

I don’t do it, but if I had a hungry kid I think I’d probably do it. Not as a ritual every time we are in the market, but if the timing got away from me I’d do it. I’d rather give my kid a cookie than they go into a whining stint during the shopping trip. I guess possibly if I was extremely thirst I might do it, but I don’t think I ever have. Generally speaking, my mind frame is how often do I need to eat or drink, and can’t I wait a half an hour? I don’t eat in the grocery store, I don’t eat in my car, I almost never eat at the cinema (if I do it’s usually because I sneaked something in myself). There are rare occasion I break these “rules” but very rare. It’s not really a rule, it’s just how it is. My husband is the same. Our families we grew up in are the same.

Technically, it’s stealing, your consuming the product before paying for it, but I think most stores are fine with it.

At Publix supermarkets they have small cookies at the bakery specifically to give away to young children while they are in the store.

How about “Stop nagging, you little shit, or I will lock you up in the cupboard next time!”?

Well, the fact that you were so surprised by this, @Dutchess_lll, that it blew your mind at your age (what? Early 60s?) is in indicator of its rarity. Like @RedDeerGuy1 said, “Life happens”. Not everyone shares your perspective on food. And life (well, mine anyway!) was never so neatly packaged as some of the other posters here. Good for you all, congratulations!

Life does, indeed, happen.

One time – exactly once – I opened something up to consume it in the store. I didn’t bother paying for it.

I admit….sometimes I grab a donut and eat it while I shop
and then give the tissue to the cashier and tell her to charge
me for 1 donut. But it is kinda tacky and rude when you get
right down to it.

As an adult I never have , but I remember my mother doing that for us, mainly I think to shut us up,the cashier thought nothing of it, ringing through the empty wrappers.
I see mothers doing that for their kids to this day, doesn’t bother me a bit as long as they pay for it.
Some people get upset over nothing.
I have never seen an adult doing it for themselves, just for kids.

I battled with hypoglycemia most of my life.
Without warning my sugar would drop fast and hard. Little dancing spots, stumble to a chair, the whole bit.
I was in a store once and it hit. I needed my head clear so I could get done and get my baby home.
When I put an empty Dew and snack wrapper in the belt, explained and apologized, she smiled and told me it was no problem. She said they see lots of people snacking, but I was the first to pay for the empties.
I was treated well there always.

I don’t think it is horrible, and I don’t consider placating a fussy child bribery. Shopping is tough on little ones, and seeing all that food is quite the trigger.
No, it is not bribery, it is soothing angst, and a public service.

I recently noticed a neighborhood store has been putting out “free taste” produce, on the honor system, sometimes cherry tomatoes, sometimes grapes.

I totally agree ^^ @Patty_Melt I would rather a mother give a little one a cracker or cookie then listen to the little one scream through the store.

I’m surprised that can be done in a supermarket, a well known one, too, at that. During my school years me and my friends sometimes visited supermarkets and I have seen them secretly pick some fruits in the fruit section to eat quickly (I did not participate in such a thing, mind you, as I’m a germaphobic person), what cannot be finished will be put deep inside the basket and covered with other new (untouched) fruits to prevent others from noticing. We even went to the lotion and perfume section and put on all those things for free, and put them back to the counter like they have never been tampered. They even stole some pencils and pens, successfully, of course (after all, who would put metallic tag on some cheap ol’ pencils). I know all those things were wrong but you can’t really control some mischievous teenagers at that time, plus I, alone, have the money to pay back all the damage should we get caught and I joined such a thing only for the fun and experience. I’m only reminisching the past so please don’t judge me on this.

Now let’s imagine that people like that exist in your supermarket. Do you think it’s wise for them to allow the customers to tamper with the products before they buy them? I know there are places in Japan where such a thing is allowed due to the trust that the locals still uphold societal decency but in general and especially in modern cities there should be a uniform rule that govern how and when a product is finally belongs to a customer and can be freely tampered afterwards.

I have never even thought of doing such a thing. Lord.
I had a friend who opened a jar of pickles, took one out, replaced the lid and we kept walking down the aisle. I forever thought of her as a thief.

I only had one kid ever start screaming and crying in the grocery store. It was my grandson. He was upset because we couldn’t get a Barney movie. I just took him outside and sat on a bench until he was done.
My kids just….didn’t scream and carry on very often. My daughter did once. After a warning I took her in the bathroom and swatted her butt. She also got upset once because I wouldn’t let her out of the basket to walk. Then she said, “I can’t hear my feet!” She had on these hard soled black shoes that sounded rather like tap shoes. So then I let her get out and walk.
I just..expected them to behave, and for the most part they did.

I fed the them breakfast, lunch and dinner. No snacks. I had no junk food in the house. I just had a different perspective of food than most people, I guess. I’m not saying it was better or anything, so don’t gang up on me here.

@Aster, that is not only tacky, it was dangerous for whom ever bought the pickles.

@Aethelwine I thought people with those issues carried small, hard candies around with them. They easily fit in a pocket.

On the other hand, when I worked at a farm, they had samples from every department out constantly. The guys in produce would slice off chunks of fruit for anyone who asked. Always platters of cheese chunks and baked goods out with toothpicks. Even the kitchen had someone on the floor cooking most of the time.

In those cases, I say fill your face (and maybe your pockets).

Summers here are brutal. Sometimes I drink some gatorade before I buy it, because it’s so damn hot. I only do it, if I have cash. Just in case my debit card doesn’t work.

I found it’s bad in self checkout lines. The item doesn’t weigh the same, so it causes the cashier helper to have to come override the computer. It’s something I try not to do.
I don’t think I have ever eaten anything.

Eating a grape is a little different. Grapes you can’t oay for once you eat it. Grapes are by weight. If you eat a bunch you aren’t paying for it when you get to the register, are you? Packaged food you pay for the empty container.

Taking a piece of food from a package, or using the perfume and leaving the the rest of the product on the shelf, is pure theft, and disgusting, and those people should be arrested.

No you don’t pay for food you eat that is sold by weight. That’s why I couldn’t give the kid a banana until it was rung up.

^^Sometimes banana are a price per each and sometimes they are by weight. I still wouldn’t eat a banana before paying for it, what are you going to do, show the cashier the peel?

Anyway, I don’t eat in the store like I said above. Plus, just a month ago I had $100 worth of groceries in my cart when I got to the register and realized I had no money and no credit cards. Luckily, my husband picked up my call and saved me. Lol.

@JLeslie I asked the cashier.

^^I’m basically agreeing with you about the banana, if you hadn’t noticed.

A hundred times. We did it when I was a kid. I would always get one of those huge dill pickles back in the meat department. I let my kids get a snack to eat while I shopped too. The problem came when they wanted grapes or something that had to be weighed. I would make a point of buying some too so the clerk could charge for what the kids ate.

Also, @Dutchess_III that mom who didn’t want to take a banana from your cart was being cautious. I would not have taken it either.

Ridiculous.

No, I make it a habit to eat a full meal just before going to the grocery store because it keeps me from succombing to the horrid impulse buy!!!

Wow.