Used This While Grocery Shopping

[BeagleMommy]

I grocery shop once every two weeks (so, twice per month).  As I was pushing my cart out to my car a woman (whom I didn't know) peeked into my cart and said "That's a lot of food".  I kind of blinked at her and said "Yes, it is.".

Her next response was "I HATE seeing people waste food.  You really shouldn't buy so much when you're going to throw away most of it."

"That's an interesting assumption."  I said flatly.  She took a step backward and then walked away shaking her head.  Thank you, ehell!

[Layla Miller]

Wha...what? 

Why the heck would she assume you aren't going to use most of the food you're buying?  That doesn't even make sense!  I'm honestly trying to understand why anyone would purposely and knowingly buy too much food just to throw it away--thus wasting not only food, but money.  Short of some kind of compulsive grocery shopping disorder, I'm coming up blank.

Well done on using the phrase, though! 

[EllenS]

Well played, madam.

[GlitterIsMyDrug]

So she already knew you and your family weren't going to consume the food you bought? Next time ask if she knows the winning lotto numbers since she's clearly phsyic!

I always see peole with super full carts and think I'm doing something wrong, we shop weekly so it never looks like very much food.

[veronaz]

Good for you, OP.

Not her business what you have in your cart.

sheesh........

[Hmmmmm]

Applause, applause, applause.

Maybe next time she'll keep her nose in her own basket.

[Suzume]

Heh, until I got a car recently (within the last 2 weeks) I had to rent a car for a couple of days and grocery shop for 2 months at one time. I think I must give "leave me alone" vibes because the only comment I ever got was something like "You must have a big family to feed!" (Which I don't.. it's just me at the moment, but buying 2 month's worth of supplies in one trip sure looks like a lot.)

I suppose my point is just to say good for you. Great response. People really do have a tendency to jump to conclusions.

[BeagleMommy]

Yeah, shopping only twice per month to feed three adults and a beagle with an appetite the size of an elephant usually puts a lot of food in my cart.  I think I attract the crazies.

[Asharah]

If it's any consolation, you aren't the only one who's run into crazy people in the grocary store. 
http://www.etiquettehell.com/?p=3761&cpage=1#comments

[English1]

I wish I'd known this a few years ago.

I had a badly broken wrist which resulted in RSD (a complication effecting nervous system). My arm and hand looked REALLY strange, was extremely painful, was immobile, and I was scared sick that it was going to be left totally crippled. A difficult and upsetting time.

I popped into supermarket to buy sandwich for lunch (I was at work that day for a few hours). The cashier looked at my odd arm/hand and said 'Is that a false arm?'. Yes, it did kinda look that way to be honest, but why ask? I shot out a scowl and an abrupt 'no'. To which she reared back in horror, and shrieked 'ugh! What's wrong with it then?' Cue me just about making it back to office and dissolving in tears.

What an interesting assumption would have been a better answer to her first question as it might have shut her down. And yes, I do now wish I'd gone back and complained about her, but at the time I just wanted to forget all about it.

[English1]

And on the original point. When my son was a teenager he ate huge gigantic amounts of food (while still remaining slim) so my trolley was always very full on shopping trips, even just for the two of us. I don't think a single crumb of anything escaped him long enough to be wasted or thrown out when he was going through that hollow-legs boy phase.

[Elisabunny]

I wish I'd known this a few years ago.

I had a badly broken wrist which resulted in RSD (a complication effecting nervous system). My arm and hand looked REALLY strange, was extremely painful, was immobile, and I was scared sick that it was going to be left totally crippled. A difficult and upsetting time.

I popped into supermarket to buy sandwich for lunch (I was at work that day for a few hours). The cashier looked at my odd arm/hand and said 'Is that a false arm?'. Yes, it did kinda look that way to be honest, but why ask? I shot out a scowl and an abrupt 'no'. To which she reared back in horror, and shrieked 'ugh! What's wrong with it then?' Cue me just about making it back to office and dissolving in tears.

What an interesting assumption would have been a better answer to her first question as it might have shut her down. And yes, I do now wish I'd gone back and complained about her, but at the time I just wanted to forget all about it.

I don't think WAIA quite works in this case, because a normal, minimally considerate person (not classifying her as one) would not be making any assumption, just blurting out the question in a brain-mouth-filter-failure as they tried to understand what they were viewing.  At which point, your scowl would have been answered with a simple, oh I'm sorry, and life would go on.

The cashier sounds like a drama llama who would have kept pushing no matter what you did.

[Shalamar]

Not as bad as what happened to poor English1, but I once had a cashier at a grocery store ask suspiciously "What's wrong with your baby?" as I was trying to check out.  What was "wrong" was that my infant daughter had had enough of grocery shopping and wanted to go home, and she was making sure the entire store knew it.   I think I responded "She's just hungry".  What I wanted to say was "Um, she's a BABY.  Babies cry.  Got any more intelligent questions?"

[Minmom3]

Not as bad as what happened to poor English1, but I once had a cashier at a grocery store ask suspiciously "What's wrong with your baby?" as I was trying to check out.  What was "wrong" was that my infant daughter had had enough of grocery shopping and wanted to go home, and she was making sure the entire store knew it.   I think I responded "She's just hungry".  What I wanted to say was "Um, she's a BABY.  Babies cry.  Got any more intelligent questions?"

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.... 

(Life - her life sucks because she can't speak yet, so she can't tell me what's up; Liberty - she's not at liberty to take herself home since she's not old enough to drive yet; Happiness - she'll be much happier once she's fed, changed, and had a nap....)   

[Bottlecaps]

What rudeness - and what a perfect response to said rudeness. You handled that quite well.