<p>I’ve moved to a city where it is common to see people eating in the grocery store. It isn’t that they sneak a grape to see if it’s ripe . . . people actually walk around the supermarket sipping Snapple and munching on bagels. For the most part it seems people pay for these items when they leave, but it strikes me as bizarre. </p>
<p>Do people do this where you live? Would you break open a box of granola bars and give one to your child as you shop?</p>
<p>I’ve seen it, but it’s not common in my town. It is more likely to happen when children are involved. </p>
<p>And people eating bagels and the like in the store…it’s commoner in some of the wealthier towns I’ve visited. (Santa Fe and Aspen–where I’ve seen all sorts of people munch their way thru the grocery store.)</p>
<p>There is a Starbucks in one grocery store, and a Dunkin Donuts in another. A third sells coffee and goodies in the bakery. There are even holders for the coffee cups on the carts. LOTS of folks nibble while they shop around here.</p>
<p>Don’t notice others, but once or twice, one of my parents opened a drink while shopping and paid for the empty bottle at the register. The cashier just smiled.</p>
<p>I thought this was going to be about the proliferation of the little sample stations! But it reminds me of a time when my kids were younger and we were away at a hockey tournament. The team was having a potluck dinner at the hotel that night and I took several other kids to the grocery store with me to gather supplies. One young man must have been in a growing stage as he stopped and accepted every sample offered in the store and then asked for seconds! I was busy picking up produce when I noticed him munching from the salad bar there…he didn’t realize it wasn’t free and we still laugh about it whenever I run into him (he’s 18 now)!</p>
<p>I always fed my kids before we hit the grocery store…much easier on the budget that way! (And I think it’s yucky to be eating food while touching carts n stuff.)</p>
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<p>But they pay BEFORE they start nibbling, right? That’s different from taking a Zinger from the box, and having the cashier later ring up a box of only 9 Zingers.</p>
<p>I have never seen someone eating at a store unless there was a food store at the front where you pay beforehand-- like Targets often have pizza hut express kind of things, our Walmart has a Subway, etc. I’d never open something without paying for it first. My mom has told me it’s okay to do that if I grab a bottle of water from the cooler in the checkout line and even that feels weird.</p>
<p>I do like to chow down on the costco hot dogs. :)</p>
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<p>You are assuming these folks aren’t paying when they cash out. I once ate a banana…when I got to the register all I had was the peel…I had the cashier cash out my bananas and then we pulled one off and rang up the cost of that too.</p>
<p>I’ve just noticed it recently around here and I find it strange. I remember desperately needing a tissue once in a grocery store so I sneaked one from the box I had in my cart and was buying, but that’s about it.</p>
<p>This must be regional. We have a coffee bar, pasta, pan-Asian, Indian, sub and pizza shop. The seafood bar is amazing but we don’t walk away with the wine, no to-go cups. ;)</p>
<p>The grocery ‘staples’ are actally the best price you will find. No up charge on the everyday items. You do see people munching through the store though.</p>
<p>I eat from my cart all the time. What’s the big deal? I’m paying for it! When I was a kid, my mom and I used to squirt the Reddi Whip in each other’s mouths!</p>
<p>@thumper: No, I’m not assuming they don’t pay. </p>
<p>In my first post I said that it appears most people pay for the items (although I’ve occasionally seen people forget, or “forget”, the empty bottle at the bottom of the cart). In my second post I clearly said they ring up the box of Zingers (although the box isn’t full at the time of purchase).</p>
<p>I remember when I was a kid my mom would sometimes open something and let us kids munch on it in the store. But she always paid for it. Always. And the cashier wouldn’t care about ringing up an empty wrapper. I guess some people may see this as “wrong,” but my mom is from another country where it is socially acceptable to do this. </p>
<p>I have seen times though where someone opened a package for their kid and didn’t pay for it (frown).</p>
<p>To me this is one of those “people have different opinions” topics. When D & S were small, I would sometimes buy bagels in the bakery department and give them 1 to split and munch on while we in the store. Since bagels were priced individually, I would just tell the cashier to add 1 to the number in the bag. I never had raised eyebrows or comments from the cashier or anyone else. As a previous poster said, I’m paying, not stealing, so to me it’s just not a big deal.</p>
<p>In NYC people eat from the boxes/bags we will be buying all the time. In fact, I often go in, get a muffin or bagel and just tell the cashier or show him or her the empty wrapper. It’s fine. Once in a while you see an empty wrapper sitting on a shelf, but that’s rare. I think most people who do that (not very often, really) do pay for what they eat. It’s especially common to open up a bag or box and eat one piece out of it. That is done all the time!</p>
<p>To be honest, I’d rather see someone munching on a chocolate chip cookie than have their PET with them in the grocery store (and I am not talking about service dogs). I was in a suburb of Atlanta a couple of years ago, and there were a lot of folks with their little dogs with them (some in doggie strollers, some in doggie backpacks, and some on leashes) in the grocery story. Sorry…but where I am, unless it’s a service animal it’s not allowed in the store.</p>
<p>The key is to do your snacking from the goodies in someone else’s cart. :D</p>
<p>OK…true story that is related…when DS was a wee tyke, I took him to the store with me. We picked out a loaf of Pepperidge Farm raisin bread…a treat. While we were shopping, I gave him a piece to eat (opened the wrapper and gave him a slice). Well…during the trip, he was not well behaved so he “lost” his treat. When I got to the register, I handed it to the clerk and told her we didn’t want it. He cried (but he didn’t pull the same naughty stunts in the store again). Anyway…it wasn’t until I got HOME that I remembered I had actually opened the package :(</p>
<p>It is definitely common and not a big deal at all where I live. Mostly you see it with parents and small children. A half a bagel would always keep my kids happy to be in the cart when they were small.</p>
<p>Here’s my pet peeve with people who eat/drink in stores…they ditch their empty (or sometimes half full) cups/cartons and used napkins on the closest shelf! It so gross and inconsiderate and leaves me wondering what their houses look like. I have actually spoken to people when I see them to that!</p>