<p>^^^ I’ve never seen that here in all the years - if this went on, then I could see the objection.</p>
<p>Thinking about this, I know I used to do this all the time when shopping with my parents. I’d get a snack or a drink and we’d scan the empty wrapper or bottle. What’s funny is that I still do do it on the rare occasion that I am shopping with my parents, but I never do it on my own. I think I’m just too concerned with the responsibility of getting my groceries to think about eating at the same time. I also usually use baskets to shop on my own, and would need extra hands to eat! Interesting to think about though. I don’t think it’s an issue as long as people pay.</p>
<p>Another place where this seems to come up is bulk aisles. My local co-op has a no-sampling sign in theirs.</p>
<p>My supermarket puts out fresh, hot, right out of the oven French bread in paper wrappers. So it’s impossible not to pull off a hunk and munch on it while continuing on with the shopping. </p>
<p>When my S was little I’d give him cheese slices out of the package I’d gotten at the deli section.</p>
<p>I’ve done it, although not regularly; drunk a bottle of juice, eaten a hunk of fresh bread, used a tissue, taken a tylenol. But I always pay for what I’ve opened. The cashiers never seem to be bothered by ringing up empty or open packages.</p>
<p>My grocery store has a Starbucks and a Panda Express where you pay separately, so I can understand seeing someone eating those foods while they shop. I think it’s odd for adults to eat in a store, but I would never judge because I’m married to a diabetic and I know when blood sugar crashes for diabetics they can’t wait. </p>
<p>I have four kids and I think I got wiser by the time I had the last one. With that child, I used to buy bananas at the outset and give him one. This occupied him for the entire marketing trip and we always had nice, peaceful shopping trips because he was occupied and I could focus. I’d always show the cashier the peel and tell them to charge me for a large one. No one ever looked bothered. I’m sure the markets would much prefer to see a kid eating something than throwing a tantrum. I’m sure they’d rather have patrons spend more money because they are less frazzled.</p>
<p>I’m glad to see this discussed, as there have been a few times I’ve done this and I have felt somewhat guilty. I’ve never seen anyone else do it here, though. If I’m really thirsty when I first get to a grocery store, I will go to a cooler near the check-out aisle and grab something. If the lines aren’t long, I’ll wait and pay for it, but if the lines are long, I start my shopping without paying for it. It’s always gone by the time I finish and I hand the empty bottle to the cashier. None of the cashiers have ever said anything. Then I take home the empty bottle/can and put it in my recycling.</p>
<p>There have been times when I NEEDED to eat while grocery shopping. I’m diabetic and so grateful to be near food when it is needed most. Of course I pay.</p>
<p>I sometimes eat when I am shopping if I’m really hungry. The cashiers seems very understanding when you pay for the empty wrapper or whatever. I sometimes buy almonds when I am shopping at Target–my favorite and rare treat of wasabi and soy spicy almonds.</p>
<p>Fresh French bread–for sure. Nothing better when still warm.</p>
<p>Health conditions are one thing, no one would begrudge a diabetic whatever they need, but just because you can’t teach your kids “you can’t have that because we haven’t paid for it yet” is not a reasonable excuse to me. If your kid can’t behave then take them home, don’t open a bag of cookies and invite them to start munching!</p>
<p>Of course the cashiers aren’t going to “say anything”. I’m pretty sure they aren’t allowed to scold the customers, even if they deserve it.</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>You’re being way, way too judgmental. When my son was little, the cashiers were extremely understanding about things like that. As long as you pay afterwards, who cares? Especially if you have a little kid. (Not because they’re misbehaving necessarily, but because they’re hungry.) If you ever come to New York or New Jersey, and you see someone doing this, don’t start scolding them. People will think you’re out of your mind.</p>
<p>we do it all the time. It started when the kids were young and we would pick up a muffin in the bakery department, eat it and then pay for the empty bag. I often grab a drink from the cooler, drink it while grocery shopping and pay for it with the rest of the groceries.</p>
<p>Maybe this is a regional thing, but around here people get skeeved out if they have to touch the shopping cart without wiping it down with a sanitizing wipe first. It just seems like a weird place to decide to have a snack to me.</p>
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<p>Sorry, I see no rule posted at the market that says you must pay before you eat. The rule is you must pay, and I always did pay and my kids clearly understood that you pay for anything and everything whether it goes home with you or whether it was eaten while shopping. It is absolutely no more work for a cashier to scan an opened package versus a closed one. And I was perfectly capable of teaching my kids that we can’t play with something from the toy store, etc. until we’ve paid for it. I just think the grocery store is different. </p>
<p>Besides, I never felt that the grocery stores played fair. They expect you to drag children through a long shopping expedition where they are trapped in a cart while looking at all kinds of things and then just as a kid is getting tired and antsy, they put a huge display of candy right at a kid’s eye level while you are waiting in an incredibly long line unloading your groceries from the cart onto the conveyor belt. I very rarely let my kid eat at the grocery and I’m pretty sure I actually asked the manager about it at some point to make sure it was okay.</p>
<p>If I’m not mistaken, at one time the law in many states was that if you opened a sealed supermarket package and consumed the contents prior to checkout, technically you were shoplifting. Even if this remains true today, I’m sure most grocers don’t want to hassle customers who clearly intend to pay for an opened package. By the way, sampling produce really annoys market management.</p>
<p>Interesting, nope I’ve done this…my mother never did this when I was young. But, I have seen this in the stores. The only one somewhat bothers me is people eating grapes or fruit which of course are not “paid” for and couldn’t really be figured out at the cashier.</p>
<p>I have always nibbled as I walked around ,but I will eat something that doesn’t have to be weighed !! A box of opened crackers ,not a banana .Don’t do it abroad ,especially in China .There you must pay first ,or they get very upset .PS - I am a mom of 4</p>
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<p>How about a single grape? I ate two grapes yesterday at the store. I tried a green grape and it was really sour. I tried a red grape and it was sweet. I put the red grapes in my cart. If you’ve ever purchased grapes, only too find out they’re really sour to the point of being inedible, you’ll know why some people sample them. I don’t really like eating unwashed produce.</p>
<p>eating something before paying for it is cheesy… IMO</p>
<p>…and teaching your kids patience and that you can’t have everything you want right away, is a GOOD thing.</p>
<p>Kids should be fed before going shopping…for obvious reasons.</p>
<p>I haven’t done it in years but when my kids were young, I remember occasionally giving one or more of them a piece of bread from a loaf I was buying. There’s nothing wrong with eating something as long as you pay for it, which most people do. When I was in high school, I worked as a cashier in a supermarket and it wasn’t uncommon, or frowned upon, for people to snack as they were shopping as long as they paid. What I never understood, then or now, is why people would snack on grapes or berries, etc. in the produce department. I’d never eat any kind of fruit, other than maybe a peeled banana, without getting it home and washing it first. Too many germs! Same reason I never buy anything from bulk bins. I’ve seen too many bare hands, both adult and child, reaching into those bins. Yuck.</p>