Jff- Do You Notice What Others Have in Their Grocery Cart

Glad you weren't behind me the night I stopped on the way home from work and all I bought was D-Con and some tortillas.
I joked with the cashier, who I knew, that my husband was getting D-Con Tacos for dinner.

I'm usually too busy to be judgemental about what other people buy. I hate shopping. I have a list, I get in, I get out.

Just my opinion.

I've mostly noticed skinny people buying junk and overweight people buying "diet" foods. I've come to the conclusion that what you eat is only one piece of the puzzle.

Oh yeah I look especially at Costco , I wonder why 1 man needs 8 gallons of apple cider -and 9 boxes of c batteries

Wow. Really?

I agree with "you are what you eat"...but your "testing" of this theory sounds very judgemental and without purpose. I try to educate myself so that I can provide my family with healthy foods and discuss things I learn with family and friends...but I find your judgemental grocery store behavior disturbing.

Just have to share my best check-out story ever...when my husband and I were dating, we went to a drug store late at night and bought condoms (sorry, Santorum) and Diet Mountain Dew. Hey, we were young :)
So the clerk looks at us and blurts out "Sooo, diet and exercise?" Then she immediately turned red and apologized! DH and I were cracking up, it was amazing! I am sure they have a very strict policy about not commenting on purchases, and that just made the whole thing funnier.

I actually dont notice. I think its rude to stare. :) And then to assume.

My mom went shopping for my grandma A LOT, which even included buying Depends.

Mind your business.....

nope, I "people watch" & look for friends.....or verbally duke it out with my son!

The only carts I check out are the ones headed to the river/lake....or the ones we can tell are party prep. With those carts, I usually ask if I can join them....always gets a smile - especially when it's a Moms' wkend!

I sure would hate to be judged by you or anyone else....based on the bookcover only! My cart is usually geared toward my daycare kids' needs.....which in no way reflects my own personal tastes. :)

i worked at a supermarket for 2 years.. what i would really notice was the randomness that people would have.. especially wen it was onli 3 or 4 things.. it would b like tylonal pickels chocolate syrup n shoe laces... stuff like that always got my attentioin

Ha. You'd loooooooove me. Because my cart is never the same. I have a very standard list of things I buy each month... but I shop at 5 different stores, and I tend to shop "in theme".

Theme shopping for the month + Add in the 5 stores thing... and you'd REALLY be in for a loop. Because if you saw me every time I shopped at one store, you'd ONLY see me buying coca-cola and cleaning products!!! (QFC). Or another store, and all you'd see is 14 cartons of milk, 1 pt of cream, 5lbs of cheese, 6 dozen eggs, 14 yogurts, 2lbs of butter!!! (Trader Joes, trip 1... trip 2 is frozen things and olive oil and snackfood). A 3rd store and it would be all veggies and bulk foods!!! (Whole Foods).

<grin> You get my drift.

________

Do I notice? Yep. I notice almost everything, all the time. Shopping cart content, what the surface of the floor is made out of, changes in font on pricing labels, the way people walk/stand/tilt their face/pupil dilation, what color their bobbypins are... It's part of being ADHD. Can't block it out, so I mostly ignore it as much as possible :)

I don't look at carts and try to figure out their health. I don't really care if Mr. Single Man eats nothing but prepackaged food. I'm not his mom. I do notice if someone has 5 cases of soda, sixteen bags of chips and a bag of ice. I guess "party". Recently we couldn't help but notice that a woman had about 10 gallons of milk and not much else. I'm mostly focused on my list, my budget and my child.

When I was in college, we used to play a game and try to buy the weirdest combination of things late at night. Just because. Best funny look was my roommate trying to buy 3 peanuts.

If I have "a look", it's probably because I drink too much coffee and have a 3 yr old going through a phase of nightmares.

Well, I am glad that we do not shop near you - when/if my fiance goes to the store it IS to buy himself some beer (his work industry), Texas Toast when he would like French Toast and if I am out of town for a while, yes Hungry Man meals - he works A LOT. Due to a skin condition you would probably think he is not healthy and "he is what he eats" but ... again you do not know his personal story.
You would probably look at me and scoff depending on the store I am at. I do not buy produce at the grocery store - I have a farm co-op that gets delivered monthly. I buy meat(s) in bulk when on sale and I know how to properly store them. I go to a few different stores to get the best quality, price and amt; I also do buy some processed foods and things like that - but guess what I like them!
If I am looking into your cart it is if I noticed you purchased a product I was interested in and decided to ask your opinion of it - Excuse me, I could not help but notice you picked up Chiobani Greek Yogurt, could you reccomend a flavor?" It is not to judge, but maybe to get a suggestion on a product, but then I am one of "THOSE" you would be thinking to yourself - Yep! I am right!

Interesting. I also find this a little disturbing! I have NEVER done that!!! And now I'm thinking about what everyone else thinks of my groceries. Maybe I should start peeking....

I only notice when we're at the checkout and I'm watching the person in front of me load up the conveyor belt with their purchases. That's when I see something that looks great and I want to go and get some too but I'm stuck in line and already committed to checking out and leaving. Boooooo.

Yes but no judgement , just nosey.

I look. I don't look at what the people look like vs what's in their carts though. I do cringe when I see a kid in the cart and tons of "juice" drinks and junk food. I like to look at what cute old couples buy, because it's always something like lean turkey, lettuce, whole wheat bread, skim milk, then a big ol' bag of chocolate, lol! I look just to be nosey and compare another family to mine or just for fun!

Of course I look! Usually at the checkout when it's there for all the world to see. I think its fun to try to figure out a little piece of someone's life based on what they're buying. And yes, sometimes I jump to conclusions but I don't really see much harm in that. It's not like I would actually say anything or act on these little notions. And we all do it at some time in our lives so don't be all Debby Downer about it.

Look in my cart, I've got nothing to hide. At times you'd probably think I'm an anal-retentive vegetarian that drinks too much coffee and milk and has never heard of a sweet tooth. Yes, I drink too much coffee and I'm one of those women who has everything organized and packed in the cart (so everything can go in its proper place on the belt and then in the grocery bag). But the rest? Nope.

And yes, sometimes I DO judge books by their covers.

LOL I think about it all the time and wonder what people would think of my grocery cart. Mine is usually pretty good (I'm actually in my head a little smug about it sometimes) unless I'm shopping for a party or something, then I almost want to explain myself to the person behind me in case they're judging me LOL. I want to explain that I normally don't buy things like bacon and sour cream and packaged chicken nuggets. Of course I don't say anything, but I've always wondered if other people notice.

My response would be very similar to Riley J.'s. I shop at several different stores for different things.
And yes, I notice everything. I can't help it.
I do see the link you are describing.

I'm usually surprised by the amount of junk food people buy but otherwise I don't pay much attention. Then again I coupon so I'm trying to get my groceries loaded up, make sure I have my cloth bags and sort my coupons before I'm completely rung up - too busy to do much else other than hope it's less than $150 and I can fit it all in the cart on my way out!

Oh yes, I think it's fun!! The only time I really think anything of it, is when a person with little ones has only complete junk. That makes me sad, but I don't think anything badly of them. Other then that, I think it's just interesting!

I was going to answer no to your question until I read the last part about the men. I have noticed that and it makes me sad. It reminds me of my dad and how he shopped after my mom was gone :(

Only when I am in the express line and someone ahead of me is CLEARLY way over the limit.

I generally buy healthy stuff for ourselves, but one time I went shopping to put together a care package for a friend who was serving over in Afghanistan. It was Gatorade, Little Debbie snacks, chips, candy, instant coffee, Slim Jims, cookies, etc. So hopefully nobody was checking out my cart and judging me that day - because you just never know!

Actually, no not really. I mean, aside from the occasional cart that runneth over that I see before they see me, because they can't see over the top. Or if I am looking for the "shortest" line to check out in...then I'll glance at what is in the carts.

I actually am more aware of what other people might be thinking of the odd variety of items in MY cart. It isn't always a balanced cart, if you know what I mean. I do shop sales and stock up things sometimes, when it is a good price, especially if some other 'perk' is involved. For example: I rarely buy my kids sugary cereals (for one, they don't eat cereal with milk for breakfast, so it is almost just snack food---but I happen to like some of them)... Winn Dixie had a sale on them a week or two ago (buy one get one free), and at the same time it was on their "fuel perks" bonus list. So I got discounted snacks (bought the two boxes) AND 5cents per gallon off my gas. There were a few other "snacky" items that were on similar specials, so I stocked my pantry. Now, generally, I don't do a lot of shopping there, but I wanted to take advantage of the sales on the snacks and the bonus fuel perks available, so I popped in and got ONLY the items that fit that list and that did not need refrigeration---since I had to hang out in town until my kids finished their 2 hours worth of martial arts classes.

If anyone had seen my cart/basket, it was loaded with pretty much nothing but prepackaged snack food. But I earned about 30cents per gallon off my gas on my next fill-up, and I stocked snacks for several weeks. Then I picked up my kids and went to my "regular" grocery store and bought Boar's Head deli meat, whole wheat bread, salad greens, cucumbers, bell peppers, apples, strawberries, nuts, Greek yogurt, etc. The people who looked into my cart THERE probably thought I am a health nut. LOL

So I try not to be judgmental if I do happen to notice (usually the person in front of me in a long line) what is in someone else's cart. Who knows how they shop. But I agree with the person who mentioned that it is interesting to note if the cart "matches" the person pushing it. Sometimes it seems a given what I expect to see in the cart (all health food/organic or all junk).

ETA: Newsflash people--just because someone is buying frozen pizza or microwave dinners, doesn't mean they are alone. We buy it for when me and hubby are going OUT for dinner, and the kids make something frozen at home. Lots of frozen pizza means many date nights, at our house. ;)

LOL So funny because I realized that I was doing that today when I ran to pick up some things. I noticed a well dressed guy in line to me. Looked like a busiiness man, and I thought maybe he was picking things up for his wife on the way home. Then I noticed the large Digiorno pizza, chips, cheese slices and a case of BUDLIGHT :( Poor guy!

Nah, none of my business. I'm too busy looking thru the magazines. :)
The ones who make me stare with my 'evil eye' are the ones who walk off and leave their cart right there in everyone else's way...

I don't, mostly because I am totally preoccupied at the store, making sure I got everything on my list, adding up the cost in my head, talking to my kids and making sure they are behaving and not about to get run over by someone else's cart, mentally willing myself not to buy that Red Bull, and glancing at the smut rags (celeb magazines). No way do I have any attention left over to think about other people's groceries! I believe, as you do, that food definitely contributes a lot to people's demeanor, but ya know, when I grocery shop, there is not a whole lot of produce there, mostly butter, cheese, sugar, flour, canned goods, meat, and eggs, which might lead an observer to think that we eat unhealthy. However, we get all our fruit and veggies from a food co-op, so I just hit the grocery store for everything else. If you looked inside our fridge and pantry, you would see 4 shelves of produce and 1 of milk, eggs, jam and leftovers. My hubby just complained that our fridge is chuck full but (moan) it's alllll heeeaaallthy stufff! Booo!

I have a pretty short attention span for that stuff. By the time I'm waiting in line, I'm checking Facebook on my iPhone or checking my e-mail. Either that, or telling my kids that they can't have gum. What is it about kids that you can tell them no gum every day of their lives, but every time you're at the store, they still ask?! Anyway, no, I never really notice what other people are buying. Now that you mention it, I'm curious and may have to check it out!

Yes, but without judgement.

I am overweight, but occassionally I will buy my kids Zebra Cakes or something. Not every time I go, in fact so rare that they are a HUGE treat. Rarely ice cream or anything like that.

We do wheat bread, whole grain rice and cereals, and TONS of fruits and veggies. I also get two packs of water bottles most times when I go.

I look just for something to do while I wait in line. My parents used to buy groceries for my husband and I when things were that tight and they'd just bring it to my house. So how do I know the person in front of me is not doing the same thing?

I do too, but I mainly think how much of a better cook everyone else is. Sometimes, I don't even know what type of produce is in their cart!

Sure, I'm human, and enjoy stray thoughts as well as the next person.

But I wonder if my assumptions are just as silly as folks who may have looked at my choices a few years ago. Those were the years when I was buying for my household, my Dad in assisted living (he preferred awful frozen dinners to the gourmet meals served), my Mom in the nursing home (she lived 5 years beyond her diagnosis, enjoying boxes of Ring Dings, cigarettes, etc.), and preschool (imagine what one buys for snack and craft materials for purple day).

If someone looked at me, they would have seen an after-work hours, exhausted, wrinkled, muttering fool.

I think this is a perfect opportunity to thank every cashier who didn't comment!

Actually, no. I really never look to see what someone else is buying. Honestly, I could care less. I really just want to get out of there and get on with my day.

I don't look. Like some other mom's I'm too busy telling my son that no he may not have his pick of all the sugar in candy section. Those people who put that there have the rating of evil genius!!! Mom! PLEASE!!! haha

However, I wanted to point out that if someone is shopping unhealthy we shouldn't judge. I mean ramen is what like 25 cents? Mac and Cheese? Hotdogs? All cheap and bad for you. Compare that to the cost of fresh produce. I think if we see someone with some of these options we could feel bad for them rather than judge.

Weeeell, I'm not going to persecute you for being honest...I do sometimes look at what the person in front of me has but not so much from a health assessment standpoint, but sometimes I will give a guess about whether they are single or married, or have kids...a guy behind me in line had a bunch of salad products and we chatted it up about how much he loves to eat salad. A woman in front of me had a lot of wine and cheese, diced tomatoes and french bread. I figured she was having a party or guests or something. I just find peoples tastes interesting and telling about what they are doing at the moment.

I do too! some people get things I've never heard of or seen and I wonder, "what would you do with that"? "I've no idea how to cook that"..etc. Some people have total junk, some have lots of produce, its just interesting to look...

Lol all the time! The store that I go it is so busy.