Many shoppers cause difficult moments for store workers and other shoppers with their behavior as well. We should just imagine ourselves in the place of others, a little more compassion. How would I feel if I worked in this store?
What would I do if I were the next customer? Would I buy a product that others had previously grabbed (unpackaged food) or taken out of its packaging by tearing the box apart (e.g. a toy)?
My main topic, however, is eating and drinking in supermarkets.
This mainly happens with children, but there are also many adults who snack while shopping.
Most people only consider this to be acceptable behavior if they feel unwell. For example, if a diabetic feels unwell then he or she needs immediate help. Although in my opinion, most diabetics keep sugar, candy, and water in their bags when needed, so they won’t eat the store goods.
Most of the time kids are who eat in the store. And most of the time, parents take the packaging of the food they eat to the checkout and pay for it. Yet many people look at it disapprovingly.
I think a kid also has to endure a few minutes and only have to eat the chocolate or whatever he just wanted after the purchase is over. On the one hand, I don’t think it’s right to eat store goods in the store, and on the other hand, I want to teach my child to follow the rules, accept that he can’t get everything right away.
Nevertheless, I broke my rule a few days ago. Bence is helping me in the shop lately, putting the goods in the basket, helping me to load them on the counter at the checkout, etc. We are learning this now. So I put a bun in his hand so he could put it in the bag. But he put the buns in his mouth instead of the bag. I was surprised because we had a snack before buying. I think he wanted fresh, fragrant buns. And I think I made a mistake too when I put the buns in his hands because he must have thought I gave it to him to eat. So what should I have done? Should I have taken that bun from him? he had already bitten into it, it didn't matter what I did.
I let him continue eating but in the meantime I felt very uncomfortable. Of course we paid for that bun.
Other times when he chooses a chocolate for himself, I always tell him that he can only eat it if we leave the store. Sometimes he asks me to unpack the chocolate, but I say no. And he accepts that.
My mother-in-law thinks this completely differently. She'll unpack a chocolate bar for Bence at the store even if Bence doesn't ask for it. And she doesn’t care that I’m definitely asking her not to do that.
People have very different opinions about this anyway. Let’s see what most people think and what I think.
Kids are allowed to do anything
This is not true! Children also need to learn and follow the rules.
If the child eats something in the store, it is theft.
Well, I think until I leave the store without pay, we can't say it's a theft. Until I pay for the product, it is not my property, that is, I cannot eat it. This is a completely correct statement. But I think it's an exaggeration to call it a theft.
If the child can’t stand the purchase without eating then we’d better take some snack with us and give it to the child at the store.
This is bullshit! People would see the kid eat the chocolate and I put the packaging in my bag. What will people think? That the kid ate the store goods that I don't pay for.
Parents should not take their child with them at all to buy.
How do I teach my child how to behave in the store if I can never take him there with me?
What is your opinion on this? Do you allow your child to eat at the store? Feel free to leave a comment!
lead image source: Pixabay
In the United States this is a bit of a taboo, and frowned upon. But that doesn't mean it never happens. One just hopes that those who do this are honest and bring their containers to the register to be properly scanned so they can pay for what they have eaten.