I want to hurt people in supermarkets...

[sixums]

I'm home on spring break, which means I'm going to the grocery store every other day. My partner is incapable of buying food in advance, and we don't have room in the apartment even if we wanted to. So we usually go out before meals to argue over what we want.

I don't know what it is, but every time we go I see more and more people sticking things they don't want around the registers. Bottles of iced tea with the candy, strawberries on store displays. In Wally World I saw some one leave a half full iced coffee sitting on a shelf next to the men's underwear. Every time I see it I just get .

The worst one was when I was in the local supermarket. I was in the express lane with my beau, waiting for a woman to finish trying to figure out how to use her food stamps. The man in front of us (behind the lady) has five things in his basket: beer, fish sticks, paper towels, bleach, and iced tea. He sticks the iced tea in a display of cookies first, which as me turning to my partner with a expression.

Then, he puts the beer and fishsticks on the belt. Puts the paper towels up, and puts the bleach underneath the belt in the area where you put handbaskets. Now I'm a mixture of and . He puts the paper towels on the belt, and then takes them off. Puts them with the bleach. Takes them back and puts them on the belt again. Rinse repeat, I kid you not, FIVE times. FIVE. Finally leaves them under the belt with the bleach.

The worst part?

He looks at them both, then proceeds to kick them further into the back so they won't be seen under the belt. I was .

He pays, and the cashier starts ringing my things through. I was waiting for the man to leave so I can ask her if she wants me to grab the things he left sitting under the belt. He just WON'T LEAVE though. He's standing there, staring at me, as if waiting to see if I'll mention the items he discarded. Finally I start running my card and he walks away. At this point I mention the items to her.

Me: That guy left a bunch of things under the belt with the handbaskets. Do you want me to grab them?
Her: ... *looks like she wants to * No, it's okay. I'll get them later...
Me: Sorry...

I shudder to think what it would have been like if they had been fresh groceries. There were strawberries I saw sitting among store cleaners, rotting away...

[bainsidhe]

Why wait for him to leave? There was not reason to be polite about it and frankly, asking the cashier WAS the polite thing to do. I'd consider it a gold-star moment if you made him feel a little guilty.

[One-Fang]

Heck why ask?

Just place them on the belt and mention "I found these items discarded on the shelves and thought you might want them so someone can put them back". Stare pointedly at guy in front of you.

[malmalthekiller]

Heck why ask?

Just place them on the belt and mention "I found these items discarded on the shelves and thought you might want them so someone can put them back". Stare pointedly at guy in front of you.

I do this when I'm at stores, because where I work, I'm the one that gets things from the registers that people leave behind.

[HawaiianShirts]

I do this when I'm at stores, because where I work, I'm the one that gets things from the registers that people leave behind.

I'd do the same thing if I could ever catch some SC in the act of abandoning the product. As it is, if I'm at the register and find it, I'll just hand it to the cashier with an explanation. If I find it on the shelf, I might put it away or find an associate to give it to.

[mattm04]

When I worked at <Supermarket> Front End almost every day we would get more backshop from the candy/magazine racks and soda coolers than the cashiers. My record was a carriage and half of backshop that was exclusively collected from random places in the store in one 6 hour shift.

I don't know why people just can't say to the cashier "i don't want this?"

[Cia]

I saw an open wine cooler sitting on shelf amongst the bagged dog food where a child could have found and drank it. When I told an employee that some idiot had left an open bottle of alcohol where a kid could get to it she said "you're kidding" - sorry nope.

[Fleur]

i may be weird, but i like collecting items from the candy and magazine racks around my register. makes for a bit of fun during the shift. "raspberries with the national enquirer? let's wait and see if we can find anything more random today."

[Kogarashi]

Fleur, can I be the one to present you with your Official Weird Badge?

I found the hide-n-seek merchandise annoying, but there were a few things that would make it extra so.

1. Leaving perishables among the candy/magazines/chips/whatever. I was a little less annoyed if the customer at least tried to put the perishables in the drink coolers. Negative points if it was the one broken drink cooler that was actually keeping drinks warm.

2. Looking right at me before hiding the merchandise, or even seeing me tell the previous customer, "Oh, I can take that for you," when there was an item they didn't want anymore. Extra annoyance for the customer who, when told, "I can take that if you don't want it," would give me a major catbutt face as though I insulted their mother by not letting them hide the merch. At least I've never had someone who still hid the items after being told this.

3. Leaving merchandise scattered around the self-checkouts when you can clearly see there's a shopping cart of unwanted merchandise right in front of the SCO cashier's station. No, I'm not shopping on my shift. That's for that pack of underwear and that glitzy purse you put on top of the self-checkout because you didn't want it. Stop trying to hide things in the magazine rack already!

[fireheart]

1. Leaving perishables among the candy/magazines/chips/whatever. I was a little less annoyed if the customer at least tried to put the perishables in the drink coolers. Negative points if it was the one broken drink cooler that was actually keeping drinks warm.

I've had a slightly similar case. I work front end too, but on occasion I've helped out in the perishables department, mostly either filling or facing. The other night I learned how to use the Super Duper Temperature Gun. Basically, it's point and shoot. If it's less than 5C, we bin it. Stuff that's cold that I find in the drinks fridge were showing readings of 6-7. So really, while it is keeping it cold, it's not as cold as the fridges/freezers.

[sixums]

Why wait for him to leave? There was not reason to be polite about it and frankly, asking the cashier WAS the polite thing to do. I'd consider it a gold-star moment if you made him feel a little guilty.

If I had been alone, I would have. However, my partner always complains that when I call people out on their asshattery, I end up "making a scene".

[raije]

The most random thing I've found was condoms and prilosec in our back coolers with the energy drinks and juices...

I wonder about people sometimes.

[sixums]

The most random thing I've found was condoms and prilosec in our back coolers with the energy drinks and juices...

I wonder about people sometimes.

That is sad! It sounds like a great time! I feel bad for whoever missed out.

[Icelator]

Personally I hate finding the coffee cups everywhere, no matter what store it is someone will leave a coffee cup on a shelf. I really want to catch someone doing this once. EXCUSE ME YOU FORGOT YOUR COFFEE CUP, DON'T YOU WANT TO GET YOUR COFFEE CUP, or confront and ask them if they want me to leave garbage at their house.

[Lace Neil Singer]

1. Leaving perishables among the candy/magazines/chips/whatever.

That is seriously annoying. When I worked in the supermarket, once a huge pack of sliced ham from the deli counter was found stuffed right down a magazine rack behind all the magazines. By the time it was found, the ham was stinking and the magazines were all spoiled.

Cuz it would be far too much effort to walk one or two steps to the Customer Services desk that was right next to the flipping magazines.