Often times while standing in the line at the grocery store, I watch the cashier with an envious eye. I have no desire to stand in one spot for 8 hours while scanning and bagging food, but I do love the idea of getting to see what everyone is buying. I’ll admit it, I’m pretty nosy and already have a bad habit of craning my neck to see what fellow shoppers are buying, it fascinates me. Without fail, the 300-pound woman on the electric scooter has a cart filled with Pop-Tarts, fried chicken, and ice cream. The slightly anorexic lady still in her tennis skirt and tank top from her morning workout is speed walking the aisles, her basket full of kale, raw almonds, and baby carrots. Then there are the people who confuse me. The one’s whose carts don’t match their characteristics or outward appearances (yes I know my game is really shallow and involves some serious stereotyping). Remember the opening scene from 101 Dalmatians where the dogs all resembled their owners? This is how I feel the grocery store should operate. Your basket should match your appearance.
Not only are the individual items in a person’s cart interesting to me, but the combination of items they are buying in relation to each other is something I really enjoy. Like a middle school girl, sometimes I’ll giggle to myself when I pass by someone who is buying a frozen lasagna, a bottle of wine, and a box of condoms. “Trying to wine, dine, and romance a lady friend tonight, hmmmm??” I have to restrain myself from asking the already humiliated-looking man.
Other times I become the awkward one in line with my interesting combination of items. One time I had to run into the store to buy tampons. On the way to the checkout, I saw a knife that I really wanted (we all know that it is impossible to leave the store with only the item you went there for). While standing in line with my box of tampons and butcher knife, I suddenly panicked. I wonder if the cashier is going to think that my hormones are raging and I’m planning on killing somebody? Maybe I should buy some other things just so it doesn’t look I’m about to commit homicide. Oh great, now the cashier is staring at me, probably wondering why I’m sweating and have this crazy look in my eye. ABORT ABORT!
Once when prepping for a colonoscopy I had to buy a box of ex-lax pills and two containers of laxative powder (tampons and bowel movements in one post?! You lucky readers, you!). On the way to the checkout line I remembered that I needed more toilet paper, paper towels, and trash bags. Suddenly the assortment of items in my basket screamed “THIS CHICK IS ABOUT TO HAVE SOME SERIOUS BOWEL ISSUES AND TOILET PAPER IS SIMPLY NOT ENOUGH! BRING OUT THE HEAVY DUTY PAPER TOWELS AND TRASH BAGS!” I thought about throwing in a bottle of bleach, a plunger, adult diapers, and hemorrhoid cream just for fun. Instead, I bought a magazine and a can of chicken broth and immediately told the cashier that I was prepping for a colonoscopy before she would have time to wonder why on earth I was buying so many laxatives. It felt uncomfortable telling a girl I had just met about the future tubes that would find their way up my rear end, but oddly enough she rebutted with a full on story about her most recent colonoscopy. Awesome.
Maybe the “combination game” is something that only over-analyzers like myself or bored cashiers play, but I really like the spice it adds to my grocery shopping trips. Although if I ever see someone buying bath salts and barbecue sauce, I’m gonna high tail it out of there. I like my face right where it is, thank you.
The Other Courtney 
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Lmaooo be careful shopper u might b mistaken for a serial killer or someone whose going to be on the toilet all nite. Good read made my nite 🙂
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving and are in the midst of a great Thanksgiving weekend!
Thank you, and you as well!
This is so funny.
I recently saw a woman with a bottle of ‘Hair strengthening’ oil and cold-wax. Was tempted to say to her “Can’t make up your mind?” 🙂
Haha! I have definitely purchased additional items to cover what I fear the cashier might think (because I, in turn, make up my own stories of what people are going to do with their purchases) I thought it was just me! 😀
Awesome! No, you are not alone!
Hahahaha, I play this game too. I was kind of ashamed of it, now I feel better knowing I am not the only one:)
I think all of us play it, just some of us admit it 😀
Lol “I like my face right where it is, thank you.” Priceless!!! 🙂
Hahahahahahahahaha I LOVE this!!! Now I’m going to be peeking in other carts next time I’m at the store! I always wonder if the cashier is judging me now…
PS this was one of my favorite posts this far!!!
Thanks love!
I do this all the time. And I’m so self-absorbed that I regularly wonder what they are thinking about me.
Oh my gosh I am laughing out loud at work! This post is too good. I don’t even wanna know how hard the cashiers at my grocery store judge me. Also,
can’ wait to see you in 41 hours!!
Haha right? And YAY see you soon!!!
OMG! SO funny! My husband and I play that game all the time! We have it down to a science and we can even just give each other *the look* when we both see someone worth commenting on, or discussing, later. We also do this with annoying or “stereotypical” people that we see out and about… On our honeymoon cruise, there was a man who, in all seriousness, had a body shaped like an egg. We called him “egg man” and we would comment on his cruise adventures whenever we saw him doing something. I know, we (DH and I) are horrible people!
Hahahha oh man, egg man sounds like he would have been a fun character to make up stories about for a week. Every cruise should have an egg man. I love that you guys do it too 😀
I just LOL’ed at work while reading this! I do the exact same thing when I’m grocery shopping though. I love to see what other people are buying, it definitely tells you a lot about the person!
Yes! I’m glad to see so many other people do this. One time my MALE CASHIER started talking to me about the tampons I was buying. I was freaking out and wanted to run but he kept going on and on about how they were a good price and “you can never have enough, you’ll use them at some point am I right?” GAG! bahaha
Wow! What a weirdo! I think I would have pretended I didn’t speak english at that point so he would stop. Haha
I so agree with “This is how I feel the grocery store should operate. Your basket should match your appearance.”
And I TOTALLY judge people by their grocery basket … or in some cases, their grocery cart.
Yep! My cart is probably one that confuses people. It’s full of fruits, veggies, lean ground turkey, greek yogurt….and then a lot of frozen pizzas, chips, and burritos for the fiance haha 😀
Hahaha! I’m sure people are judging you too :p
I have a question for you re: eczema but can’t find contact info for you on your blog — would you be able to send me an email, so I can ask, if you don’t mind? I didn’t want to get into details on here. My email is celiacandallergyadventures at gmail dot com 🙂
Yep I’ll do it right now!
Okay, thanks! I wrote back but from my real email 🙂
The heavy duty paper towels comment really made me laugh. It would be fascinating to just nose at what people put in their baskets all day.
When I last went on holiday me and my Grandad were sat by the pool, trying to guess what people did for a living based on the way they act and the things they do. It’s tricky.
I love that you and your grandad play that game, I do too! Some people are just so easy to read, while others leave you clueless. Nothing like a good ‘ol stereotyping game haha :-p
I love people watching, nice to take the time to just sit and watch everyone else get on with their busy day.
I laughed so hard at “THIS CHICK I ABOUT TO HAVE SOME SERIOUS BOWEL ISSUES…” that I almost woke up my napping toddler.
Hah! I’m glad you didn’t wake up the toddler, I would hate to be responsible for that! 😉 I know how that sleeping toddler time must be very precious!
I did too!! That was hilarious!!! 😀