Why do I hate grocery shopping?

[Deleted]

Is it the lugging multiple bags up the stairs?
Is it the cart jockeying through the aisles that seem to get skinnier & skinnier?
Is it the annoying lines and now checkers that don't seem to move very quickly?
Is it that they keep 're-designing' the store and move where they are keeping things, so I can't grocery shop on automatic?

My normal grocery store turned over almost all of the employees a couple months ago. I am on strike and not going back there. They hired in lethargic kids to replace the people that had been there for 15+ years. They seem to have also gotten rid of the developmentally disabled kids that would do bagging & take your cart out if you needed. I think they don't understand their customers and this does not help their bottom line, because I go to a different grocery chain now. I definitely valued the efficiency of the prior staff and the community commitment to employing disabled.

Maybe Carl understands the psychology of shoppers. Convenience of location does not trump whether I like the business.

[lexxy703]

I don't grocery shop anymore.  I have them delivered.  Makes life so much better.  I know it is "wasting money" but my time is worth the extra $18 in delivery fees & tip.  Plus I never throw impulse items into the cart.

When I did shop Harris Teeter was great about opening up new lines if people were waiting.  Most of their cashiers were kids but they were efficient.

[Abby Normal]

For me it's the people that are oblivious to the fact that they are NOT the only people on the face of the planet and fail to realize that they are standing in the way  talking/on phone/aimlessly searching for products/ ignoring their screaming children and then look at you with a death glare when you say "excuse me can I get by you?"

[whoisjohngalt]

Jun 5, 2015 13:41:55 GMT -5 lexxy703 said:

I don't grocery shop anymore.  I have them delivered.  Makes life so much better.  I know it is "wasting money" but my time is worth the extra $18 in delivery fees & tip.  Plus I never throw impulse items into the cart.

When I did shop Harris Teeter was great about opening up new lines if people were waiting.  Most of their cashiers were kids but they were efficient.

You must be a very laid back person.

I can not imagine not picking all the items myself

[Abby Normal]

Jun 5, 2015 13:59:33 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

Jun 5, 2015 13:41:55 GMT -5 lexxy703 said:

I don't grocery shop anymore.  I have them delivered.  Makes life so much better.  I know it is "wasting money" but my time is worth the extra $18 in delivery fees & tip.  Plus I never throw impulse items into the cart.

When I did shop Harris Teeter was great about opening up new lines if people were waiting.  Most of their cashiers were kids but they were efficient.

You must be a very laid back person.

I can not imagine not picking all the items myself

No one squeezes my mangos but me or DH.

[dannylion]

I don't mind grocery shopping now that I'm retired.  It's become a form of recreation, but I try very hard not to be one of "those" people who don't know where they're going or where they are or what they came for or how to move to the side so people can get by.

The only time I really don't like grocery shopping is when I miss the memo and go on Stupid People Day. Like today. I went to the grocery store today. It was apparently Stupid People Day. I didn't like it. 

[lexxy703]

Jun 5, 2015 13:59:33 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

Jun 5, 2015 13:41:55 GMT -5 lexxy703 said:

I don't grocery shop anymore.  I have them delivered.  Makes life so much better.  I know it is "wasting money" but my time is worth the extra $18 in delivery fees & tip.  Plus I never throw impulse items into the cart.

When I did shop Harris Teeter was great about opening up new lines if people were waiting.  Most of their cashiers were kids but they were efficient.

You must be a very laid back person.

I can not imagine not picking all the items myself

I'm am rather laid back but seriously I always get lovely produce.  It comes straight from the warehouse so it is never picked over by shoppers like the stuff at the grocery.  Do you ever think about that other shoppers have been picking through before you?

I've been doing it for over 10 years & have never had bad produce.  The biggest problem is when something is out of stock.

[lexxy703]

Jun 5, 2015 14:09:38 GMT -5 deminmaine said:

Jun 5, 2015 13:59:33 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

You must be a very laid back person.

I can not imagine not picking all the items myself

I am resurfacing my deck, and I have to buy the remainder of the decking.  I was so tempted to just call up and have it delivered.

But I have to inspect.    every.   single.    board.

My laziness far surpasses my need for control.

[alabamagal]

I just always seem to pick the slowest line.

Like behind the old guy. After everything is rung up. Then looks for checkbook. Then has to ask the date. Slowly fills out cashier asks for ID (like that is something new). Ugh

[emma1420]

Jun 5, 2015 13:30:30 GMT -5 @rockit said:

Is it the lugging multiple bags up the stairs?
Is it the cart jockeying through the aisles that seem to get skinnier & skinnier?
Is it the annoying lines and now checkers that don't seem to move very quickly?
Is it that they keep 're-designing' the store and move where they are keeping things, so I can't grocery shop on automatic?

My normal grocery store turned over almost all of the employees a couple months ago. I am on strike and not going back there. They hired in lethargic kids to replace the people that had been there for 15+ years. They seem to have also gotten rid of the developmentally disabled kids that would do bagging & take your cart out if you needed. I think they don't understand their customers and this does not help their bottom line, because I go to a different grocery chain now. I definitely valued the efficiency of the prior staff and the community commitment to employing disabled.

Maybe Carl understands the psychology of shoppers. Convenience of location does not trump whether I like the business.

Convenience of location means very little to me.  I learned this when my local grocery store (only a mile from my house), revamped and has tried to become like Aldi.  Sadly, their prices aren't any cheaper than any of the other grocery stores,  they don't have a butcher, seafood counter, or deli, and they now make you bag your own groceries (which is an issue when you are behind someone trying to bag a huge cart of stuff, and the checker won't start with you cart until the person in front of you has finished bagging their groceries).

Now, I drive 5 miles out of my way to go to the big beautiful concept Hyvee store.  I don't even care that for some things I pay a little more.  It's worth it.

[Deleted]

Rarely do I spend so much, on things that will be gone so fast...

[Angel!]

Jun 5, 2015 13:41:55 GMT -5 lexxy703 said:

I don't grocery shop anymore.  I have them delivered.  Makes life so much better.  I know it is "wasting money" but my time is worth the extra $18 in delivery fees & tip.  Plus I never throw impulse items into the cart.

  It is only $11 for mine to get delivered.  100% worth avoiding the drive to the store, trying to find the stuff, waiting in line, loading up the car, driving home, carrying all the bags inside - plus usually I have 3 kids with me when shopping. 

I can only remember 2 times I wasn't thrilled with the produce choices.  The meat has always been fresher than what I can find on the shelves.  My biggest complaint is when they are out of stock & either leave it off or replace it with something that isn't really comparable.  But, for only $11 & saving a ton of time, I'll put up with that.

[Peace Of Mind]

Why do I hate grocery shopping?

Oh, let me count the ways.  Or better yet.  Let me do division.  It takes me 4 hours!  How do I know this?  I divided my 48 items by 12 plastic bags that held my stuff and that equaled 4 hours!   



How to do math thread:  ymam.proboards.com/thread/45492/math-fails  

[kittensaver]

Jun 5, 2015 14:15:32 GMT -5 lexxy703 said:

Jun 5, 2015 13:59:33 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

You must be a very laid back person.

I can not imagine not picking all the items myself

I'm am rather laid back but seriously I always get lovely produce.  It comes straight from the warehouse so it is never picked over by shoppers like the stuff at the grocery.  Do you ever think about that other shoppers have been picking through before you?

I've been doing it for over 10 years & have never had bad produce.  The biggest problem is when something is out of stock.

Wow - this is really interesting. If the products and produce came from the warehouse here, I'd be tempted to order that way myself. At my local chain grocery store, I see store employees/online order shoppers almost every time I'm there. They are walking the store consulting printouts and pulling items off the shelves for their grocery carts like any of us in-person shoppers would.   

[lexxy703]

Jun 5, 2015 14:44:01 GMT -5 Angel! said:

Jun 5, 2015 13:41:55 GMT -5 lexxy703 said:

I don't grocery shop anymore.  I have them delivered.  Makes life so much better.  I know it is "wasting money" but my time is worth the extra $18 in delivery fees & tip.  Plus I never throw impulse items into the cart.

  It is only $11 for mine to get delivered.  100% worth avoiding the drive to the store, trying to find the stuff, waiting in line, loading up the car, driving home, carrying all the bags inside - plus usually I have 3 kids with me when shopping. 

I can only remember 2 times I wasn't thrilled with the produce choices.  The meat has always been fresher than what I can find on the shelves.  My biggest complaint is when they are out of stock & either leave it off or replace it with something that isn't really comparable.  But, for only $11 & saving a ton of time, I'll put up with that.

I have mine marked no substitutions because I don't trust them to make the choice for me. You are only the second online person I've talked to that does delivery. Where I live it is very popular. I see the green trucks all over the place now.

[lexxy703]

Jun 5, 2015 14:48:27 GMT -5 kittensaver said:

Jun 5, 2015 14:15:32 GMT -5 lexxy703 said:

I'm am rather laid back but seriously I always get lovely produce.  It comes straight from the warehouse so it is never picked over by shoppers like the stuff at the grocery.  Do you ever think about that other shoppers have been picking through before you?

I've been doing it for over 10 years & have never had bad produce.  The biggest problem is when something is out of stock.

Wow - this is really interesting. If the products and produce came from the warehouse here, I'd be tempted to order that way myself. At my local chain grocery store, I see store employees/online order shoppers almost every time I'm there. They are walking the store consulting printouts and pulling items off the shelves for their grocery carts like any of us in-person shoppers would.   

That is odd.  I might not do it if it came from the store.  Straight from warehouse, loaded the night before.  It is even dated & time on the receipt.

[HoneyBBQ]

Two words:

Amazon. Fresh.

[kittensaver]

Jun 5, 2015 14:56:23 GMT -5 lexxy703 said:

Jun 5, 2015 14:48:27 GMT -5 kittensaver said:

Wow - this is really interesting. If the products and produce came from the warehouse here, I'd be tempted to order that way myself. At my local chain grocery store, I see store employees/online order shoppers almost every time I'm there. They are walking the store consulting printouts and pulling items off the shelves for their grocery carts like any of us in-person shoppers would.   

That is odd.  I might not do it if it came from the store.  Straight from warehouse, loaded the night before.  It is even dated & time on the receipt.

Wow - lucky you!

[Angel!]

Jun 5, 2015 14:54:52 GMT -5 lexxy703 said:

Jun 5, 2015 14:44:01 GMT -5 Angel! said:

  It is only $11 for mine to get delivered.  100% worth avoiding the drive to the store, trying to find the stuff, waiting in line, loading up the car, driving home, carrying all the bags inside - plus usually I have 3 kids with me when shopping. 

I can only remember 2 times I wasn't thrilled with the produce choices.  The meat has always been fresher than what I can find on the shelves.  My biggest complaint is when they are out of stock & either leave it off or replace it with something that isn't really comparable.  But, for only $11 & saving a ton of time, I'll put up with that.

I have mine marked no substitutions because I don't trust them to make the choice for me. You are only the second online person I've talked to that does delivery. Where I live it is very popular. I see the green trucks all over the place now.

It isn't big out here.  I don't know anyone else that does it.  I think my neighbors think I'm weird (or maybe rich).  But, I feel like $11 bucks is a bargain - figure it takes 2 hours of my time & gas & I have to drag 3 kids around with at least 1 that isn't happy.  Plus, like you said, it totally avoids impulse shopping.  I think I might actually save money & I know I am a much happier mom.

[flamingo]

Jun 5, 2015 14:04:26 GMT -5 dannylion said:

I don't mind grocery shopping now that I'm retired.  It's become a form of recreation, but I try very hard not to be one of "those" people who don't know where they're going or where they are or what they came for or how to move to the side so people can get by.

The only time I really don't like grocery shopping is when I miss the memo and go on Stupid People Day. Like today. I went to the grocery store today. It was apparently Stupid People Day. I didn't like it. 

Where I grocery shop, every day is Stupid People Day. However, this is only a small reason I don't like grocery shopping.

The real reason I hate it? It's when I have to go with my DH. He picks up and looks at every.single.item with a nutritional label on it. Then he proceeds to ask "who would buy this shrink-wrapped burrito that has 2500/cals per serving and 4 days worth of sodium?" I don't know, but we sure aren't buying it, regardless of it's nutritional label, so WHY ARE YOU WASTING TIME LOOKING AT IT?!?!? Or, he'll ask "do we need any baked potatoes?" Um, they are not on my list, so likely NO we do not. "But they are a good price." Ok, I'll say, let's get some. Then he says "Well, if they aren't on the list and we aren't going to eat them in the next few days, I'll just come back and get them when we do need them." Ok, that works to. "Well, are you sure we shouldn't get some?" Me: ARGH!!!     

Seriously, I hate the grocery store.

[Abby Normal]

I DO NOT shop with DH for just that reason.  I prefer him not to go by himself either.  It's amazing how much stuff,I did not know we needed, that ends up at our house when he goes by himself.  

I prefer the farmers market for produce.  Going tomorrow!

[midjd]

Jun 5, 2015 15:03:23 GMT -5 Angel! said:

Jun 5, 2015 14:54:52 GMT -5 lexxy703 said:

I have mine marked no substitutions because I don't trust them to make the choice for me. You are only the second online person I've talked to that does delivery. Where I live it is very popular. I see the green trucks all over the place now.

It isn't big out here.  I don't know anyone else that does it.  I think my neighbors think I'm weird (or maybe rich).  But, I feel like $11 bucks is a bargain - figure it takes 2 hours of my time & gas & I have to drag 3 kids around with at least 1 that isn't happy.  Plus, like you said, it totally avoids impulse shopping.  I think I might actually save money & I know I am a much happier mom.

I can't imagine taking 3 kids to the grocery -- it's hard enough with just DD, who wants to eat everything I put in the cart and/or push the cart straight into a display. $11 for delivery is definitely a bargain!

[andi9899]

We don't have grocery delivery in my area. I'd totally use it if we did.

[Blonde Granny]

It's simple why I hate grocery shopping:

1. Make the list

2. Go to the store- find a parking place

3. Take filthy cart full of who knows what germs

4. Put items into cart

5. Take items out of cart onto belt

6. Pay for groceries

7. Haul them to car

8. Put cart back into cart area

9. Drive home

10. Carry in bags

11. Put stuff away

12. Take stuff out of fridge and freezer to cook

13. Cook the stuff

14. Clean up the mess made by cooking

15. Rinse & repeat.

[steff]

I LOVE grocery shopping.  As a housewife (a boring one), it is a way to escape the house.  I also never took my kiddo shopping with me.  I can make my list, wander around, plan meals out as I shop based on what's on sale, chat up the meat counter dude to get him to cut what I want fresh, and find all the good deals for the week. 

since hubby's schedule changed, he's been going shopping with me every week and I HATE IT!  He's made my grocery store into "zones", breaks my list down into zones, assigns a zone to me. Gave me a 20 minute lecture on how to write my lists by zones. I got my own basket last week and he wasn't amused.  I got not my uncle to take me shopping this week.  Not my uncle will wander off his way and I'll wander off my way.  we just wave if we see each other.  when he finishes his shopping first, he sits outside in his truck and reads a book while I finish shopping.  He's getting away from my batshit crazy aunt, so he doesn't care how long I wander around.  win-win!

I also have a self created rule.  I shopped for it, I paid for it, I have to put it up & cook it all, so I don't carry it out and I don't carry it in.  So the bag boys lug it to the car & kiddo lugs it inside the house.  that's what boys are for.  

[Tennesseer]

I only like grocery shopping because the store has an olive bar.  

[Tiny]

I don't mind the whole concept of grocery shopping... I consider the parking and walking and push the cart and lugging the groceries in (and putting them away) to be excersize.   

What I truely HATE are the following these things suck up my valuable time AND make me cranky:
Having to watch the checkers and the computer screen like a hawk so I'm not charged for something that's not mine, so I get charged the price I'm suppose to, and then so the person doing the bagging puts ALL of my stuff in bags/into my cart.  It doesn't help that now the checker and the bagger seem to be required to make small talk with me - like I'm their new BFF.  ARRRGGGHHH.   I can't tell you the times I've been distracted and got charged too much - or had some mystery item charge or something I purchased didn't make it into my bags/cart.   

Having the manufaturers of food keep changing the packaging - even if it's just the color of the packaging.  changing the amount of stuff in the package sucks too.   It means I have to review/search for products I like to see if they are still available and if they are still a reasonable price.

Having the manufacturers keep changing the formulation of the stuff in the package.   I don't buy alot of 'prepackaged stuff'  but I had found some acceptable 'low fat' american cheese slices that ALSO had 30% of the requirement of calcium in each slice...and now the same product only has 15% of requirement and more calories from something - not fat...so it doesn't fit my guidelines.  grrrrr   (it's a weight watcher thing).

The Sprinklers in the veggie department -    I no long buy veggies or fruit in stores with sprinklers.  I don't need your crappy almost on the verge of rotting   made to look good veggies/fruit.   

Having the grocery keep moving products -  please STOP rearranging the store aisles.   I HATE having to wander around the store looking for something on my list.  

I'm beginning to prefer smaller stores with fewer products - thankfully I'm purchasing less 'processed' stuff so when I'm in a big store  I can skip alot of aisles thus needing to wander around only 1/4th of the store.   

I suspect Marketers will figure out that people aren't wandering quite as much as they use to (as people try to 'eat healthier') so I bet the stores will rearrange the aisles so I HAVE to pass the snack aisle, the frozen junk food section and the booze aisle to get to the basic food stuffs.

::sigh::  The last few times I've gone grocery shopping - I've reviewed the labels on everything I bought. It's time consuming but I'm tired of getting home and discovering a 'surprise' that somethings changed - sometimes dramatically.

[NoNamePerson]

Jun 5, 2015 16:55:20 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

I only like grocery shopping because the store has an olive bar.  

  I came home from Fresh Market the other day and had 4 containers from the olive bar. I just shook my head in shame - NOT!!! Not to mention 2 others from the deli counter. I love their pimento cheese.

[Deleted]

Jun 5, 2015 16:55:20 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

I only like grocery shopping because the store has an olive bar.  

When they put in wine bars I might possibly get a little more enthusiastic about it!

[Tennesseer]

Jun 5, 2015 17:19:21 GMT -5 NoNamePerson said:

Jun 5, 2015 16:55:20 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

I only like grocery shopping because the store has an olive bar.  

  I came home from Fresh Market the other day and had 4 containers from the olive bar. I just shook my head in shame - NOT!!! Not to mention 2 others from the deli counter. I love their pimento cheese.

My late night guilty pleasure-briny olives from the olive bar and.....Frito's.