Well, yes here I go again, another thread in GC about something so trivial!
BUT… let me explain… So…like every other week I do my weekly grocery shopping, I make my list, bring it with me of course and get my trolley and off I go through the process of grocery shopping… today was strange for me because I just found alot of things soo strange and funny…observing people while I was going along doing my own thing really got me thinking about how much I take in when im shopping
It got me thinkin about how different we really are and how set in our ways we can be…if you are like me you usually shop in the same place and more than likely you might see a few ppl you usually see around shopping like yourself if ur a regular shopper…
When im going grocery shopping, its like a mission - make the list…tick things off as I get them and out the door…none of those ooh special offers i must check this out…or ooooh low fat yoghurts NEW…must investigate…nope i just get what i want and thats it - now if its electronics shopping, thats another story i may visit several shops and sometimes just window shopping…but i think most of us who like our gadgets will go through this process also!
But anyways, I was just wondering if its an Irish thing or not…usually you have these set of shoppers:
The lone shopper - dinner for one, small trolley/basket and everything is hurried along, no eye contact, much too busy must get it done
The husband and wife combo - the wife selects the groceries, husband inspects and gives the go ahead whether or not she’s allowed to get them - ive seen these type of shoppers many many times!! it makes me cringe
The lone mam/dad with the screaming children - Kids munching on sweeties and yelling while the parent struggles with the trolley and the unruley child!
The weirdo shopper - yes…the weird ones…the ones that sort of see what ur buying, if they are standing next to you…wonder why you chose something instead of what they had and then they end up taking up what u just got…very weird
The no nonsense shopper - (which would be me) Busy around the shop, tick off their items and straight to the checkout
Which brings me to another issue that really bugged me - Checkout operators who chew gum and just fling ur change at you or dont help you bag ur shopping, they’re usually covered in make-up - to their jaw line only like orange faced with bleached hair - no thank you, goodbye, would you like help, nothing like that - or even here, you have to pay for plastic bags because of the whole protecting the environment thing, which is fine but when u ask for like 2 bags…they say…oh u know what i think u just need one…and ur like oh well maybe so then…BUT…they stuff everything into the one bag and ur like…erh…how am i going to carry it but they’ve already moved onto the next person! - Do u get this where you are? Would you ever complain to Management there and then? I think i’d just be too mortified to do something like that
So I guess I’m just curious, how do all you fellow techies shop? Perhaps you hate shopping? Maybe you just buy what u want when you need it, doesn’t that bug you when u run out of something during the night or something? I couldnt imagine not doing a weekly shop! How do u handle going into computer shops when they talk to you like ur an idiot, then when u speak and u actually know what you want and what ur talking about ur abandoned when they go find someone else to help you! I dont know how many times ive just walked out of shops because of this! What are your experiences when it comes to shopping - im curious!!
Not just you Hazel!
Although you have missed one category out…
The husband and wife combo II - She selects the groceries and ALL other items, he pushes the trolley and pays at the end - after being berated for sneaking some chocolate into trolley
oooh, how could i miss that one - I remember seeing this couple, she was pushing the trolley and they were goin past the biscuit section anyways… she just looked at them and then hurried on with the trolley, it caught my eye because i was like oh here we go another one of those cringe couple shoppers plus im nosy but yeah… he was lookin at the biscuits and he said something to her, she looked around at the biscuits and then said something and didnt look impressed and walked off with the trolley huffy, he was walkin away lookin back at the biscuits LOL i was like omg, then he came back and picked up a packet of jersey creams or custard creams like 80c or something and he was investigating them over and over and then chose the custard creams, i later saw them at the till and she was bagging and he was unloading the trolley…i didnt see who paid though in the end… maybe i’ll see them again and complete the story
What do u do Mike? Is it too assuming of me to suggest that you’re one of those no nonsense shoppers who perhaps impulse buys at the checkout for the em…said chocolate bar
The “no-nonsense, no eye-contact, frenetically staring at the ground because she doesn’t want to step into dog poo” shopper. That’d have to be me.
As for gadget/computer shops…now that is another story entirely. I can spend my time in a good computer shop for hours at a time. With everything else, however, I just buy what I need and get out as fast as I can.
As a whole I don’t like shopping though. I have three or four pair of shoes that are all old(ish), wear my clothes for years before buying new ones and I don’t use makeup.
I’m not a freak though. I guess I was raised like a boy.
Kohoutek I would be the same as you in the whole hating shopping thing, actually i sort of dont mind it as much as I used to, depends on where I shop also, theres a big shopping centre close to me but i dont like going there, i travel outside in another county to shop I just hate bumping into ppl and chatting and then u get delayed plus its a far nicer centre too - im not a big clothes shopper either, id get excited about buying electronics thats about it like tvs, computers, fones, etc - Im not a girly girl I guess so I can relate to the whole get it all done and out of the way as quick as you can :agree:
I dont know if you have any female relatives or friends but I hate shopping with mine it takes foreverrrrrrrr, i end up being physically exhausted and visit every shop in the centre and then end up getting something in like the first one or two you’ve seen, this drives me crazy! :confused2
When I go out I always have two books with me; a novel and either some design related book, so when I go out with someone, usually there’s a cafe or similar where I will wait until they’re done, or we’ll appoint to meet somewhere at n o’clock and I can go and look at some gadgets. It’s not nice, I know, but that way I don’t get aggressive and spoil the rest of the day!
If I am with the ball and chain then I am number 6… if I am on my own I am the uber efficient shopper. In the shop - go to what I want - get it - buy it - get the hell out
lol Kohoutek aggressive - I couldn’t do the whole sitting on my own in a café scenario, omg… I think that’s worse for me than the shopping, i’d trapse around after them than put myself through the lone diner café scene!!
Mike - you poor thing!
Ok, another question - If all the change ur expecting to get back is like 1c or 2 or something small, do u wait for it? do u wait for ur receipt?
I dont know about where u guys are BUT they almost chase u out the door here if u deliberately leave ur receipt - this is new otherwise they usually used to bin it…wonder what has them soo hot under the collar to give them out and make sure u take them nowadays :scratch:
I don’t know how these things are handled in the UK, but perhaps they do it in order to be able to track it back in the case of complaints/money back claims or some such.
I always get the receipt, mostly because I’ve not paid attention to what the bill was and I need a reminder after I’ve paid of how much it all cost.
I’m the efficient shopper as well, buying only the stuff I need, but I don’t do it especially quickly. The running-into-people thing irks me too, as I can’t stand small-talk and British people seem intent on it if you accidentally meet somewhere anywhere.
In general, I hate shopping for most things and prefer to buy on the internet. Clothes especially, because I’m never happy with what I’ve bought (until after a few weeks), it’s never perfect. It’s also too time consuming.
Checkout operators who chew gum and just fling ur change at you or dont help you bag ur shopping,
Hah, they bag your groceries for you in Ireland? Haha, come over here and bag’em yourself. They will help out people in electric scoot-mobiles though.
I dont know if you have any female relatives or friends but I hate shopping with mine it takes foreverrrrrrrr, i end up being physically exhausted and visit every shop in the centre and then end up getting something in like the first one or two you’ve seen, this drives me crazy!
Same here, but also don’t care about electronics either. I’m the Luddite without the annoying mobile (when talking on a mobile turns you into a man-eating zombie I’ll be the only sane one left). Bookstores, though, I’m usually too long in, or music stores, but I get tired from that as well.
Usually hubby and I get f00dz together. Every time we’re over by the chicken I start doing the Ballad of the Chicks in Their Shells with real chicken sounds which prolly freaks people out and it seems to make the moms with the screaming kids happier to have screaming kids instead of weird chicken-imitating shoppers. Buck-aw!
Stomme - that chicken routine sounds scarey we bag our shopping over here too but its sort of like an unwritten rule that checkout operators also help you bag ur shopping, its sorta like customer care etc…besides…its nice to help
I love post too Raffles, well except the bills I always keep my receipt too, unless its something like ive bought some cellotape or something I was looking at my receipt this evening and they charged me extra for some soap…i mean i didnt even buy that I bought shower gel and then the same brand soap came up underneath it…its only 2euro or something i was charged by mistake but I guess I should’ve really checked there and then, I see ppl do it and I think god thats embarassing, how desperate are they to save pennies, but it just goes to show, they’ve probably been burned before and can only trust themselves to keep an eye on whats what…i’ll start checking mine there and then anymore! Make the operators wait
Kohoutek - I can understand the whole traceability issue alright and also the returns policy too but its just weird how they’re so stringent now as opposed to like last year etc
I forgot to mention aswell, last week when i was doing the usual shop, this guy probably around 45 or something was next after me and i was waiting at the end of the checkout and i just sorta kept moving a bit because i felt he wanted to get down past me with his empty trolley as he unloaded his shopping on the conveyor…but he was sort of pushing me out of his way! not physically pushing me but just moving close enough for me to move and get the message, so i copped onto it and i was waiting for my change and i didnt move when he was doing his pushing trick and i just said out loud, for bleep sake and he just stopped and looked at me, obviously surprised, anyway got my change and went off thinkin, did i really just say that but some ppl just dont have patience and rush u when ur not ready as if he has more important things to be doing and better places to be going, i cant stand that, i was sick of what he was doing!!
Yeah, nothing annoys me more than when I’m putting my card into my wallet, getting the last few things into the bag and the next person starts making the motions of it being Their Turn, even though the till-person is just sitting there waiting for me to finish. Clearly they’ve been told to allow a person to finish with their faffing before moving on to the next customer, which is of course very good. It’s just a shame that other customers don’t have the manners or patience.
Having worked in jobs where I’ve had to deal with customers of the “general public”, I can only say that a frighteningly large proportion are stupid, ignorant, impolite or incredibly selfish - or a combination thereof.
Raffles, definitely hear you with the general public stuff - I guess we’re in the minority, or maybe just that people can’t be bothered to be nice at times like that, maybe its acceptable to just push ur way through because they expect the same back?
I know in rural areas here you dont get that as much, ppl have a bit of manners about them, like when i go to Dublin city you walk down the street u might brush shoulders with someone u instantly say omg sorry and turn around to say it but they are long gone as if they weren’t expecting u to say anything and are expecting to be shoved around, or if someone smacks into u and you’re just standing there waiting for a sorry, they just blank you and keep walking, i feel like kung-fu chopping them into tomorrow at that point
I tend to be very quick by myself, and even with the missus we each take half of the list and volley the trolley back and forth… and then we pack and get the hell out. :agree:
I’m not on that list… I fall into the category of the “Zombie shopper” - Lone individual who wanders about in the state of a trance looking for ideas of things to buy (in case there’s something interesting not on the list - especially in PC shops). After a long time he’ll / she’ll find their way to the checkout and do everything possible to get out of the store ASAP after realizing how much time they actually burned examining all the shiny objects not being purchased.
I remember seeing this two girls/sisters combo, i was waiting behind them for my checkout, one of the girl was continuously going inside and keep on adding something to their trolley and they did that for more than 5 times. So even Checkout operator who was checking their items got annoyed by their behavior and then me too… Its not always to being impatient when someone is finishing his/her checkout but sometimes ppl just don’t care that behind their back other people are still waiting so they have to clear their payment or whatever in a bit hurry.
i may visit several shops and sometimes just window shopping…but i think most of us who like our gadgets will go through this process also!
