To piggyback on the restaurant pet peeves thread ...

I get so mad when the teenage cashier at the grocery store is unable to tell the difference between a cucumber and a zucchini squash. Does the training they receive consist of only how to run the register? I can forgive them asking me; it may be difficult to tell the difference between a jalapeno and a serrano pepper, and they shouldn't have to put stickers on everything. I assume the only vegetables these kids are fed at home are french fries and cole slaw.

I am annoyed by cashiers who look over my purchases and say things like "that looks good" or "what does that taste like?". I want to tell them it tastes foul and I only eat it to punish myself for the bad thoughts I have about killing nosy cashiers.

Yours?

I use self checkout unless i'm buying alcohol or actually have a coupon to use.

i guess it helps that I usually don't buy more than 1 or 2 bags worth of food.

People who are so anal while in line at the check-in that they get mad at a new employee or complain to the cashier when they try to be nice and make small talk. Same answer as the restaurant pet peeves thread...anyone who gets so riled up at things like this that they have to write about them on a website.

Agreed. As long as the comments are positive. If someone said "How can you eat that" or " Does that taste good?" I think i'd be offended. If someone tried to give me nutrition advise I'd have to say that I actually am a dietitian and practicing dietetics without a license is illegal in NC. If they are just saying "that looks good" i'd just say "yeah, that's why i'm buying it"

I get annoyed when the cashier and bagger get into a conversation to the point where everything screeches to a halt. My temporary pet peeve now is that the grocery stores and WalMart are are redecorating and sprucing up to compete with a Target that will be opening soon. Nothing is where it should be and shopping takes longer.

I am tired of hearing "Would you like to donate a dollar to...........?"

MisterNice

That one gets me, too.

Other grocery store pet peeves, in no particular order:

1. People who block aisles with their carts while they study the labels on food products.

2. Those horrible "racing car" carts for kids -- many of their mothers seem to push these things with the same disregard as how they drive: chatting on their cellphone, cutting people off, holding up traffic, etc.

3. And while we're on the subject, "mini" carts (training carts?) pushed by children -- I've had it with having these things run into my knees.

4. People who abuse express lines by having too many items, or paying by check or credit card when it's cash-only.

5. Checkers who let people like this abuse express lines, instead of sending them to the proper line.

6. Stores that aren't absolutely religious about removing expired items from the shelves. I always check, but I should be able to rely on a grocery store to offer only wholesome, fresh products.

7. Checkers who ask, "Credit or debit," when I give them my Amex Platinum card. I've always wondered what would happen if I said, "Debit."

8. Checkers who get into protracted conversations with customers. Pleasant chat while ringing up purchases and collecting payment is fine. Don't make me wait, however, while you inquire into little Ginny's ballet recital.

9. Panhandlers who stalk the exits and harass shoppers as they leave (perhaps more of a problem in San Francisco and Santa Monica).

10. Children who stalk the exits collecting money for school projects, selling cookies, or whatever and harass shoppers as they enter or leave.

11. People who write checks for small purchases (and why is it almost always women who do this?).

12. People who say, "Wait, I think I have a penny," and then spend several minutes rummaging through their purse to find it (again, why is it always women who do this?).

13. Shoppers who let their kids graze the produce, resulting in grubby little hands touching the fruit as they shove it into their mouths. If you must steal food to pacify your kids, at least pull off a couple of grapes yourself and hand it to your kids. The produce section isn't a buffet at the day care center.

Hmmmm. No wonder I don't like grocery shopping.

+1 (I'm really glad I don't shop where you do )

DB Post of the week. ^

One more:
14. Choosing the short, non-express queue.
Noticing that with 12-17 people it, being at the end of the other queue would have been faster!

Staff that is not knowledgeable on the products they are selling is the biggest no-no.

Every time you get used to where stuff is....They change everything around !

I hate it when people start to look at you after you've sampled the 50th grape to see which bag is definitely the best. And then when you found it, there are so many grapes missing from it, you've got to find a fuller bag!

Costco does this of course, or just gets rid of my favorite product!

They ALL remodel just when you've got used to the layout!!!! I think they do it on purpose!!!!

People who stand there watching the cashier scan everything... and when the total is announced they get that "deer in the headlights" look and only then start rummaging through bags for purse or wallet...

This is, sorry to point out, also normally women.

What, do they think it was going to be free that time??

Only product I've been asked about led to an "embarassed" (but honest) response from me... the young girl scanned a packet of semolina.. and commented:

"Oh.. this is a sort of cereal isn't it? I've thought of trying it.. is it nice?"

To which I could only reply that I had never actually eaten it... but only ever used it as a "filler" in Black Powder cartridge loading....

At least the ladies in the local fabric stores are used to us "Muzzleloading rifle" guys coming in and measuring the thickness of plain cottons with vernier calipers! (Bore diameter .450.. round ball diameter .440... looking for a close weave cotton about .012 or so...)

As for #10 Children at the exit..

OMG!! How would the world get girl scout cookies if they didn't stand out there rain or shine or electrical storm? I don't care if a couple of munchkins get fried, i want my annual dose of Thin Mints!

That said, the rest of the problems aren't my problem. I shop at Publix, where shopping is a pleasure

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (SymbianOS/9.1; U; en-us) AppleWebKit/413 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/413 es61i)

Well, again, a lot of this could be a UK thing, but:

• When the cashier asks you if you want help packing, you decline, and they scan the items at lightning speed just to spite you.
• When you do get them to help with packing and they use a new bag for every two items.
• When they run out of something, instead of leaving the label there, they obliterate its very existence, so you don't know if they've run out or dropped it entirely.
• Endless badgering for layalty cards. Look, I'm in town for the weekend, there's no bramch near home, and I don't want 0.001% rebate in return for endless mailshots.
• Bizarre and illogical categorisation. The 25g raisin boxes are with "snacking fruit" and the 75g with "baking ingredients". Hmm.
• Promotions on staple items where they vastly under-order.
• When I order a week's worth of groceries online,and all the fresh stuff they deliver is BBE the next day.
• When they don't police the disabled spaces in the car park, and let scum get away with parking there illegally.
• Where there are no or very insecure cycle spaces, particularly when in town. Come on, it's 2008, not 1988!
• Bizarre car park layouts devised by M C Escher.
• Pricing 2 2-packs at less than a 4-pack. That used to be illegal.
• Urban supermarkets with no respect for the surrounding area (Tesco are especially bad for this) - cages left on the pavement, delivery vans blocking streets, late-night noise...
• Excessive and unrecyclable packaging, even in this day and age. And also, making a huge fuss about how much packaging they're reducing when it's only been introduced in the last couple of years.