four-minute friday: empty bottle
Go.
I did something I’ve always wanted to do. I consumed something in the grocery store before I paid for it.
I’ve always had a strange mix of feelings when seeing someone eat a candy bar or drink a Coke before checking out. My self-righteousness flares up with thoughts like How dare she? and Who does he think he is? Yet, if I’m honest, deep down I’m green with envy. I wish I had the guts to do that.
I was perusing the aisles, pushing my cart. I was thirsty, so I grabbed a bottle of sparking water and figured I’d drink it when I was done shopping. And then I just decided, in that instant, to drink it right then and there.
As I unscrewed the cap, the infamous first-fizz noise of carbonated beverages made me chuckle. With dodgey eyes, trying to see if anyone was watching, I took a quick sip. I laughed to myself as I resumed shopping.
When I got to the checkout, I handed the woman my empty bottle for her to ring up. There. I did it. It was a rather liberating experience.
Done.
Way to go!
I manage a store, so I see a lot of customers do that, which generally isn’t a problem. The bad part is the small percentage that use the product and leave it as trash for us to find on the shelf.
You go girl! :)
Wow, I’m impressed. I feel the same way. It’s like the idea of tasting a grape to see if their good before buying a whole bunch. I cannot do it. And now, I have a huge bag of grapes on my kitchen counter that are sour. I should have tried one.
I love reading your blog… don’t know why I hadn’t found it earlier!
Goodtimes!
I wouldn’t dare do that here! We have grocery store stalkers here in our town. The high up managers disperse themselves throughout the aisles and take turns following you with a clip board about 50 feet away. If you turn around and look at them they try to be all sly and duck away behind a cooking oil display or quickly put their clip board up and peak around it to see if you are still watching them. At times it is unnerving and you want to run down the aisle to see if they would follow you still. At times when I am rushed I want to turn around and give them half of my list to help me out and shorten my time in their super supervised supermarket.
noooooo…..
oh you’ve got guts! :)
Love it :) It’s funny… I used to feel the same way… until I started grocery shopping w/ a toddler… usually at least 3-5 things have been opened and “sampled” by Silas before we pay for them ;)
1 – i’m glad i’m not alone in my mixed feelings on all this, and my hesitancy (alright… fear) all this time!
2 – jen, i read your comment and immediately felt guilty. i paid. i promise! :-) thanks for stopping by and joining the discussion!
3 – leah, welcome to the grit family. hope you stick around a while. and yeah… i’ve never sampled a grape either.
4 – angie, holy smokes. how bizarre.
5 – yay for comments! thanks friends!
As long as you paid, we can consider you one of the good customers. ;-) Hope you’re having a great day!
this made me smile extremely big.
I would have thought the experience liberating as well. I’d feel like it was a sneaky thing to do…like I was being a rebel.
Hehe.
phew. thanks.
becca…that’s EXACTLY how i felt!
this made me laugh out loud…i mean… how cute are you! i must be without a conscience !)…i do this all the time – esp now with emma as a bribe and/or distraction to keep her happy! (although i do always feel a bit guilty and feel the need to tattle on myself – at bed bath and beyond the other day emma was borded so i opened some candy and the mangager later asked if i was finding everything okay…i confessed “oh yea, and were enjoying a treat too…he didn’t care and i did pay for it good for you:) and thanks for making me smile!
haha. Good for you. :) This was a fun post.
HA!
I just gotta say, if I were dating you, that alone would be cause for me to fall madly in love with you. It’s that impressive. ;)
HA!
I just gotta say, if I were dating you, that alone would be cause for me to fall madly in love with you. It’s that impressive. ;)
p.s. if i lived where angie did, i’d make hubby go shopping.
p.s. if i lived where angie did, i’d make hubby go shopping.
at Spar we have been invited to try new things when we asked what they were….like Goosberries… :) Britt has found it benefical to sample the frozen berries to make sure they weren’t bad…we have gotten so many bad berries. :)
that thought also crossed my mind in the grocery today – but i couldn’t pull it off…glad you could! very amusing..