Why do people grocery shop with the whole family?

[Anonymous]

I'm lucky enough to live within 5 minutes of a Wegmans, but a lot of people visit from relatively far away--that's their "special occasion" grocery store. So they might make an outing of it--get some groceries, get a coffee and a cookie for the kids, grab a slice of pizza for lunch, hit up a few other stores in the area.

It gets busy and crowded this time of year (duh), which is why I did my final grocery run this morning at 7 a.m. It was empty. My husband will pop in for steamed shrimp, flowers and milk tomorrow morning, and that will be it for us for the rest of the week.

[Anonymous]

I'll take a family over the grumpy old man who gave me an evil glare and muttered nasty things (maybe he thought was under his breath but the whole aisle heard it) about people needing to be in such a %*!@ a hurry when I (very politely) asked if I could get by. He'd parked his cart on one side of the aisle and was standing in the other half. I just gave him a cheery "thanks!" and moved on.

Kids are excited. They are out of school and if not school age, they're probably caught up in holiday excitement. I think going to the any store this time of year needs a lot of extra patience. At least we can shop and go home - the poor clerks have to deal with sensory overload on all fronts.

[Anonymous]

The only thing I care about, are people who grocery shop in groups with their family members all over the place, 3 abreast.

Grocery shopping is like driving - stay to the right. Don't block aisles. Keep it moving.

[Anonymous]

I went grocery shopping with DH and DS because we all wanted to get out of the house. I also wanted DH to pick out his own frozen meals or something similar to get him through the next few days at home because he is a picky eater. DH and I split up for part of the trip and we were done in 20 minutes!

On my way out, I saw two parents with each carrying a 2-3 year old twin and thought “Omg no.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only thing I care about, are people who grocery shop in groups with their family members all over the place, 3 abreast.

Grocery shopping is like driving - stay to the right. Don't block aisles. Keep it moving.

Omg. One family had 3 little kids. All 3 kids were in one cart (screaming and hitting each other). The other cart (which they had right next to the kid cart so that it totally blocked the aisle in both directions) was piled with food. It was nuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm lucky enough to live within 5 minutes of a Wegmans, but a lot of people visit from relatively far away--that's their "special occasion" grocery store. So they might make an outing of it--get some groceries, get a coffee and a cookie for the kids, grab a slice of pizza for lunch, hit up a few other stores in the area.

It gets busy and crowded this time of year (duh), which is why I did my final grocery run this morning at 7 a.m. It was empty. My husband will pop in for steamed shrimp, flowers and milk tomorrow morning, and that will be it for us for the rest of the week.

Yes - my wegman’s is a good half hour away so I would be stuck either sending DH who wouldn’t know what to get, or going myself and leaving DH stuck at home with our toddler for hours. It’s more fun if we both go and I fill the cart quickly and then let him pay while toddler and I pick out a snack and head upstairs. Then we can all pick up lunch or donuts or something, or do something fun

[Anonymous]

Totally agree OP. I hate it when people with wheelchairs get in my way too. So selfish. And don't get me started on old people. So slow.....

[Anonymous]

The best is the multi-generational families in the Costco. Blocking aisles and making meals out of the free samples. Kids running wild. Grandparents and parents oblivious to their surroundings.

[Anonymous]

I am a single parent and can’t leave my kid at home alone.

[Anonymous]

I can deal with families of shoppers, but the crazy driving around the holidays is getting me down. Why tailgate me when I’m already going 35 in a 25 and then zoom by in the shoulder when you’re turning in a block anyway?? I’ve had so many tailgaters this week and have seen lots of accidents.

[Anonymous]

Try taking kids into Whole Foods! The other shoppers huff and puff if you dare take a child in there. It seems like people think that paying more for their chicken entitled then to shop without the nuisance of non-adults. It’s bizarre. I’ve noticed a similar attitude in Balducci’s.

Wegman’s has a restaurant, full bar, live music and many other awesome things. I frequently see whole families there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll take a family over the grumpy old man who gave me an evil glare and muttered nasty things (maybe he thought was under his breath but the whole aisle heard it) about people needing to be in such a %*!@ a hurry when I (very politely) asked if I could get by. He'd parked his cart on one side of the aisle and was standing in the other half. I just gave him a cheery "thanks!" and moved on.

Kids are excited. They are out of school and if not school age, they're probably caught up in holiday excitement. I think going to the any store this time of year needs a lot of extra patience. At least we can shop and go home - the poor clerks have to deal with sensory overload on all fronts.

I'm a grumpy old man and would never take up the whole aisle because I don't want to interact with you, unless you're hot. Then I'm setting up the aisle block.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try taking kids into Whole Foods! The other shoppers huff and puff if you dare take a child in there. It seems like people think that paying more for their chicken entitled then to shop without the nuisance of non-adults. It’s bizarre. I’ve noticed a similar attitude in Balducci’s.

Wegman’s has a restaurant, full bar, live music and many other awesome things. I frequently see whole families there.

Only people who fail at life take the whole family there on Dec 23.

[Anonymous]

No idea OP, I stayed home with the out of control kids and DH went to the store. And thank goodness because he said Wegmans was crazytown.

[Anonymous]

I do it to assert my dominance over other shoppers.