Tell me I am not the only one....

[Denim Deb]

Bee, I bought a 12 pack of root beer earlier in the year cuz I wanted the cans to make something. I think I've drunk 3!

 

[Hinotori]

Only time I pay much attention to what someone else is getting is at the checkout when their card is declined and they start telling the clerk to take the food off the tab until there is just chips and beer.

Or there was the couple who apparently decided very loudly to go to a movie and told the clerk to put the milk back, but they kept the dairy creamer and frozen corn dogs.

Now sometimes the cart just draws my eye like the day week at Winco when this scrungy couple with 5 small kids was pushing a cart loaded with pop on the bottom and lots of chips and junk food and a few frozen dinners.

 

[canesisters]

I do this sometimes. I'll look at what they're buying and invent a whole imaginary life for them. Entertains me and makes them wonder why I'm smiling.


(edited to correct embarrassing spelling....)

 

[so lucky]

When we have company, especially younger people, I temporarily go off my weird eating habits and try to provide stuff most people like--chips, sweet desserts, processed cereal. I find that I feel embarrassed anymore to do the shopping for these visits: my cart is loaded with soda, chips, all that junk food we never even have around when it's just hubs and me. I hope no one I know sees me with all that crappy food!

 

[Beekissed]

I do the same thing...and with the same level of embarrassment! I always want to turn to those around me and explain that I'm having company or a party. Funny..I thought I was the only one that felt that way!

 

[moolie]

Yup, gotta say I still don't get it even pages later. Why should I care what anyone else chooses to buy with their own money, and similarly why on earth should anyone else care what I choose to buy?

If I buy a bag of potato chips for my teens to take to a party, I can honestly never say I've worried or even wondered what the people around me are thinking. I do get annoyed by the small child in the trolley begging his/her mother for some sugary cereal, but I certainly don't judge that mother for the choices she has made in her life. People do what they will, what they have to do in many cases, and it's definitely not up to me to be the arbiter of good or healthy food choices.

I come by this attitude quite honestly, as I had extreme difficulty breast-feeding my oldest (couldn't make enough milk, despite trying for 7 months in addition to pumping after trying baby on the breast and then bottle-feeding formula--it literally took me nearly all day to feed her for those 7 months). I got lots of stares and incredibly rude comments from total strangers bent on making sure I knew how evil I was as I bottle-fed my daughter in a time when this was very frowned upon and I resolved then and there to not judge ANYONE on how they feed their children, and by extension themselves.

I find that as I get older I prefer to let others be and just take care of myself, to not be concerned about what doesn't directly concern me and to focus on the positive things in my life. Judgement is a negative action and results in negative feelings, I prefer positive happy feelings in a world that is difficult enough to live in. I find I have WAY less stress and bother in my everyday that way.

Something to think about...

 

[Emerald]

Yup, gotta say I still don't get it even pages later. Why should I care what anyone else chooses to buy with their own money, and similarly why on earth should anyone else care what I choose to buy?

If I buy a bag of potato chips for my teens to take to a party, I can honestly never say I've worried or even wondered what the people around me are thinking. I do get annoyed by the small child in the trolley begging his/her mother for some sugary cereal, but I certainly don't judge that mother for the choices she has made in her life. People do what they will, what they have to do in many cases, and it's definitely not up to me to be the arbiter of good or healthy food choices.

I come by this attitude quite honestly, as I had extreme difficulty breast-feeding my oldest (couldn't make enough milk, despite trying for 7 months in addition to pumping after trying baby on the breast and then bottle-feeding formula--it literally took me nearly all day to feed her for those 7 months). I got lots of stares and incredibly rude comments from total strangers bent on making sure I knew how evil I was as I bottle-fed my daughter in a time when this was very frowned upon and I resolved then and there to not judge ANYONE on how they feed their children, and by extension themselves.

I find that as I get older I prefer to let others be and just take care of myself, to not be concerned about what doesn't directly concern me and to focus on the positive things in my life. Judgement is a negative action and results in negative feelings, I prefer positive happy feelings in a world that is difficult enough to live in. I find I have WAY less stress and bother in my everyday that way.

Something to think about...

I often look in others carts.. just nosy I guess..
but I got the rude and incredibly nasty comments when I breast fed my children. (this was about 26 years ago) I could not believe how nasty people were and telling me how I was depriving my daughter and later, my son of good vitamin packed formulas.. makes ya wonder what the heck is going on with our world.
and I have to say that I never just "whipped it out" in public and had several beautiful shawls that I would drape over. I always looked for the out of the way spots not right in the middle to feed the littles too. And yes some of the worst of it came from members of my own family.

But I do comment occasionally on family carts when I see them just as they comment on mine. I buy mainly cook from scratch stuff and every so often pick up a few easy or treat items- but I have family (not blood related but inlaw wise)that are obese with heart troubles and many other problems and yet their carts are full of pre-made full of chemical treated high process foods.. these are the same family that ask my advice on how to lose weight and live better.. those are the moments in life.. I love them but really.. sometimes think they would be better off if the SHTF quicker rather than later.. forcing them to grow more and work harder..

 

[Beekissed]

I don't often notice other folks' carts, just the one directly in front of me while I'm standing in line. I don't dwell on the cart or their choices, but one cannot help see the obvious and compare it to what you have in your own cart. That's called "thinking" where I come from and in no way do I feel like I'm being critical in my thinking by merely noting the differences.

Now, if I exclaimed loudly to all and sundry what poor choices these people were making or even if my thinking were very smug in nature about their choices, then that would go beyond mere "thinking" into the criticizing of others area. That would be negative in nature and would be an undesirable outcome of looking at another filled cart in front of me.

Noting that folks seem to drink a lot of pop is not nosing into their business or negative judgement in any way...it's merely noting that, in comparison to my life, other folks buy a lot of pop.

I don't think they are wrong or feel superior to them in that stray thought...it is merely a thought that goes through the mind~ "Gee, folks sure do buy a lot of pop!". I'd be having the same thought if someone were coming through the line with a cart filled with dog food..."Gee, those folks sure do buy a lot of dog food!" The other part of that thought is, naturally, "compared to me." That is called a comparison, not a judgement.

I can't possibly imagine standing in line and forcing myself to have no thoughts whatsoever about what I see in front of me. Drawing an absolute blank in the mind is something that I have not been able to accomplish and forcing oneself to think about unicorns and rainbows while standing in line at the store is another no go...so my mind drifts naturally to what I see and then forms thoughts about it. Cannot be helped.

Am I judgemental or negative in my thoughts towards those who have something different in their carts? Nope. Do I make a judgement when I see a cart filled with junk food...if I do it's like a flash of something like, "Now, that's a lot of junk food!" Not, however, "Those people should be spending their money on healthier foods..shame on them!"

Do I continue to look at the junk food and form negative thoughts? No. I just noted it as my eyes slid past the cart. Same as the thoughts about when my eyes slide past the magazine rack and read the titles..."She's pretty!" "No, I do not want to know how to lose 10 lbs before spring!(that would be a mere drop in the bucket)" "No, I'd rather not know my horoscope."

I also note what folks are wearing and note when it's something I wouldn't wear~ or would wear, if it looks nice~ or does not look nice on them, or even, would that look nice on me, we sort of look the same size? I have those same thoughts when I look in the mirror...and I'm MUCH more critical of the clothing or hairstyle on that image than I am on anyone out there.

Knowing that I have those thoughts, I realize that others have those thoughts as well.

I think it's quite normal to have those kinds of thoughts. Now, thinking one is superior in some way to that person? That's a horse of a different color.

 

[Beekissed]

 

[me&thegals]

When we have company, especially younger people, I temporarily go off my weird eating habits and try to provide stuff most people like--chips, sweet desserts, processed cereal. I find that I feel embarrassed anymore to do the shopping for these visits: my cart is loaded with soda, chips, all that junk food we never even have around when it's just hubs and me. I hope no one I know sees me with all that crappy food!

Ditto

Yes, I play the shopping cart game also.

It can be misleading, though! My cart this time of year holds a lot of chips (for salsa samples at market), tons of sugar (for the bees and jam for sale), soda (for special get-togethers), butter, and other stuff. Almost no fruit and definitely no vegetables. What people wouldn't know when peeking in my cart is that we have an entire acre of vegetables and the family eats loads of them every day. No milk since we get it from a relative's farm. No flour since we have our own wheat. No meat since we raise/hunt our own, etc. etc.

My cart would be very misleading, so who's to say the reasons for other people's carts, hey?