Mom says cashier scolded her for letting kid eat food in supermarket before paying: Who was right?

[Slimshandy]

At the register, the mom handed the two empty packages to the cashier.

"I said to the lady serving us, 'I just wanted to let you know: Jack's eaten these two on the way around — here they are, so that you can scan them.' I wanted to point it out," she explained.


According to Samantha Mary, the employee gave her "the most disgusted look" while she scanned the items and then threw them out.

"I said to her, 'I'm really sorry but we hadn't finished with them. I just wanted to pass them to you so you could make sure they were scanned,'" said Samantha Mary. "So she ... huffed at me, got them out of the bin and put them on the side."

Samantha Mary said she apologized.

"She said, 'I just don't think it's right that people let their kids eat stuff from the food shop on the way around,'"




https://www.today.com/parents/moms/mom- ... WGuRQ8QK7s

[Olioxenfree]

The cashiers delivery could have been a bit more professional (although we’re only hearing moms perception of her huffing and giving her looks) but I 100% agree. The cashier does not want to touch your kids half eaten yogurt. They didn’t even say anything at first and only gave their opinion when she continuously kept bringing it up. If someone is eating food that hasn’t been paid for, it is completely an employees business to say something.

If you haven’t paid for it yet, it’s not yours and shouldn’t be opened. I understand that there are circumstances for why a child’s snack time might not be predictable (a baby who doesn’t understand to wait, a child is has medical or developmental additional needs, etc), but just pack a snack for them to eat if needed. I would have just told him “we haven’t paid for that food yet so we can’t eat it, you can have this snack I brought or we can wrap up really quick and you can have the yogurt as soon as we pay.” Or if it really comes down to it and she felt like he really needed that yogurt right now, I understand as a parent I might have to do something that is socially unacceptable if it is what I need to do for my kid at the moment, and I’m going to deal with people judging me for it. I’m honestly tired of this “I’m a parent so everyone has to be understanding of me and my child no matter what we decide to do” attitude that a lot of parents have.

[PoplarGrove]

The cashiers delivery could have been a bit more professional (although we’re only hearing moms perception of her huffing and giving her looks) but I 100% agree. The cashier does not want to touch your kids half eaten yogurt. They didn’t even say anything at first and only gave their opinion when she continuously kept bringing it up. If someone is eating food that hasn’t been paid for, it is completely an employees business to say something.

If you haven’t paid for it yet, it’s not yours and shouldn’t be opened. I understand that there are circumstances for why a child’s snack time might not be predictable (a baby who doesn’t understand to wait, a child is has medical or developmental additional needs, etc), but just pack a snack for them to eat if needed. I would have just told him “we haven’t paid for that food yet so we can’t eat it, you can have this snack I brought or we can wrap up really quick and you can have the yogurt as soon as we pay.” Or if it really comes down to it and she felt like he really needed that yogurt right now, I understand as a parent I might have to do something that is socially unacceptable if it is what I need to do for my kid at the moment, and I’m going to deal with people judging me for it. I’m honestly tired of this “I’m a parent so everyone has to be understanding of me and my child no matter what we decide to do” attitude that a lot of parents have.

When my kids were young I was accused of shop lifting because I had brought snacks for my kids to eat while we were in the grocery store so you can't win either way.

[AZOldGal66]

As long as the item eaten doesn't require it to be weighed at the register, I don't see the big deal and honestly, customers don't shop to get the cashier's opinion.

[Traci_Momof2]

When it's a package that has a scan code that can be scanned at the register then I don't think it's a big deal. I've done it myself, for myself as an adult, not even having the 'kid excuse'. I've opened a plastic bottle of soda and drank some while shopping and then had the cashier scan it when I was at the register. I never got anything negative from the cashiers that I did it to. And I didn't make a habit of doing it all the time but I've done it more than once in my lifetime. If it's about handling, the customer shouldn't even have to let go of the package, just hold it up and the cashier can scan with the scan gun and then everyone moves on. And now a days I would just go to self-checkout so it's not even an issue.

The obvious exception is weighed foods, but a lot of grocery stores these days have a small bin of free produce snacks for kids so if jr wants to snack on a banana instead of Goldfish then just take a banana from that free bin.

In short there is no reason that this should even be an issue in this day and age.

[Baconqueen13]

Until the item is paid for it is still the property of the grocery store. Furthermore many grocery stores now offer either a free piece of fruit or a free cookie from the bakery for those that desire or need a "snack". There is simply no reason to open a package in the store before purchase. Now there may not be a law regarding it but I simply think it is bad manners and inconsiderate to open food products before paying for them.

[cgd5112]

I agree. And there could be a million reasons why the mother made the choice to give her child the snacks before paying- medical , cognitive/dev, etc.

As long as the item eaten doesn't require it to be weighed at the register, I don't see the big deal and honestly, customers don't shop to get the cashier's opinion.

[LuckyEightWow]

The cashier is technically right, and she should have handled it a hell of a lot better, but having said that- I have done it, probably will do it again, and don’t care. The plus side to self check out is no one to judge my purchases.

[Olioxenfree]

The cashiers delivery could have been a bit more professional (although we’re only hearing moms perception of her huffing and giving her looks) but I 100% agree. The cashier does not want to touch your kids half eaten yogurt. They didn’t even say anything at first and only gave their opinion when she continuously kept bringing it up. If someone is eating food that hasn’t been paid for, it is completely an employees business to say something.

If you haven’t paid for it yet, it’s not yours and shouldn’t be opened. I understand that there are circumstances for why a child’s snack time might not be predictable (a baby who doesn’t understand to wait, a child is has medical or developmental additional needs, etc), but just pack a snack for them to eat if needed. I would have just told him “we haven’t paid for that food yet so we can’t eat it, you can have this snack I brought or we can wrap up really quick and you can have the yogurt as soon as we pay.” Or if it really comes down to it and she felt like he really needed that yogurt right now, I understand as a parent I might have to do something that is socially unacceptable if it is what I need to do for my kid at the moment, and I’m going to deal with people judging me for it. I’m honestly tired of this “I’m a parent so everyone has to be understanding of me and my child no matter what we decide to do” attitude that a lot of parents have.

When my kids were young I was accused of shop lifting because I had brought snacks for my kids to eat while we were in the grocery store so you can't win either way.

I just bring a little reusable baggie of them, not anything packaged, so it’s never been a problem

[SoFloMom]

I remember my mom doing that with me and I think once there was an issue. In the past, I’ve gotten the snack DS wanted then paid and kept the receipt and went back through to continue my shopping. Now I’ll just bring snacks for the baby in a resealable baggie or container.