I’m a creature of habit.
For the most part.
When I go to the grocery store, I buy the same things. My cart is usually brimming with fresh meat and produce.
The other day I stopped by the store for a few of their specials.
While I was there I noticed that they had incredible deals on a few of their frozen food brands.
I couldn’t help myself.
I stocked up. As I was throwing frozen food entrees into my cart faster than I would even have thought possible, I was thinking of the freedom from making dinner the brightly packaged dinners represented.
And then……
I got clumsy and dropped a Banquet fish sticks dinner on the ground. Suddenly, a man appeared out of no where and picked up the dinner that I had no intention of eating.
I was TOTALLY embarrassed. It occurred to me what I must look like to someone else. The twins were still in their pajamas, neither was wearing shoes, and their mom was buying crap.
I high tailed it to the checkout line and left the store humiliated.
Not because I take my twins shopping in their pajamas without shoes, because I do that without remorse, much to Jeff’s chagrin, but because I FELT like a terrible mother for buying frozen entrees without a fresh fruit or vegetable in sight.
Have you ever gone shopping and been embarrassed by your food purchases?
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YUP! One of my favorite meals growing up was pan cooked SPAM with maple syrup and mac & cheese. One day the check out girl was SO grossed out when I put the SPAM on the counter she had to have someone ELSE finish checking me out!
Twitter: 7clowncircus
January 30, 2010 at 6:33 am
The check out person couldn’t even finish? Hilarious. What’s so gross about that? It’s like bacon with syrup, and who doesn’t like mac and cheese ,really?
I am only embarassed when I buy things to relieve certain conditions. Like my private trifecta of prune juice, laxatives and douches. That was hard core embarassing!!
Twitter: 7clowncircus
January 30, 2010 at 6:32 am
Ha. At least you can hide those in the middle of the cart.
Yes. All through January, in fact. My 4 boys have birthdays this month, and they get to choose the menu for a day. So for one month, all our weekly shopping trips consist of things like soda, frozen waffles, lollipops, frosting, chips… It doesn’t help that we’re on food stamps right now [gotta love the economy] and so we get dirty looks galore! I don’t blame them, really. If we can’t afford to buy our own groceries, what right do we have to spend your tax dollars on junk food?
Twitter: 7clowncircus
January 30, 2010 at 6:31 am
You have 4 January birthdays? Get out. My oldest three are all January. My twins were due in January, too. What a great idea to let them chose what to eat all day. Totally memorable. I think I’m going to start doing this too.
Yup. None of them were planned, and the only girl was due in early April. So we’ve decided once we’re ready to try for another, there won’t be any baby-making in the Spring, but we’ll go at it like rabbits through the summer. Think it’ll work?
Twitter: shellthings
January 30, 2010 at 6:10 am
Oh, that’s NOTHING. Don’t feel bad.
I actually bought velveeta for the first time ever, though I thought maybe it was a sign that I shouldn’t, when I didn’t even know where it was kept. Silly me was looking with the cheese.
Twitter: 7clowncircus
January 30, 2010 at 6:30 am
Ha ha ha. I know exactly where it’s kept although I never buy it. I remember seeing and having an aha moment. So that’s where it is.
Twitter: shellthings
January 30, 2010 at 7:06 am
I kept thinking, if I have to ask someone where it is, I’m not getting it, that’s too embarrassing. But, I had a copy cat recipe for the Mac a roo n cheese from Outback and I thought I’d try it. 1/2 c heavy cream, 8oz velveeta: heat together then add 8oz cooked pasta. It ended up being amazing…and it’s probably no worse than the packaged mac n cheese, right? Maybe.
wait…it’s not with the cheeses? where do they keep it then?
Twitter: MadameMommy
January 30, 2010 at 6:46 am
HA!!! All the time…sometimes I find myself looking down and saying to myself…’what a hell of a combo we got goin’ on here!’ I always wonder if the checkout lady is judging me etc….funny stuff.
Been there before! LOL, you think to yourself what they must be saying to themselves “what a crappy person, she doesnt have any common sense or skills??!”! Yup, I have definitely done that before. Dont worry, you wont see that person again and if you do, your cart will be better stocked!
Every time I walk through the check out line with a cart full of Diet Coke and Little Debbie cakes.
Gee, not too hard on yourself are you? What mom doesn’t buy frozen fish sticks and Tyson chicken nuggets and all that?
Justine
)
Frequently. And I hang my head in shame as I hand over my credit card!
That’s funny. I don’t think my grocery purchases are so bad that I should be embarrassed, but I am anyway because even though I’ve had kids for 5 years now I’m still not used to having things in my cart like Mac & Cheese and frozen french fries. Or cookies and chips. I always want to tell people, “Oh, I don’t eat this stuff. This stuff is for my husband and kids. lol. I usually do eat the cookies, though.
Sunny wears a dog costume all the time and Elle twists her hair into matted knots. That’s pretty embarrassing. My MIL asks why I don’t brush Elle’s hair and it makes me so mad because I brush that girl’s hair 5 times a day at least. And the minute I finish she sticks her finger in her hair and starts twisting as tells me she likes her knots.
Nope not really LOL… that is funny! I am a rican so I don’t care , I got it from my momma. My mother makes everything from scratch however moi um not so much. WHo doesn;’t love a bargain!
Twitter: JacksMomMarie
January 30, 2010 at 10:29 am
I actually had a cashier comment on all the junk I had in basket once. I was so embarrassed that I make sure that I don’t go through her line when I’m on a cookie or chip run.
Twitter: Twinfatuation
January 30, 2010 at 1:25 pm
What do I feel guilty about after reading your post? The fact that I DON’T feel guilty buying cruddy, crunch-free, HFCS and Trans-Fat rich foods!
Really, we are trying to get better, but when it comes to guilt over my maternal shortcomings, let’s just say I have bigger fish sticks to fry!
(You’re an awesome mommy.
)
Sometimes I feel weird when I have sugary cereal and junk food in my cart. I imagine people are all, “What are you feeding your kids?” They do get fruit and veggies, it’s just their mother has a sweet tooth.
Just when I’m buying condoms or TONS of junk food.
ahhhh, you are human. I was under the impression you were a super hero mom. Yeah, I buy frozen food, for Chris to take to lunch. How’s that for wife of the year?
AND I take my kids to the store in whatever they have on. I’m total white trash.
Twitter: swirlgirlspearl
January 30, 2010 at 4:02 pm
Not food choices per se, but I was embarrassed to buy femenine hygiene products, or worse – Preparation H!
I have totally felt this way. Sometimes I look down at my chart and wonder what people think of me with I am buying bananas, wine, lubricant, ice cream, milk and diapers. I don’t even know what to think about that.
I have no idea. I never thought of such embarrassment. I don’t store much frozen food. I try to make my family eat vegetables at least once a day, which I buy from a traditional market.
but I must admit I don’t store enough fruits
Actually all the time. i always wonder what they are thinking when I stock up on stuff and there are several things there. I can’t help but wonder what goes through their minds.
Uh … yeah!
Like unloading 20 Hershey Bars with Almonds onto the conveyor belt?
Nice! I always say, “Who cares what others think”. Don’t worry about what the folks at the store think – do your thing. Besides it makes for good blog fodder!
When I was about 5 months pregnant with my daughter I was grocery shopping with my almost 2 year old son. As I went through the check out line I was having trouble passing between the check out counter and cart due to my growing belly. The clerk remarked, “Oh, I have a two month old and I haven’t lost my baby weight either. I was mortified – she thought I was still sporting baby fat rather than being with child.
The question then was do I tell her I’m pregnant or let her think I’m just slow to drop the weight? I’d like to say I took the high road but I said I was pregnant and the poor woman was so embarrassed. Darn my pride.
Twitter: 1momof5
January 30, 2010 at 8:24 pm
Haha! I can’t say I ever have, but I sure did enjoy reading about your experience!
Twitter: beccascrazyboys
January 30, 2010 at 8:49 pm
I KNEW I wasn’t the only one!
I’m the one who stands in the checkout line looking at other carts and comparing my purchases…
The other day my 5 year old talked me into buying 4 cans of spaghettios.
Yup. 4 cans. Along with a few lunchables.
I swear people were judging me.
Twitter: ErinsMiracles
January 30, 2010 at 9:11 pm
That’s funny! I do that every time I buy those Kid Cuisine meals for my oldest….and then he is in the cart saying he wants soda and MnM’s and I think to myself “Oh great, everyone in here thinks I feed my child nothing but crap”. He does eat healthy stuff I swear…we just don’t buy the healthy stuff here! We get it at the local farmer’s market!
On one of our better days I have taken my daughter in her p.j.’s of course with hair barely brushed (due to drama queen screaming that I am hurting her BEFORE the hair brush touches her hair) to Walmart and in the checkout line she is eating cookies just to keep her from screaming and crying at this point …not to mention her face is already covered in chocolate from the 2 cookies she already had. In the cart there is angel hair pasta her favorite and NO sauce. NOT even sauce. So I can relate!!! You are NOT alone.
Only yesterday I felt embarrassed by what was being scanned.. Me & The other half decided to treat ourselves to lots of fatty foods and unhealthy stuff, as the pizzas and cheesecakes were scanned through the Woman kept looking at Oli who was sat in the trolley.
There wasn’t baby food , vegetables or fruit in sight ( Bought on a previous shopping trip from another store! ) . Oh what she must of thought of us!!
Ha, ha! Yes I have had many embarrassing moments at the grocery store. And I am so glad to hear that I am not the only one that takes my kids to the store in their pajamas with no shoes on. Sometimes if I can get them out the door at all, I consider it a success.
The most embarrassing purchase that I have ever had to endure was the time that I had all three of my kids in the cart, laughing and throwing things and creating chaos in general, and I was buying a pregnancy test. *Sigh*
Great story! And thanks for stopping by to visit me.
Every time I go shopping, I get comments from the cashier on the amount of juice I buy. What’s up with that?
Twitter: mommysstillfab
January 31, 2010 at 6:31 pm
My husband is embarassed to buy condoms.
Really.
He’s 33.
I shouldn’t talk though, because I’m embarassed to buy pregnancy tests. So, I guess one of us is pretty much always uncomfortable.
Um…yeah! Let’s see…spaghettio’s, lunchables, frozen french fries and chicken fingers, chips ahoy cookies…yeah I been there!
Twitter: MutheringHeight
January 31, 2010 at 7:23 pm
Well, when I bought my pregnancy test for my first baby, I tossed it up on the conveyor belt with a COLOSSALLY huge bag of m&m’s. She gave me a look like I was some sort of crazy person! All I said was, “these things may be related…”
Sometimes I get a serious sweet tooth and can’t decide which candy will best suit my needs. I’ll proceed to toss one of every candy I can possibly grab into the cart and it’s not until I’m checking out that I realize what a freak I must look like.
So feel your pain.
LOL. I feel that way when I buy the economy pack of mac and cheese every week
Twitter: debi9kids
February 1, 2010 at 10:59 pm
oh yeah. I think we all go through times when we just don’t want or have the time to cook a perfectly healthy meal every night.
I always get embarassed because whenever a store had potato chips on sale, I’ll stock up and with a family of 11, that can mean A LOT of bags of chips in one cart. LOL
What I hate is when I’m at the check out and give (usually an old lady) checker my coupons and it’ll come to like 10 cents or something and she’ll say “OH, I dont’ know if I can do that” then holds up the whole stinking line just so a manager can come over and verify it… It’s happened I think 4 times… I have certain checkers that I refuse to go too!!!
If I have my twins with me and I buy no diapers or baby food, I get weird looks.
Non food related? How awkward is it to buy lingerie and the only person in the store is some 16 year old boy?
Angie,
I’m so relieved to have found your new site. For some reason, I didn’t realize I needed to investigate further – I have you on my google reader list. After so many weeks with no new post, I just had to start poking around. So glad to “catch up” again!
It’s pretty awkward to buy pregnancy tests in my tiny military community, since EVERY person I know shops at the same store… I try to hide them in the bottom of the basket, but there’s always some embarrassing moment involved, real or imagined!
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