Ah, the grocery store. Whether you love walking through the aisles and grand displays of produce, or truly despise your weekly shopping trip, there are some unspoken rules of the supermarket.
Following our story on what you should never do at the drive-thru, we wanted to continue our quest toward a more courteous world. So naturally, we went to Reddit to find out what bothers people—employees and fellow shoppers—at the grocery store. Based on comments, we decided to come up these rules for shopping.
Here are seven things you should never do at the grocery store.
Leave Items Where They Don't Belong—Especially Perishables
Maybe you put a box of cereal in your cart but don't want it anymore. That doesn't mean you should leave it on a shelf in the cosmetics aisle. It's even worse if it's a perishable item like milk or meat, which will spoil if not refrigerated. No one wants to pick up a gallon of melted ice cream left on a shelf.
Use An Express Lane When You Have Too Many Items
The express lanes are there for a reason—to speed things up for people with just a few items. If the items in your cart are over the limit, don't use the express lane. You'll appreciate it the next time you're in a hurry.
Block Aisles With Your Cart
This should be a non-brainer but we see it all the time. Avoid leaving your cart in the middle of the aisle. It blocks other shoppers and stops the flow of traffic. Try to keep it pulled to one side.
Leave Your Cart Unattended
Yes, maneuvering a shopping cart through a busy store isn't always easy. But leaving your cart abandoned while you run off to grab an item (especially when you're in the checkout line) just blocks other people from getting what they need.
Ask To Cut The Line Because You Only Have A Few Items
This is why there are express lanes. Perhaps someone will let you move ahead, but don't ask to cut the line.
Eat Your Food Before Paying
Whether you open a bag of chips or snack on a few grapes, people have mixed feelings about eating while grocery shopping. Our take? It depends on what you're munching on. Avoid bulk foods that need to be weighed or anything too messy.
Be Ill-Prepared At The Checkout
Maybe you're fumbling for your wallet or coupons or even counting coins. No matter your method of payment, be ready when you enter the checkout lane. And try to save phone conversations for when you're finished.
Associate Editor
As the Associate Editor at Delish, Allie is a writer, reporter, and producer of features at the intersection of food and culture. Before Delish, Allie worked for publications including Apartment Therapy and Insider. She even spent time working in restaurants and breweries. Allie has dumpster-dived in NYC to expose food waste, reported on the invasive lionfish you can eat, and wrote about the growing trend of weed weddings. Her health and nutrition stories on hydration culture, bananas, and coffee have generated nearly 2M combined views. She loves traveling, running, and eating her way through new places and even has a thorough Google Maps ranking system for her favorite restaurants and bars! When not writing about food, she's planning her next trip, lifting weights, or training for a race.
Expertise: food & culture (Sustainability, Health, Travel)
Education: M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University, B.S. in Information Science (User Experience Design) from the University of Michigan
