Friday, November 04, 2005

Shopping Etiquette

Shopping Etiquette

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Everyone has little bad habits that they don't necessarily notice about themselves. Luckily, I realized a year or two ago that I had the habit of glancing into other people's shopping carts as they went by. Then, one day, it occurred to me; that it's actually a pretty invasive act. What if something embarrassing is in that cart? Or something I'm not meant to see, like a surprise birthday cake that a stranger baked for me!?

I'm not sure how this habit formed. It's probably a survival instinct that was unknowingly jarred out of dormancy. Not that it won't have its uses. Someday, when I go to a supermarket that has run out of everything, I'll have a running inventory of what other shoppers are toting. Then I'll have to track them down, highlander-style, and battle each fellow customer for the last bottle of flavored-seltzer, or 3/4 pound of light American Cheese.


Comments on this Article

There are currently 25 comments.

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Anders

"I'm Connor Macleod of the Macleod clan...I know you've got some eggs there" :D

bearskinrug

Of all the high-protein foods, the Immortals craved the chicken egg.

murten

Anders... come on man... it's: "of the clan Macleod", not "the Macleod clan"...

Anders

I'm sure I got something wrong, I haven't seen any of the Highlander movies for AGES...not that I miss it, the only good thing is the theme :P

murten

I just read the whole Connor Macleod timeline, very interesting... *sigh* I did this "research" because the first Macleod I think of is named "Duncan", but apparently Connor is much older. I do remember that in atleast one movie Christopher Lambert says he is named Duncan Macleod.

CLICK HERE!

Chuck

Looking in a cart in a supermarket isn't so bad. You need to keep your eyes to yourself when you're shopping in the ladies deliccates section.

John Nick

Emily Post could (and ought to) have a field day with cart etiquette. This week a woman took my cart because she "thought it was empty."

Great comic, KC. Nice ink wash too.

bearskinrug

Chuck - Or the panty aisle of the supermarket.

JN - Yeah - that's pretty annoying too. I also hate it when people leave their cart sideways across the middle of the aisle, and wander away as they browse...

jveeg

I like it when a woman smashes into the back of your heel and then gives you a dirty look for turning around... oh yeh ladies you know you can't drive a cart either...

Ian

This is a pretty bad habit for me too. Luckily, I've acquired the skill to keep my face forward and have my eyes track the contents of the cart. It's also pretty useful when at the beach.

wayne

i was just talking about this the other day after a visit to the local "warehouse" store. i felt bad for snooping into other people's purchases, but that woman was buying, like, 90 pounds of chicken. (i also mentally apologized to a woman after looking in her cart and seeing a gihugic box of super panty liners.)

JR

Not only do I like to look in other people's carts, but I like to take inventory of everything they have and try to figure out what they might hypothetically be doing. Ex: Knives + Cleaning Solution + Shovels + Twinkies = Bad News and Twinkies. It's a fun little game to play.

PS - I recieved my Ambidexterous in the mail yesterday and I've read it twice. Briliant stuff Kevin.

JR

PPS - Next time I call "Ambidexterous" "briliant" I'll spell both of them better and be less ironic.

anaglyph

You can screw with other people's brains by replacing an item they have in their cart with something similar but not exactly the same when they're not looking. You need to do a bit of cart reconnaissance to get this to work but it's mighty fun.

bearskinrug

jveeg - Err... ummm... I actually do that to Kim all the time. *sniffle*

Ian - Yeah - pretty useful until you fall into an open beach manhole!

Wayne - Haha - you didn't need to mentally apologize to her. Her panties were going to be lined - you should congratulate her!

JR - Hah - that's a good game! I'll play it now... so the lady Wayne saw must have been planning to put pantyliners on all of the chicken!

(I'm glad you liked Ambidextrous :D )

ANAGLYPH - Wow - that's another good game... You guys have just made shopping much more palatable.

Sue

I still like to race cart up and down the aisles.
"WATCH OUT!"

bearskinrug

Haha - they will Fear you... and then they will Respect you.

Amanda

eww. you're all a bunch of girlie-hating perviods. I'm buying my panty liners online from now on.

norm

be sure to go to carefreeliners.com - a site designed for chicks by a chick...

bearskinrug

Heheh - good call, Norm ;)

greenlikeahappyfrog

we can buy those ONLINE?

hopefully, i can get some floss, vitamins and mini horoscope book, too. so it's not just THAT coming in the mail.

bearskinrug

Haha - good one, froggie...

Maureen

Please, please tell me where you found flavored seltzer. I'll send some American light cheese in exchange for the info.

bearskinrug

Flavored seltzer can be found at numerous shopping centers (at least, in the Philadelphia / New York / Baltimore Gigantotropolis area) in the soda aisle. My particular favorite is "Zazz", which can be purchased at Giant Supermarkets, though there also is "Vintage" brand...

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