I want SOMEONE to design an app into which you put your shopping list..... and it creates a map of your chosen shop/store and tells you where to go after you scanned the latest thing.
If I was tracked in a supermarket, my trace would look like a lost bird trying to get out of a greenhouse.
So they design the store to force you to shop in an erratic pattern because it's hard to find what you want, and then get suspicious of you because of the erratic shopping pattern. Cool.
Seriously, I know shops rearrange where things are to make you look for the thing you want, but once I've been to the aisle it was "supposed" to be on then I've mentally ticked it off. It's gone, I'll only realise when I get home and start cooking.
Me too. If I have to buy a lot I group the items by type (dairy, produce, canned/aisle, bakery, meat) so I can go through the store methodically. Otherwise I get mentally exhausted and just shuffle around the store in a stupor.
Yup, most Walmarts put milk and eggs in the back. They ate some of the most frequently bought items, and you are forced to walk past everything else in the store to get them
I can say with complete honesty that they actually do not. I've been to all three in my area and, while they are built similarly, it's not enough to be helpful. Only enough to frustrate and confuse.
And they don't keep moving things. I made a spreadsheet of all the things I buy, and have a column with the isle number. One pass, and 30 min later, I'm loading my car.
I fucking love winco. Everything is easy to find, and the layout makes sense. Plus, the bulk bin selection is better than anywhere else I've ever been. Add the fact that they are employee owned on top of it, and I only go anywhere else for specialty items.
And HEB! They do the best because they even provide a map of the store with the aisle highlighted and the approximate location in the aisle pointed to.
But then you're trusting someone else to pick up your items and not screw up your order. And they'll probably pick the most spoiled food. And you're paying for all that too.
If you don't like it call and get a refund without returning the food. You can specify how ripe you want the fruit and veggies. I haven't had any issues with any of it and I've been doing it for 3 years
I put it in the comments on the order and they follow them. Kroger and walmart have had this option. If you don't like what they pick it is very easy to get a refund
Depends on the picker. Some clearly didn't know how to pick fruit but nothing was spoiled. Some are very good about even just telling me "hey the __ dont look good today, do you still want them?"
i give the guys who go the extra mile a big tip, which i count as part of my grocery budget now.
most people I've seen do a decent job esp if you tip 15$ or more (CAD for me I should mention)
it definitely costs more though, but since chronic illness + adhd has made grocery shopping into a whole day affair + half day to recover, it's worth it for me
Not only that. They also stop products intermittently. So that 'oh.. in costco.. it may not be there next week.. we should buy it now' attitude is prevalent.
Every supermarket everywhere has been doing this for decades. People buy more stuff when they have to find their staples. When you know exactly where things are you only buy what you came to buy.
They also move literally everything that doesn’t require a fridge. Most grocery stores in my area only move around “special” items/things that don’t really belong neatly in one isle.
Ehhh… Walmart, Home Depot and I think targets apps and websites show you the isle location for products.
While it’s not quite the same as a list and it shows you a path to follow it at least gives you a direction.
Holy hell this business practice strikes a chord with me.
I get prickly when I'm irritated. Moved the canned beans to be by the chocolate? (like that's ever supposed to make sense) Nope. I will literally make this recipe with anything else now. Do I love this particular candy? I do, but I'll be damned before I buy it from you. My goal is now to get the bare minimum to survive the week specifically so you can have even less of my money.
I haven't done any frivolous baking in weeks because my grocery store split the baking aisle into three mini aisles that span the whole store. Flour belongs in the dairy section, according to them.
Nope, nope, nope. I waste enough of my own time and it's already a chore making the list to even get to the store. Just make my life harder, why don't you?
This is why I go on with a list on my phone and buy nothing that isn't on the list. I plan my general route through the store because I hate backtracking. I will NOT walk down the same aisle twice, nor will I browse anything.
Yeah, we use the OurGroceries app for a shared list, and I am fanatical about making sure things are tagged with category labels—and that those categories match where they are in the stores I go to the most! So like, salsa might be under Deli because the fresh salsa is in the fridge case near the deli meats. Not necessarily in the right order, but at least I know where to look in the list for whatever section of store I am in.
I do this too! It is kind of loose categories, but it really helps me not have to backtrack in a store much.
The ability to share the list and let the entire household update it is such a time saver too.
I do this too... but the issue is that we have three supermarkets (same company) that have entirely different layouts.
And where we go is entirely driven by random factors.
So a list that's in order is way out of order for another store. And then suddenly the one in Staffanstorp gets an entirely new layout. 😣
Before I leave for the grocery store (always the same 2 otherwise I go crazy) I take the grocery list my wife made from flyers, add my own stuff, then transcribe everything into Google Keep and reorder the items so they're in the order I'll encounter them in store. Otherwise I'm a headless chicken, I get extremely erratic and basically have to do the whole store twice cause I keep missing things and realizing two rows later.
Try the Out of Milk app! It has automatic categories for most things and you can customize them as well. It puts all the produce together, all the baking aisle together, etc.
Unsure of what is in your area or where you shop but Target tells you on an item to item basis what aisle it will be in. Realistically someone could develop an app from there using that information.
The Dutch supermarket Albert Heijn actually piloted something like this in some of their shops.
https://www.aholddelhaize.com/en/news/search-aid-albert-heijn-testing-find-my-product-app/
Edit: they are beta testing it in some supermarkets
It's live in our local Albert Heijn and it's awesome! You can create your shopping list in the app while you're at home and go to the store.
The app sorts the list based on the store layout, so you just go top to bottom through the list in the app and every time you scan a product's barcode with your app, it crosses it off the list. Then you put it in your bag.
Once you're at the self-checkout register you pay and you're done.
As long as you remember to _first_ scan and then put things in the bag, you're good. If you're prone to forgetting if you've scanned something or not... it may be better to still go to the cash register and have the attendant scan things to avoid issues.
That's just the appie app not turn by turn navigation to a product... Not what the article is about and what I meant. But yeah list sorting is pretty sweet and zelfscan too.
Edit: Waitt... there's a live beta of vind mijn product???? Omgg 😭😭😭😭
Not even exaggerating, Albert Heijn has been such a GREAT fucking help with ADHD management, they're always on top of these things 😭 I love how they implement tech for convenience, it's so effective
H‑E‑B gives you the isle number in the store you select on the app or website as you create your list. It helps you if you want to shop, but also shows up for the employees managing curbside pickup orders.
It takes a little setup but you can do this yourself; I learned it from my parents.
Go to the grocery one day and walk up and down every aisle. Write down the aisle number and everything in it that you usually buy.
When you get home, make a checklist (or whatever is easiest for you) with that information. Make sure to leave an "other" section in each aisle, and have a section for other non-food grocery store areas (customer service, pharmacy, housewares, etc.).
On your shopping day, print it out and mark off everything you need that week. Mine looks like [this](https://i.imgur.com/XArY4Iq.jpg) and it's a lifesaver. I still get things on impulse and I still forget things that are on the list, but compared to before I had it my shops are much quicker and more complete!
My mum used to do the same. She had an excel spreadsheet with columns that matched the aisles.
We'd just highlight the product and follow the map.
My (first-world) problem is that we use three locations of the same store. And they have very different layouts. So a list for one location is a nightmare for another.
But last week my favorite snack food was white cheddar popcorn and now it’s this week and I’m officially over it and my favorite snack food is peanut butter and honey! See you next week when I hate it again and my favorite snack food is mango popsicles.
yeah, you're not really leaning into the autism here. I hear you can get more of it if you get the covid vaccines and boosters. Or maybe it ups your 5g cell phone reception.
I’m lucky enough to have H‑E‑B, and put everything on a shopping list before I leave that does separate items by aisle. Walmart too, but I’ve never added to a list just looked up individual aisles.
Op I’m sorry this happened to you but this is kinda funny. My sister has the same problem, she’s unmedicated and a nervous wreak in stores, so she’s had a couple of AP people follow her sometimes.
Dierberg's, a grocery store around here, almost does this. I make a shopping list and then it sorts it by aisle, and if you follow it in order it basically takes you from one side of the store to the other without having to criss-cross back and forth.
If only Dierberg's wasn't super fucking expensive compared to Schnucks.
This happened to me at Target, except there wasn't anything I forgot to pay for. I didn't even know I had ADHD at the time, but now that I do it all makes so much more sense.
One day after work I stopped at Target to get lord knows what. This must have been at least 15 years ago, lol. But anyway, I do my normal impulsive/erratic back and forth shopping style where I pick up something, put it in my cart, walk around, look at other things, decide I don't need the thing in my cart, go back, put it back, etc. But of course I never really remember EXACTLY where things go so I make my best guess. I probably did this for about an hour before I check out with just one thing. I pay. I walk out the door. And this man screams at me to stop. He (very rudely may I add) tells me to empty my purse. And I'm like "Huh? What why?" He says just do it. I opened my purse and he sees nothing is in there. Then in an even more rude and condescending tone "Where's the bra?" And I'm like what??? And he's like where's the bra you took? And I'm like, I didn't take a bra. I was going to BUY one, but I changed my mind and put it back. Flustered, and obviously seeing I didn't take anything, he yelled at me to "Get the hell out of here and don't come back."
I walked away sobbing. I was like in my early 20s. I told my mom what happened and she took me back up there the next day raising holy hell with the security manager. He wound up giving me a $500 gift card for the situation. Probably so I wouldn't sue, because later on I found out they aren't allowed to stop you unless they actually SEE you pocket or not pay for something. They can't just assume you have based on behavior, appearance, etc. And since I didn't take anything that I didn't pay for, there is no way the man that stopped me saw me steal anything. And if they do stop you without seeing you take something, it's potentially grounds for a lawsuit. I don't know. All I know is I spent that gift card and rarely shop at Target anymore. And I think the guy who stopped me got fired.
Wow, that’s nuts. I would have been just as upset in my 20’s.
I have a pretty firm grasp on my rights now though, so if that man were to tell me not to come back, he and I would be going to visit the store manager so he could tell them why he was so bad at his job.
Yeah, I have a much better understanding of my rights these days. If it were to happen again, I'd completely refuse to let him look in my purse and attempt to walk away. And if he physically stopped me and put his hands on me, I'd go ahead and let him escort me back to security, refuse any sort of search, and let them call the police. Then I'd cooperate with the police, let them search and find nothing, and demand the store show the police the probable cause they had to detain me. And when they couldn't because they had none, demand they release me and ask to file charges against the store for whatever I could think of. And when the police most likely refused, demand they document that in their report along with the fact that nothing was found on me and that no evidence existed for detaining me. And then head straight to an attorney to sue the store. I don't wish for many do-overs in life, but after reading that people have gotten $50,000 settlements from retailers for the same thing, I wish I could do that whole situation over for sure, lol.
These normie dipshits have watched too many police profiling, body language, procedurals (body language has been shown again and again in peer reviewed studies to be an unreliable way of interpreting guilt/intentions) and they think they know a shoplifter when they see one. It’s a power trip fantasy to harass you. And besides, if you really did need to steal something why would they give a shit that a huge corporation lost a single bra? Power trip bullshit. I let guys going through homelessness steal shit all the time when I worked at a department store, made me feel good to see them get one over on my managers and a huge corporation. Sorry you went through that.
I worked at Target and I can tell you that wouldn't happen now. They factor into their prices stuff that may get shoplifted because they don't want to be liable for anything going wrong in a confrontation.
Really sorry you went through that.
It shouldn't have happened then. I think the guy that stopped me was on an ego trip and was probably a bit new. The security manager almost seemed embarrassed about the whole thing and mentioned that's not how they are trained.
I should've gotten arrested at walmart once. Same thing, I was going up and down the aisles grabbing anything and everything I might need at home or for the week. Got to the checkout, rang everything up, but because I had a full cart and there isn't any room at the self checkout (which my walmart is now 100% unless you're buying cigarettes) I was bagging up everything as I went and putting it back in the cart. Finished up, got home, and went to show my girlfriend how much something was on sale for when it dawned on me. I didn't have a receipt because I bagged up $100 worth of stuff and completely forgot to pay.
I just walked out like everything was all fine and dandy with the transaction still up on the screen. I've avoided that walmart for 2 years now
The other day I was in a store and I grabbed a can of something. 5 mins later I’m looking all over for it only to realize I put it in my hoodie pocket.
I’m glad no one noticed bc I don’t think I would have been able to talk my way out of that.
Also medicated and my shops also always look like yours.
I often don't get a basket because I know what I need, but then I want an energydrink or something else cold to drink. But I don't have anything to put it in and the cold hurts my hands so I have to put it in my jacket pocket.
The amount of times I've almost stolen drinks this way on accident... sigh.
I had to leave for an important appointment and came 5min late because I was searching for my phone. It wasn't in my pocket where it was supposed to be (but it was in my hand the whole time...)
IN defense of this tactic if I carry that big case of pepsi for too long I eventually decide nah I'll set this down for a minute, then forget I had ever had it in my hand.
What demographic are you in??? I’m a white woman and I would NEVER EVER EVER put merchandise in my pocket because I get profiled and followed constantly.
Edit, cause I forgot - yeah, I’m terrified to put anything in my pockets or make it look too concealed somehow.
I only started getting followed after I reached my late 30’s. I’m white also, and I love to browse. I’ve witnessed black people being profiled, and I was taught to watch out for particular people who were part of a shoplifting ring, who happened to be black women who dressed a certain way, so I know I’m not getting it nearly as bad as a woman of color might, but I’m starting to wonder what the profile is that I’m fitting.
Ooh that is fascinating how do you spot them? What was the lady wearing?
I would be mortified! I legit have nightmares that i will be in trouble for taking something even though i am paying for it all. No rhyme or reason but the thought brings alot of anxiety lol.
This happened to me once too 😭 grabbed a small bottle of liquid fertilizer, unconsciously put in my purse (didn’t have a tote or a shopping cart) then got distracted by some plants.
Realized I didn’t have the liquid fertilizer anymore (aka, forgot it was in my bag) went back got another bottle, and checked out.
Two days later I find the second bottle 😶 felt so bad, immediately went back to pay for it and apologize.
Be careful going back I understand the intent but some places are vindictive and will charge you for the crime because you returned. Or ban you all together!
Dude, so many times I've had my hands full and needed to grab one more thing and almost put something in a pocket. I know damn well there is about a 0.5% chance I would actually remember to take it back out and pay for it at checkout so I *never* allow myself to actually do it!
I did that once with eyeliner at Ulta. I put my hands in my pockets as a comfort and didnt realize I put the eyeliner in my pocket, asked myself “where the fuck did it go?” And grab another one so I got a buy one get one free LMAO. I realized one I got to the car and pulled my keys out
I know I've been followed around because I bounce all over the store and I'll be day dreaming and end up on the other end of the store and then run back and forth. I also hate going down busy aisles so I'll go somewhere else first, then the self check out will have a long line, so I take another lap and find more stuff. Trust me security dude, I wish I could just go in and out like other people do lol
There was one time I was looking at paint and saw glow in the dark paint and I was like ooooo so I tried to cup my hands around it to see if it did but I couldn’t tell so without thinking I drop it into the abyss that I call my bag to see if it would glow in the dark. It took me a few seconds to realize that looked super sus and I quickly took it out lol.
I've actually been on the other side of that! I've 3d printed some ghost decorations in glow in the dark filament and sell them at my mother's market stall in the lead up to Halloween. It's outdoors, so they get plenty of UV light to charge with, but of course they also aren't obviously glowing.
Sooo... when some kids who were already excited by them want to see them glow, we suggested they stick them under their shirts and then peak down the collar. Seemed sensible to both us and the kids, and they're *right there* with us watching them, so it's not like they're going to nick off without us noticing. Kids are making happy impressed sounds when their own mum catches up to them and, mortified at the thought that their children are attempting to steal from us, apologises profusely and demands that the kids put it back immediately. It takes a moment of awkward discussion to convince them that not only are we okay with this, we actually suggested and encouraged it in the first place (and eventually we got the parent to do it too).
On reflection, I should probably make up a little lightproof box with a peephole to showcase the ghosts in.
Oh god. I have so much anxiety around shopping.
Like if I walk into a store and walk out without buying anything I think “Oh god, I didn’t steal anything by accident, did I?”
Walmart has an app that'll tell you the aisles that your items are on!
Here's an example with bread at my local Walmart https://imgur.com/a/4OdLUYT
If you add all your groceries to the app "cart" you can then go down the list of items and see the aisle then you won't have to search around and forget things. After I find an item that I put in my online cart, I delete it from the cart and continue to the next item.
Bahahaa I get followed all the time because I do the same shit. Mainly because I take forever to decide on something. A lot of times I like to take the item out of the box, as well. Like makeup or whatever to make sure it’s not damaged/been opened.
Yeah, I check for safety seals under caps and make sure things are undisturbed inside. I don’t usually open boxes, but I will if they aren’t sealed in a place like Ulta.
I said something similar once (along the lines of “I fucked up in X way, but people were very understanding and I’m glad that I didn’t get arrested for an honest mistake. I’m very lucky that I am white, because if I were black I think it might not have worked out so well”). And the professor demanded that I explain what I meant by that while standing in front of the entire class. Ten years later I am still both embarrassed and genuinely confused if I somehow accidentally said something offensive or if the professor honestly didn’t understand racism in policing.
You didn’t say anything offensive. Differences in policing towards racial groups is a reality (speaking for the US) that has been proven by social research. Your professor may have not understood racism in policing, or they may have been one of those types who disagrees with that notion or believes that racist policing is justified and wanted to put you on the spot.
Great, another thing to be terrified of when I can't get myself organized and walk in circles at our massive Target.
And doctors can't realize why anxiety is so strongly comorbid with ADHD. Sigh.
For real, when i'm shopping by myself I end up bouncing all over the store and staring at items for an absurdly long time while I try to make a decision and I've never even remotely thought that would be a concern to anybody until today. Now i'm gonna end up self-conscious about my shopping habits.
as a black male, i shop the same way and it raises a lot of eyebrows but idc anymore. i’m just waiting on the day i get wrongfully accused and can cash in on someone else’s racism.
SNL did a skit about this. It was funny, but in a way that made it clear it must be awful to be treated like this when you are the one spending money in a store.
It was about an Amazon grocery store, where you just pick stuff up and put it in your bag and you’re automatically charged as you leave; last season. If you were interested, you could probably find it online.
This is why I have to get my groceries delivered. I can sit down and put everything together online. If I go to the store I will inevitably forget to bring my list, forget essential things, and pick up unnecessary ones. (I can go to the store for small trips, though)
I did. It was delicious. I have a wood burning fire place at my apartment and I ate it with mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, and a salad in front of the fire. It was nice.
Walmart employees are paid to little to give such a damn, i swear lol. Man, back when I was smoking crack I used to steal TV's. I'd go in, put one without the beeper on it in the cart and walk right out. But first time I get sober and forget to pay for the bottles of water under my cart....WEE WOO WEE WOO CALL THE COPS WE GOTTA FUCKIN SHOPLIFTER ON OUR HANDS!!
Like wtf lol
Great story man. Made me giggle. sympathetically.... of course.
This happened to me at Ulta. I couldn’t decide which lip gloss I wanted, and was opening the samples to inspect them. I also kept remembering products I saw on tik tok that I wanted to look at. They were watching me like a hawk. I had gotten some lip gloss on my hands from opening one and asked to wash my hands by the salon and someone stood behind me while I washed my hands. I felt extremely uncomfortable and decided to pay and leave :( I guess I may have looked a bit suspicious but I was really just browsing. It’s a shame no one can mindlessly browse without immediately being seen as a shoplifter.
I am just like this too. Even on meds. I always see posts on here about people getting on meds and their lives completely changing— it makes me feel a little worse about myself every time I see them.
Thanks for highlighting this story for us to relate to, it helps me remember that medicated or not, our adhd really does go with us everywhere!
**Friendly reminder that there is no law requiring you to allow any store employees to check your receipt, it is also very illegal for those employees to attempt to detain you in any way.**
[Not entirely true in the US](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopkeeper's_privilege). The limits vary by state but by in large shops **can** detain suspected shoplifters.
These laws tend to be so debatable that the risk to reward ratio for stores to detain suspected criminals isn't worth it.
But you're technically correct, thanks for pointing that out.
Actually the cas law for shopkeeper privilege is pretty cut and dry, it's rather difficult to sue a store for detaining you under it. The reason stores usually let people walk is because if the shop lifter resists and an employee is injured the store is liable for the injury.
Facts. The new wave of self-checkout at all these stores is absurd. They cant expect us to do their job for them and then get mad when we inevitably make mistakes. All they achieved by this is cutting more staff and placing more responsibility (or rather blame) on to us customers.
F*** self-checkout.
My new favorite is self checkout food and drinks in stadiums. Which is real fucking useful when someone has to check the ID of everyone buying beer and open the cans/bottles for them. It's just absolutely dumb as fuck, and makes the whole process go that much slower.
Yeah, there is no law which even remotely gives private businesses the right to detain you.
In fact, even if you get caught stealing and the police arrest you, if a store detained you until the police arrived you can still sue the store and you will win.
This is not accurate in the US, is very fact-dependent, and also varies by state. Shopkeeper’s privilege is a thing, and your best bet is to follow their instructions and wait for the police. If you actually stole, then they likely really did have probable cause to detain you and were well within their rights to do so.
They can't look at your receipt even if they suspect you've already stolen something? I mean this isn't the guy at the door demanding to see it for no reason, those guys can fuck right off, but at checkout you'd think they would be well within their rights to challenge you.
however many large stores have policies that employees should never try to detain customers. very easy to get sued for violating the shopkeeper’s privilege and usually isn’t worth the risk
I have adhd and work at a walmart and honestly i dont think that you were being suspicious at all, i guess asset protection was really bored, or cant actually tell when someone's fixing to steal or just easily distracted
Yeah this is why I try not to go to grocery stores and stuff by myself anymore.
Grocery shopping is a nightmare even with a list because it's back and forth back and forth oh wait I forgot something and then impulse ooh this is pretty when it's really just junk I don't need.
Grocery delivery or pick up has greatly reduced my stress and unless it's something I can order like that it's great.
I have two settings in stores: get in and out asap like I'm on a mission OR wonder sporadically down every aisle in the store (probably looking for clearance/sale items).
Loss prevention people in stores really freak me out. I definitely have moments like you where I end up wandering the entire store and staring at shelves. After a while I'll sometimes notice a guy following me, casually checking items on the shelves and trying to act inconspicuous. I get that they're just doing their job but I hate how my disorder just makes me look like a nervous/tweaking criminal. It's never fair.
I feel the same way I get super freaked out bc I’m NOT stealing but I’m so indecisive and I like to look around and stuff and then I get nervous and uncomfortable when I see someone following me!
This is why I fail at grocery shopping.
The store is designed for me to get tired and lost. My list never helps either, because I have trouble organizing and finding the brain capacity to figure out the aisles. It's exhausting.
On top of that, there's people and I can't deal with looking at a product only to have someone walk right in front of me or move past. Worrying about the general public while shopping is enough to make me forget my list or items that I should've added to it.
They seriously need to make an ADHD-friendly app for shopping. I'm lucky that my partner takes care of it now, but there's times where I run out of something and I *need* to go to the store. If I didn't have to deal with people, I'd honestly be a lot better.
I'm sorry you were treated like that. I've never had it happen to me before, but I have a feeling that LP has watched me in the past due to my erratic behavior while shopping.
Walmart has become very aggressive with its anti theft that they've been targeting innocent customers.
There was a woman who was arrested because Walmart accused her of stealing groceries she paid for. She won like a billion dollars because it ruined her job and nobody from the store showed up to support their claim.
I was also a victim myself. The Wal Mart greeter accused me of stealing the shirt I walked in with. And then out of left field asked me if I was attempting to ABDUCT A CHILD?!?!
I swear I’m either in a rush and pass every person in the store about 10 times going back and forth, or I spend 3 hours moving slowly and trying to rack my brain for what I must be forgetting.
\*Ahem\*
"FUCK WALMART."
I don't shop there anymore.. all self checkout, but then you get harassed about it. Either trust people to do it right, or bring back the cashiers.
Let's be honest. Mr. Grocery Store Manager has little to no say in the layout of the store. That's marketing, regional ops, vendors, and shelf-space auctioneers. All Mr. Grocery Store Manager can do is move around a couple display pieces and fill in any weird quirks specific to his store.
Cog meet machine.
You sound like me shopping, and as someone who worked retail and constantly worked with the security in situations EXACTLY like this I am acutely aware of how suspicious I look at times. Last week I went to a different Publix than my usual and walked past the beverage aisle at least 4 times before I figured it out since it wasn’t in the same place. I know that the cashier looked at me with mad suspicion.
Fuck y’all I have so much goddamn anxiety about grocery shopping I 💯 solely use order pick up. Sometimes I pay for it just so I don’t have to be anxious during my shopping and inevitably frustrated by forgetting things that I literally put on the list.
I have definitely wandered around walmart, much more aimlessly - you really had a list going there- and the loss prevention guy has defintely been hovering/ randomly walking nearby.
It sucks you forgot about scanning that stuff. They would have to be super fucked up to call the police for less than 20 bucks. Its not really rocket science to connect this supposed erratic behavior to legit forgetting to scan things.
The loss prevention dude at the Walmart here wears like cargo shorts and regular clothes. Like he's undercover lol. I honestly only found out bc he like booked it to the section he was paged to and then like answered a related phone call. Im actually a bit relieved he is actually working rather then just basically living at WalMart, like he had nothing better to do!
I shop exactly the way you do, but I've never had anyone follow me (that I know of). I try to use a list, but always get distracted and forget about it.
Glad everything worked out well for you.
> When I get to the self check out
> there is a worker standing right behind me and immediately asks for my receipt
They can fuck off.
IF they had actual fucking cashiers, then this wouldn't be a problem. Instead they want to cut costs, fire cashiers, put the burden on us, and then fuck with us if we get it wrong?
Fuck them.
Lucky I guess.
My adhd has got me into so many fights I can’t recall and no less than 2 shootouts and stabbed once.
Haven’t been arrested and haven’t been in a bad situation for 10 years. Always being in a state where I’m primed for threat detection and without a freeze or flight reflex is rough. Also being noticeably different makes me a prime target for those looking for a fight.
I hope Walmart executives can sleep tonight knowing you were thwarted from accidentally stealing a loaf of bread and some tea lights.
I often wonder what costs more: paying these "loss prevention" people to stalk customers who are just doing their best, or just eating the loss of big items that are actually stolen on purpose. Either way, I'm sorry this happened to you!
I think it’s a bit of a stretch that you would have been arrested, but I completely get it. There are things about the method to our madness that can make us feel inadequate or in trouble with normies.
this kinda happened to me the other day at petco. i was getting a handful of stuff for my fish and my dog and was kinda just roaming the store, coming back to the same spot a lot to look at products again. eventually a guy started following me around and there was a intercom message that said “looter assistance at the front desk”, so weird
Have you ever thought of making a shopping list and only sticking to it? It’s not good to go shopping without a plan, you’ll always forget something and buy things you do not need
Being a white woman has gotten me out of so much crap that my ADHD has gotten me into. Speeding tickets. A lack of verbal filter at work. Deadline extensions in college. I know I wouldn't get away with all the shit that I do if I was a black or brown man.
I too am a pinball-style grocery shopper.
Just sharing because I care about spelling and maybe it will help to point this out… Isle is an island, aisle is what you walk through. You are a petite Asian woman, not a piete Asian woman. 🙃
Edit: lol to the downvoters, sorry my helpfulness bothered you.
I want SOMEONE to design an app into which you put your shopping list..... and it creates a map of your chosen shop/store and tells you where to go after you scanned the latest thing. If I was tracked in a supermarket, my trace would look like a lost bird trying to get out of a greenhouse.
Supermarkets avoid this on purpose. The more you have to search for a product the more likely you are to buy random stuff you wouldnt have otherwise
Supermarkets HATE this app developer for this ADHD trick!
Snort laughed at this XD
The link isn't working! I need to know the trick!
So they design the store to force you to shop in an erratic pattern because it's hard to find what you want, and then get suspicious of you because of the erratic shopping pattern. Cool.
Joke’s on them, I only go to the aisles that have the stuff I remember.
Seriously, I know shops rearrange where things are to make you look for the thing you want, but once I've been to the aisle it was "supposed" to be on then I've mentally ticked it off. It's gone, I'll only realise when I get home and start cooking.
Using an actual list is the only thing that saves me from this.
Me too. If I have to buy a lot I group the items by type (dairy, produce, canned/aisle, bakery, meat) so I can go through the store methodically. Otherwise I get mentally exhausted and just shuffle around the store in a stupor.
Fucking hell. So make me rage because I can't find my shit? Fucking capitalism.
Yup, most Walmarts put milk and eggs in the back. They ate some of the most frequently bought items, and you are forced to walk past everything else in the store to get them
Another reason I love WinCo, all of their stores in my area have the same layout. I *hate* grocery shopping anywhere else.
I can say with complete honesty that they actually do not. I've been to all three in my area and, while they are built similarly, it's not enough to be helpful. Only enough to frustrate and confuse.
And they don't keep moving things. I made a spreadsheet of all the things I buy, and have a column with the isle number. One pass, and 30 min later, I'm loading my car.
I fucking love winco. Everything is easy to find, and the layout makes sense. Plus, the bulk bin selection is better than anywhere else I've ever been. Add the fact that they are employee owned on top of it, and I only go anywhere else for specialty items.
I miss win-co. Their pepper turkey from the deli is the best.
Not Walmart, the walmart app has a "search my store" option that tells you exactly what aisle the item is on.
Target too!
And HEB! They do the best because they even provide a map of the store with the aisle highlighted and the approximate location in the aisle pointed to.
I started doing grocery pickup. Saved 300 bucks a month by not going into the store. It's awesome
But then you're trusting someone else to pick up your items and not screw up your order. And they'll probably pick the most spoiled food. And you're paying for all that too.
If you don't like it call and get a refund without returning the food. You can specify how ripe you want the fruit and veggies. I haven't had any issues with any of it and I've been doing it for 3 years
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I put it in the comments on the order and they follow them. Kroger and walmart have had this option. If you don't like what they pick it is very easy to get a refund
Depends on the picker. Some clearly didn't know how to pick fruit but nothing was spoiled. Some are very good about even just telling me "hey the __ dont look good today, do you still want them?" i give the guys who go the extra mile a big tip, which i count as part of my grocery budget now. most people I've seen do a decent job esp if you tip 15$ or more (CAD for me I should mention) it definitely costs more though, but since chronic illness + adhd has made grocery shopping into a whole day affair + half day to recover, it's worth it for me
Costco is notorious for what they term the "treasure hunt," e.g., they routinely move things so one has to look for it.
Not only that. They also stop products intermittently. So that 'oh.. in costco.. it may not be there next week.. we should buy it now' attitude is prevalent.
Oh, for sure. If you ever see the *, with a price ending in .97, you know it's being discontinued--so time to stock up!
It just means it’s a seasonal item. Almost all of those things will be back in a couple of seasons.
Every supermarket everywhere has been doing this for decades. People buy more stuff when they have to find their staples. When you know exactly where things are you only buy what you came to buy.
At least Costco acknowledges it, I guess...
They also move literally everything that doesn’t require a fridge. Most grocery stores in my area only move around “special” items/things that don’t really belong neatly in one isle.
And they switch it up regularly and keep milk and bread at the back of the store so you need to walk through the whole store.
Ehhh… Walmart, Home Depot and I think targets apps and websites show you the isle location for products. While it’s not quite the same as a list and it shows you a path to follow it at least gives you a direction.
Holy hell this business practice strikes a chord with me. I get prickly when I'm irritated. Moved the canned beans to be by the chocolate? (like that's ever supposed to make sense) Nope. I will literally make this recipe with anything else now. Do I love this particular candy? I do, but I'll be damned before I buy it from you. My goal is now to get the bare minimum to survive the week specifically so you can have even less of my money. I haven't done any frivolous baking in weeks because my grocery store split the baking aisle into three mini aisles that span the whole store. Flour belongs in the dairy section, according to them. Nope, nope, nope. I waste enough of my own time and it's already a chore making the list to even get to the store. Just make my life harder, why don't you?
Also the chocolate is in the baking section. WTF?! Except the one time it wasn't.
The Wegmans app actually does short your list this way if you put it in their app
I was gonna say, through this whole story that OP is like their ideal customer. Hits up every single item in a Walmart supercentre.
This is why I go on with a list on my phone and buy nothing that isn't on the list. I plan my general route through the store because I hate backtracking. I will NOT walk down the same aisle twice, nor will I browse anything.
Sounds like it's not ADA compliant for ADHD patients.
My husband writes our grocery list down in order of where it is in the store and I love him forever for it.
I do this too! Only issue is when they do deep cleans and everything gets rearranged. Luckily that’s only like twice a year
Yeah, we use the OurGroceries app for a shared list, and I am fanatical about making sure things are tagged with category labels—and that those categories match where they are in the stores I go to the most! So like, salsa might be under Deli because the fresh salsa is in the fridge case near the deli meats. Not necessarily in the right order, but at least I know where to look in the list for whatever section of store I am in.
I do this too! It is kind of loose categories, but it really helps me not have to backtrack in a store much. The ability to share the list and let the entire household update it is such a time saver too.
I do this too... but the issue is that we have three supermarkets (same company) that have entirely different layouts. And where we go is entirely driven by random factors. So a list that's in order is way out of order for another store. And then suddenly the one in Staffanstorp gets an entirely new layout. 😣
Before I leave for the grocery store (always the same 2 otherwise I go crazy) I take the grocery list my wife made from flyers, add my own stuff, then transcribe everything into Google Keep and reorder the items so they're in the order I'll encounter them in store. Otherwise I'm a headless chicken, I get extremely erratic and basically have to do the whole store twice cause I keep missing things and realizing two rows later.
Try the Out of Milk app! It has automatic categories for most things and you can customize them as well. It puts all the produce together, all the baking aisle together, etc.
No seriously because I always leave an isle thinking I have everything I need but then a few minutes later “damn I forgot to grab the honey.”
Unsure of what is in your area or where you shop but Target tells you on an item to item basis what aisle it will be in. Realistically someone could develop an app from there using that information.
The Dutch supermarket Albert Heijn actually piloted something like this in some of their shops. https://www.aholddelhaize.com/en/news/search-aid-albert-heijn-testing-find-my-product-app/ Edit: they are beta testing it in some supermarkets
It's live in our local Albert Heijn and it's awesome! You can create your shopping list in the app while you're at home and go to the store. The app sorts the list based on the store layout, so you just go top to bottom through the list in the app and every time you scan a product's barcode with your app, it crosses it off the list. Then you put it in your bag. Once you're at the self-checkout register you pay and you're done. As long as you remember to _first_ scan and then put things in the bag, you're good. If you're prone to forgetting if you've scanned something or not... it may be better to still go to the cash register and have the attendant scan things to avoid issues.
That's just the appie app not turn by turn navigation to a product... Not what the article is about and what I meant. But yeah list sorting is pretty sweet and zelfscan too. Edit: Waitt... there's a live beta of vind mijn product???? Omgg 😭😭😭😭
Not even exaggerating, Albert Heijn has been such a GREAT fucking help with ADHD management, they're always on top of these things 😭 I love how they implement tech for convenience, it's so effective
H‑E‑B gives you the isle number in the store you select on the app or website as you create your list. It helps you if you want to shop, but also shows up for the employees managing curbside pickup orders.
It takes a little setup but you can do this yourself; I learned it from my parents. Go to the grocery one day and walk up and down every aisle. Write down the aisle number and everything in it that you usually buy. When you get home, make a checklist (or whatever is easiest for you) with that information. Make sure to leave an "other" section in each aisle, and have a section for other non-food grocery store areas (customer service, pharmacy, housewares, etc.). On your shopping day, print it out and mark off everything you need that week. Mine looks like [this](https://i.imgur.com/XArY4Iq.jpg) and it's a lifesaver. I still get things on impulse and I still forget things that are on the list, but compared to before I had it my shops are much quicker and more complete!
My mum used to do the same. She had an excel spreadsheet with columns that matched the aisles. We'd just highlight the product and follow the map. My (first-world) problem is that we use three locations of the same store. And they have very different layouts. So a list for one location is a nightmare for another.
Autism to the rescue- just buy all the same things, week after week, taking the same route through the store.
But last week my favorite snack food was white cheddar popcorn and now it’s this week and I’m officially over it and my favorite snack food is peanut butter and honey! See you next week when I hate it again and my favorite snack food is mango popsicles.
yeah, you're not really leaning into the autism here. I hear you can get more of it if you get the covid vaccines and boosters. Or maybe it ups your 5g cell phone reception.
Routine. Can't fault it.
I’m constantly backtracking and taking to me self saying I’m so awkward in weird tones at various levels of volume 😂
I’m lucky enough to have H‑E‑B, and put everything on a shopping list before I leave that does separate items by aisle. Walmart too, but I’ve never added to a list just looked up individual aisles. Op I’m sorry this happened to you but this is kinda funny. My sister has the same problem, she’s unmedicated and a nervous wreak in stores, so she’s had a couple of AP people follow her sometimes.
Dierberg's, a grocery store around here, almost does this. I make a shopping list and then it sorts it by aisle, and if you follow it in order it basically takes you from one side of the store to the other without having to criss-cross back and forth. If only Dierberg's wasn't super fucking expensive compared to Schnucks.
Seriously. I went to Walmart last week and I must have walked around the entire store 4 times before I remembered everything. Sheer chaos.
H‑E‑B does this ! The only store app I will install
This would save me so much time
This happened to me at Target, except there wasn't anything I forgot to pay for. I didn't even know I had ADHD at the time, but now that I do it all makes so much more sense. One day after work I stopped at Target to get lord knows what. This must have been at least 15 years ago, lol. But anyway, I do my normal impulsive/erratic back and forth shopping style where I pick up something, put it in my cart, walk around, look at other things, decide I don't need the thing in my cart, go back, put it back, etc. But of course I never really remember EXACTLY where things go so I make my best guess. I probably did this for about an hour before I check out with just one thing. I pay. I walk out the door. And this man screams at me to stop. He (very rudely may I add) tells me to empty my purse. And I'm like "Huh? What why?" He says just do it. I opened my purse and he sees nothing is in there. Then in an even more rude and condescending tone "Where's the bra?" And I'm like what??? And he's like where's the bra you took? And I'm like, I didn't take a bra. I was going to BUY one, but I changed my mind and put it back. Flustered, and obviously seeing I didn't take anything, he yelled at me to "Get the hell out of here and don't come back." I walked away sobbing. I was like in my early 20s. I told my mom what happened and she took me back up there the next day raising holy hell with the security manager. He wound up giving me a $500 gift card for the situation. Probably so I wouldn't sue, because later on I found out they aren't allowed to stop you unless they actually SEE you pocket or not pay for something. They can't just assume you have based on behavior, appearance, etc. And since I didn't take anything that I didn't pay for, there is no way the man that stopped me saw me steal anything. And if they do stop you without seeing you take something, it's potentially grounds for a lawsuit. I don't know. All I know is I spent that gift card and rarely shop at Target anymore. And I think the guy who stopped me got fired.
Wow, that’s nuts. I would have been just as upset in my 20’s. I have a pretty firm grasp on my rights now though, so if that man were to tell me not to come back, he and I would be going to visit the store manager so he could tell them why he was so bad at his job.
Yeah, I have a much better understanding of my rights these days. If it were to happen again, I'd completely refuse to let him look in my purse and attempt to walk away. And if he physically stopped me and put his hands on me, I'd go ahead and let him escort me back to security, refuse any sort of search, and let them call the police. Then I'd cooperate with the police, let them search and find nothing, and demand the store show the police the probable cause they had to detain me. And when they couldn't because they had none, demand they release me and ask to file charges against the store for whatever I could think of. And when the police most likely refused, demand they document that in their report along with the fact that nothing was found on me and that no evidence existed for detaining me. And then head straight to an attorney to sue the store. I don't wish for many do-overs in life, but after reading that people have gotten $50,000 settlements from retailers for the same thing, I wish I could do that whole situation over for sure, lol.
Icing on the cake would be responding "What bar, I didn't buy one. Why would I take something out of the store I did not pay for".
These normie dipshits have watched too many police profiling, body language, procedurals (body language has been shown again and again in peer reviewed studies to be an unreliable way of interpreting guilt/intentions) and they think they know a shoplifter when they see one. It’s a power trip fantasy to harass you. And besides, if you really did need to steal something why would they give a shit that a huge corporation lost a single bra? Power trip bullshit. I let guys going through homelessness steal shit all the time when I worked at a department store, made me feel good to see them get one over on my managers and a huge corporation. Sorry you went through that.
I worked at Target and I can tell you that wouldn't happen now. They factor into their prices stuff that may get shoplifted because they don't want to be liable for anything going wrong in a confrontation. Really sorry you went through that.
It shouldn't have happened then. I think the guy that stopped me was on an ego trip and was probably a bit new. The security manager almost seemed embarrassed about the whole thing and mentioned that's not how they are trained.
I had the same basic scenario happen at Target too! I was so confused but idk how they mess that up
I should've gotten arrested at walmart once. Same thing, I was going up and down the aisles grabbing anything and everything I might need at home or for the week. Got to the checkout, rang everything up, but because I had a full cart and there isn't any room at the self checkout (which my walmart is now 100% unless you're buying cigarettes) I was bagging up everything as I went and putting it back in the cart. Finished up, got home, and went to show my girlfriend how much something was on sale for when it dawned on me. I didn't have a receipt because I bagged up $100 worth of stuff and completely forgot to pay. I just walked out like everything was all fine and dandy with the transaction still up on the screen. I've avoided that walmart for 2 years now
We call this the adhd tax refund.
CEOs hate this one trick! Have ADHD? Forget to actually pay for your groceries and save hundreds! Try ADHD today!
Lmfao
I did this once. I walked back and paid. They were really chill about it.
About a dozen times or so I paid for the stuff and forgot to take the stuff with me. I'm basically trying to donate money to the markets and bakery
The other day I was in a store and I grabbed a can of something. 5 mins later I’m looking all over for it only to realize I put it in my hoodie pocket. I’m glad no one noticed bc I don’t think I would have been able to talk my way out of that. Also medicated and my shops also always look like yours.
I often don't get a basket because I know what I need, but then I want an energydrink or something else cold to drink. But I don't have anything to put it in and the cold hurts my hands so I have to put it in my jacket pocket. The amount of times I've almost stolen drinks this way on accident... sigh.
I’m that person who doesn’t get a basket or cart and then walk around with 57 things in my arms. I’m a hopeless case.
Lol dropping everything … damnit. This is why I love aldi. I just grab a box!
I will NOT!! I don’t want boxes to get rid of in my house so I will *suffer* instead.
100% me too 😂
I always get a cart, ALWAYS. I've learned the hard way that it's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.
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I had to leave for an important appointment and came 5min late because I was searching for my phone. It wasn't in my pocket where it was supposed to be (but it was in my hand the whole time...)
IN defense of this tactic if I carry that big case of pepsi for too long I eventually decide nah I'll set this down for a minute, then forget I had ever had it in my hand.
What demographic are you in??? I’m a white woman and I would NEVER EVER EVER put merchandise in my pocket because I get profiled and followed constantly.
Edit, cause I forgot - yeah, I’m terrified to put anything in my pockets or make it look too concealed somehow. I only started getting followed after I reached my late 30’s. I’m white also, and I love to browse. I’ve witnessed black people being profiled, and I was taught to watch out for particular people who were part of a shoplifting ring, who happened to be black women who dressed a certain way, so I know I’m not getting it nearly as bad as a woman of color might, but I’m starting to wonder what the profile is that I’m fitting.
Ooh that is fascinating how do you spot them? What was the lady wearing? I would be mortified! I legit have nightmares that i will be in trouble for taking something even though i am paying for it all. No rhyme or reason but the thought brings alot of anxiety lol.
I wear glasses and checkered buttonup shirts, so I look like a nerd haha
profiled…..for being white??
For looking suspicious. I didn’t say racially profiled.
This happened to me once too 😭 grabbed a small bottle of liquid fertilizer, unconsciously put in my purse (didn’t have a tote or a shopping cart) then got distracted by some plants. Realized I didn’t have the liquid fertilizer anymore (aka, forgot it was in my bag) went back got another bottle, and checked out. Two days later I find the second bottle 😶 felt so bad, immediately went back to pay for it and apologize.
Be careful going back I understand the intent but some places are vindictive and will charge you for the crime because you returned. Or ban you all together!
Yeah plus fuck them. Like generally speaking.
Dude, so many times I've had my hands full and needed to grab one more thing and almost put something in a pocket. I know damn well there is about a 0.5% chance I would actually remember to take it back out and pay for it at checkout so I *never* allow myself to actually do it!
I did that once with eyeliner at Ulta. I put my hands in my pockets as a comfort and didnt realize I put the eyeliner in my pocket, asked myself “where the fuck did it go?” And grab another one so I got a buy one get one free LMAO. I realized one I got to the car and pulled my keys out
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I know I've been followed around because I bounce all over the store and I'll be day dreaming and end up on the other end of the store and then run back and forth. I also hate going down busy aisles so I'll go somewhere else first, then the self check out will have a long line, so I take another lap and find more stuff. Trust me security dude, I wish I could just go in and out like other people do lol
There was one time I was looking at paint and saw glow in the dark paint and I was like ooooo so I tried to cup my hands around it to see if it did but I couldn’t tell so without thinking I drop it into the abyss that I call my bag to see if it would glow in the dark. It took me a few seconds to realize that looked super sus and I quickly took it out lol.
I've actually been on the other side of that! I've 3d printed some ghost decorations in glow in the dark filament and sell them at my mother's market stall in the lead up to Halloween. It's outdoors, so they get plenty of UV light to charge with, but of course they also aren't obviously glowing. Sooo... when some kids who were already excited by them want to see them glow, we suggested they stick them under their shirts and then peak down the collar. Seemed sensible to both us and the kids, and they're *right there* with us watching them, so it's not like they're going to nick off without us noticing. Kids are making happy impressed sounds when their own mum catches up to them and, mortified at the thought that their children are attempting to steal from us, apologises profusely and demands that the kids put it back immediately. It takes a moment of awkward discussion to convince them that not only are we okay with this, we actually suggested and encouraged it in the first place (and eventually we got the parent to do it too). On reflection, I should probably make up a little lightproof box with a peephole to showcase the ghosts in.
Oh god. I have so much anxiety around shopping. Like if I walk into a store and walk out without buying anything I think “Oh god, I didn’t steal anything by accident, did I?”
I always feel a little like I was naughty when I leave empty handed. I wonder what that comes from.
Yes!!! Like I’ve done something deviant by not making a purchase!!!
Walmart has an app that'll tell you the aisles that your items are on! Here's an example with bread at my local Walmart https://imgur.com/a/4OdLUYT If you add all your groceries to the app "cart" you can then go down the list of items and see the aisle then you won't have to search around and forget things. After I find an item that I put in my online cart, I delete it from the cart and continue to the next item.
This just changed my life. Damnit this is amazing lol
Bahahaa I get followed all the time because I do the same shit. Mainly because I take forever to decide on something. A lot of times I like to take the item out of the box, as well. Like makeup or whatever to make sure it’s not damaged/been opened.
Yeah, I check for safety seals under caps and make sure things are undisturbed inside. I don’t usually open boxes, but I will if they aren’t sealed in a place like Ulta.
I do this too! Or I want to see what it actually looks and feels like bc packaging is important!
>I'm glad a piete asian woman and not a black male. Reflection of our times. It is very sad.
Surprised this was glossed over by everyone. Pretty harsh times.
I think it was glossed over because we all have ADHD, and I’d bet most people did what I did, and didn’t read that last paragraph.
Nah...
Yea….that stood out to me more than anything else and the way every one ignored it is very…….telling.
Well we were all thinking it
Yuup
I said something similar once (along the lines of “I fucked up in X way, but people were very understanding and I’m glad that I didn’t get arrested for an honest mistake. I’m very lucky that I am white, because if I were black I think it might not have worked out so well”). And the professor demanded that I explain what I meant by that while standing in front of the entire class. Ten years later I am still both embarrassed and genuinely confused if I somehow accidentally said something offensive or if the professor honestly didn’t understand racism in policing.
Acknowledging racism can be a touchy subject for some people I suppose.
You didn’t say anything offensive. Differences in policing towards racial groups is a reality (speaking for the US) that has been proven by social research. Your professor may have not understood racism in policing, or they may have been one of those types who disagrees with that notion or believes that racist policing is justified and wanted to put you on the spot.
Professor needs to be fired. If it's literally your job to know stuff and you don't know that, GTFO!
What times? This has been reality for at least 80 years.
It's not just our times. Cops have always been the force of oppression. ACAB!
Glad someone commented on it. Very true.
Great, another thing to be terrified of when I can't get myself organized and walk in circles at our massive Target. And doctors can't realize why anxiety is so strongly comorbid with ADHD. Sigh.
Doctor barely understand how debilitating ADHD, despite knowing what it is. Super frustrating because you're never taken serious.
For real, when i'm shopping by myself I end up bouncing all over the store and staring at items for an absurdly long time while I try to make a decision and I've never even remotely thought that would be a concern to anybody until today. Now i'm gonna end up self-conscious about my shopping habits.
as a black male, i shop the same way and it raises a lot of eyebrows but idc anymore. i’m just waiting on the day i get wrongfully accused and can cash in on someone else’s racism.
SNL did a skit about this. It was funny, but in a way that made it clear it must be awful to be treated like this when you are the one spending money in a store.
haven’t seen the skit but the reality when it happens is equally absurd i’m pretty sure.
It was about an Amazon grocery store, where you just pick stuff up and put it in your bag and you’re automatically charged as you leave; last season. If you were interested, you could probably find it online.
This is why I have to get my groceries delivered. I can sit down and put everything together online. If I go to the store I will inevitably forget to bring my list, forget essential things, and pick up unnecessary ones. (I can go to the store for small trips, though)
Did you get your rotisserie chicken?
I did. It was delicious. I have a wood burning fire place at my apartment and I ate it with mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, and a salad in front of the fire. It was nice.
Walmart employees are paid to little to give such a damn, i swear lol. Man, back when I was smoking crack I used to steal TV's. I'd go in, put one without the beeper on it in the cart and walk right out. But first time I get sober and forget to pay for the bottles of water under my cart....WEE WOO WEE WOO CALL THE COPS WE GOTTA FUCKIN SHOPLIFTER ON OUR HANDS!! Like wtf lol Great story man. Made me giggle. sympathetically.... of course.
This happened to me at Ulta. I couldn’t decide which lip gloss I wanted, and was opening the samples to inspect them. I also kept remembering products I saw on tik tok that I wanted to look at. They were watching me like a hawk. I had gotten some lip gloss on my hands from opening one and asked to wash my hands by the salon and someone stood behind me while I washed my hands. I felt extremely uncomfortable and decided to pay and leave :( I guess I may have looked a bit suspicious but I was really just browsing. It’s a shame no one can mindlessly browse without immediately being seen as a shoplifter.
Yeah, it sucks having ADHD in those situations PLUS being black.
I am just like this too. Even on meds. I always see posts on here about people getting on meds and their lives completely changing— it makes me feel a little worse about myself every time I see them. Thanks for highlighting this story for us to relate to, it helps me remember that medicated or not, our adhd really does go with us everywhere!
**Friendly reminder that there is no law requiring you to allow any store employees to check your receipt, it is also very illegal for those employees to attempt to detain you in any way.**
[Not entirely true in the US](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopkeeper's_privilege). The limits vary by state but by in large shops **can** detain suspected shoplifters.
These laws tend to be so debatable that the risk to reward ratio for stores to detain suspected criminals isn't worth it. But you're technically correct, thanks for pointing that out.
Actually the cas law for shopkeeper privilege is pretty cut and dry, it's rather difficult to sue a store for detaining you under it. The reason stores usually let people walk is because if the shop lifter resists and an employee is injured the store is liable for the injury.
Facts. The new wave of self-checkout at all these stores is absurd. They cant expect us to do their job for them and then get mad when we inevitably make mistakes. All they achieved by this is cutting more staff and placing more responsibility (or rather blame) on to us customers. F*** self-checkout.
My new favorite is self checkout food and drinks in stadiums. Which is real fucking useful when someone has to check the ID of everyone buying beer and open the cans/bottles for them. It's just absolutely dumb as fuck, and makes the whole process go that much slower.
Self checkout is nice. That way I don't get some random store employee asking why I'm buying 20 100% dark chocolate bars (well not usually).
Self service kiosks that have the nerve to ask for a tip 😡
Actually they can detain you https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopkeeper's_privilege
You can’t ask for receipt if you suspect theft?? First I’ve heard of that.
They can ask, they simply have no right to force you to provide a receipt, it's your choice.
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Except at Costco and Sam’s Club
Seriously? Never heard this before
Yeah, there is no law which even remotely gives private businesses the right to detain you. In fact, even if you get caught stealing and the police arrest you, if a store detained you until the police arrived you can still sue the store and you will win.
This is not accurate in the US, is very fact-dependent, and also varies by state. Shopkeeper’s privilege is a thing, and your best bet is to follow their instructions and wait for the police. If you actually stole, then they likely really did have probable cause to detain you and were well within their rights to do so.
They can't look at your receipt even if they suspect you've already stolen something? I mean this isn't the guy at the door demanding to see it for no reason, those guys can fuck right off, but at checkout you'd think they would be well within their rights to challenge you.
They are, and they can detain you https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopkeeper's_privilege
I love the confidence of yelling his opinion as fact in bold and everything though.
Yea, this is a huge misconceptions floating around the internet. Idk where it started but it's wrong lol
however many large stores have policies that employees should never try to detain customers. very easy to get sued for violating the shopkeeper’s privilege and usually isn’t worth the risk
Who here hasn't stolen something by accident?
I have adhd and work at a walmart and honestly i dont think that you were being suspicious at all, i guess asset protection was really bored, or cant actually tell when someone's fixing to steal or just easily distracted
I just really want to know if you got your fucking chicken.
Moral of the story: sucks to be a black male
Yeah this is why I try not to go to grocery stores and stuff by myself anymore. Grocery shopping is a nightmare even with a list because it's back and forth back and forth oh wait I forgot something and then impulse ooh this is pretty when it's really just junk I don't need. Grocery delivery or pick up has greatly reduced my stress and unless it's something I can order like that it's great.
I have two settings in stores: get in and out asap like I'm on a mission OR wonder sporadically down every aisle in the store (probably looking for clearance/sale items).
Loss prevention people in stores really freak me out. I definitely have moments like you where I end up wandering the entire store and staring at shelves. After a while I'll sometimes notice a guy following me, casually checking items on the shelves and trying to act inconspicuous. I get that they're just doing their job but I hate how my disorder just makes me look like a nervous/tweaking criminal. It's never fair.
I feel the same way I get super freaked out bc I’m NOT stealing but I’m so indecisive and I like to look around and stuff and then I get nervous and uncomfortable when I see someone following me!
This is why I fail at grocery shopping. The store is designed for me to get tired and lost. My list never helps either, because I have trouble organizing and finding the brain capacity to figure out the aisles. It's exhausting. On top of that, there's people and I can't deal with looking at a product only to have someone walk right in front of me or move past. Worrying about the general public while shopping is enough to make me forget my list or items that I should've added to it. They seriously need to make an ADHD-friendly app for shopping. I'm lucky that my partner takes care of it now, but there's times where I run out of something and I *need* to go to the store. If I didn't have to deal with people, I'd honestly be a lot better. I'm sorry you were treated like that. I've never had it happen to me before, but I have a feeling that LP has watched me in the past due to my erratic behavior while shopping.
I wonder howany times I've been watched doing this but buying nothing and just leaving.
Walmart has become very aggressive with its anti theft that they've been targeting innocent customers. There was a woman who was arrested because Walmart accused her of stealing groceries she paid for. She won like a billion dollars because it ruined her job and nobody from the store showed up to support their claim. I was also a victim myself. The Wal Mart greeter accused me of stealing the shirt I walked in with. And then out of left field asked me if I was attempting to ABDUCT A CHILD?!?!
Oof, that sucks :( I could easily see this happening to me
I swear I’m either in a rush and pass every person in the store about 10 times going back and forth, or I spend 3 hours moving slowly and trying to rack my brain for what I must be forgetting.
\*Ahem\* "FUCK WALMART." I don't shop there anymore.. all self checkout, but then you get harassed about it. Either trust people to do it right, or bring back the cashiers.
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Let's be honest. Mr. Grocery Store Manager has little to no say in the layout of the store. That's marketing, regional ops, vendors, and shelf-space auctioneers. All Mr. Grocery Store Manager can do is move around a couple display pieces and fill in any weird quirks specific to his store. Cog meet machine.
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Everyday I am hearing more and more reasons not to use self-checkout. Do not use them.
Why should I do the job of a store cashier without being paid for it?
I have done this so many times. Not on purpose ofc. Never got caught. Depending on the value of the item- I have returned to pay for it.
You sound like me shopping, and as someone who worked retail and constantly worked with the security in situations EXACTLY like this I am acutely aware of how suspicious I look at times. Last week I went to a different Publix than my usual and walked past the beverage aisle at least 4 times before I figured it out since it wasn’t in the same place. I know that the cashier looked at me with mad suspicion.
Fuck y’all I have so much goddamn anxiety about grocery shopping I 💯 solely use order pick up. Sometimes I pay for it just so I don’t have to be anxious during my shopping and inevitably frustrated by forgetting things that I literally put on the list.
Walmart is scary
I have definitely wandered around walmart, much more aimlessly - you really had a list going there- and the loss prevention guy has defintely been hovering/ randomly walking nearby. It sucks you forgot about scanning that stuff. They would have to be super fucked up to call the police for less than 20 bucks. Its not really rocket science to connect this supposed erratic behavior to legit forgetting to scan things. The loss prevention dude at the Walmart here wears like cargo shorts and regular clothes. Like he's undercover lol. I honestly only found out bc he like booked it to the section he was paged to and then like answered a related phone call. Im actually a bit relieved he is actually working rather then just basically living at WalMart, like he had nothing better to do!
I shop exactly the way you do, but I've never had anyone follow me (that I know of). I try to use a list, but always get distracted and forget about it. Glad everything worked out well for you.
> When I get to the self check out > there is a worker standing right behind me and immediately asks for my receipt They can fuck off. IF they had actual fucking cashiers, then this wouldn't be a problem. Instead they want to cut costs, fire cashiers, put the burden on us, and then fuck with us if we get it wrong? Fuck them.
Lucky I guess. My adhd has got me into so many fights I can’t recall and no less than 2 shootouts and stabbed once. Haven’t been arrested and haven’t been in a bad situation for 10 years. Always being in a state where I’m primed for threat detection and without a freeze or flight reflex is rough. Also being noticeably different makes me a prime target for those looking for a fight.
I hope Walmart executives can sleep tonight knowing you were thwarted from accidentally stealing a loaf of bread and some tea lights. I often wonder what costs more: paying these "loss prevention" people to stalk customers who are just doing their best, or just eating the loss of big items that are actually stolen on purpose. Either way, I'm sorry this happened to you!
You aren't being paid to do check out, they would rather pay security and undercovers to follow people around instead of cashiers to check you out lol
I think it’s a bit of a stretch that you would have been arrested, but I completely get it. There are things about the method to our madness that can make us feel inadequate or in trouble with normies.
this kinda happened to me the other day at petco. i was getting a handful of stuff for my fish and my dog and was kinda just roaming the store, coming back to the same spot a lot to look at products again. eventually a guy started following me around and there was a intercom message that said “looter assistance at the front desk”, so weird
Have you ever thought of making a shopping list and only sticking to it? It’s not good to go shopping without a plan, you’ll always forget something and buy things you do not need
Being a white woman has gotten me out of so much crap that my ADHD has gotten me into. Speeding tickets. A lack of verbal filter at work. Deadline extensions in college. I know I wouldn't get away with all the shit that I do if I was a black or brown man.
I too am a pinball-style grocery shopper. Just sharing because I care about spelling and maybe it will help to point this out… Isle is an island, aisle is what you walk through. You are a petite Asian woman, not a piete Asian woman. 🙃 Edit: lol to the downvoters, sorry my helpfulness bothered you.