‘Stop this!’: Discussion on ‘lazy parenting’ sparks after parent allows their kid to grab and immediately start eating the unwashed grocery store produce

Author image for Elna McHilderson
Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Oct 19, 2024 2:00 PM EDT

It's already tough just being a parent at home. Now, your kids are old enough to bring them with you to run errands, but like… Do you even want to? You love your kids, and you think the world of them, but they haven't learned societal courtesies yet. They don't understand that you have to pay for the groceries before eating them. They don't get that the produce is touched by who knows how many dirty hands and also still have pesticides on them, so they have to be washed before eating them. They don't understand that, which totally makes sense because they're new to the world. 

As parents, YOU should know that… However, some seem not to understand that at all. Apparently, according to grocery store employees online, many parents allow their little kids to grab whatever produce they want and immediately pop it in their mouth as if they were grabbing it from their own fridge. Is that a small concern for parents to think about or should it be much bigger? See what people think below! 

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  • 01
    "It's just appalling how many parents don't consider how dirty they are right off the shelf."
    via Unsplash+ (and Getty Images)

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    Parents need to stop this I work as a cashier and I've recently had a couple of parents with their kids come through my line with half eaten apples and pears covered in their kids slobber. Then they try to tell me "oh sorry my kid just grabs things and starts eating them" like really *tch. Everyone and their mom touches that stuff so it's not clean and to top it off it's a weighed item so how the am I going to charge them properly! I wish there would be a policy against this it's disgusting and
    via Prometheus2100
  • 03
    nyaahhaoo it's so gross. i dread ringing up families because everytime i do i get a fist full of slobber with O warning. i've never washed my hands more in my life than after getting this job. it's insane because my parents would have never let me eat food before we paid for it, i'm not sure if it's because as a kid i lived in a different country where that sort of thing is COMPLETELY unacceptable, or if it's normal & where it grew up was just overly strict, in any event, its ucking nasty & pare
    via nyaahhaoo
  • 04
    nacho_girl2003 "Gross that you handed me something that was in your/your kid's mouth. But okay. Since this isn't a complete apple/pear/whatever, Im gonna need you to go grab another one for me to weigh since you're the one who let your kid eat half of it. You still have to pay full price"
    via nacho_girl2003
  • 05
    Indysteeler I straight up tell parents that it is theft, and I advise them not to do it again. They are the parents and they are the authority figure and need to tell them to stop, and that they have to pay for it first. I then tell them that it is a flat rate of $4. It's also annoying with drinks and other items, but at least I can still scan the bottle and charge for it. People get defensive all the time saying, "Well, I'm paying for it now aren't I?" Indeed they are, and there are scores of p
    via Indysteeler
  • 06
    Dancingskeletonman86 Or when they try to hand you a toy the baby or kid slobbered all over the entire time. But they wait until they get to the cash to say, "okay the lady needs now. She's gotta take it (gestures to you to take it)". ? Like you were the one who gave it to the kid, let them chew or slobber on the stuffie/toy/book whatever and of course you wait make the poor cashier be framed as the bad one who has to take it. And it's not sellable now either because it's full of baby or toddler
    via Dancingskeletonman86
  • 07
    Novel idea next time: bring a toy or book from home for the kid to with. on and play If it's not parents handing me toys/books or kids things full of drool, snot, vomit etc it's them handing you empty packages of food or apple/orange/pear bits with bite marks all in it like oh she just was so hungry I fed her that and this snack bar too. Ooops.
    via Dancingskeletonman86
  • 08
    Again crazy idea here: bring goldfish crackers in a ziplock from home or grab a granola bar before you go out the door so that way she/he won't be munching down on banana's, apples, candy etc in the store as you shop or else "she'll scream and fuss". So have a snack prepared ahead of time to stop the fussing. Or use grocery online delivery or the parking lot delivery services where they put in your trunk for you. If you can't handle shopping with your kid/kids without feeding them a feast from p
    via Dancingskeletonman86
  • 09
    Local-Pirate9342 My son is 8, autistic and non-speaking. If HE, a child with a language barrier asks for stuff and waits til I pay to eat it (usually wrapped, we don't do that with fruit bc germs) then there is really no excuse. It's just straight up lazy parenting and disrespectful to those who then have to touch that to ring it up.
    via Local-Pirate9342
  • 10
    ThrowRAbeepboop7483 In summer I had a mum come up to the till with her whole family eating ice creams and she gave me the empty box to scan. I let her pay but told her off because legally until she pays it's not her property, plus her card could have declined or something. She said her kids really wanted an ice cream. If your kids can't wait for less than a minute to eat sugar you're not doing the parenting thing very well and breaking the law to enable them is teaching them the wrong things. Di
    via ThrowRAbeepboop7483
  • 11
    PokeRay68 This is exactly why you put snacks in your purse, lady! My daughter is 26 and every once in a while, my in-laws still joke about me having. snacks. One BiL says that if he were ever stranded on a deserted island he'd choose me to be stranded with (after his wife, of course) because I always have something to eat in my bag. Background: I had a gastric bypass surgery 28 years ago and have had some type of protein just in case.
    via PokeRay68
  • 12
    Jessicamorrell I see adults doing this too not just kids. I had a grown man of about 50 years old eat an ice cream and then pay for it at my line after him and his wife were done shopping. They both thought it was funny when I said I was watching them the whole time to make sure they eventually paid for it before they left. I was an ASM. Like no, that isn't funny. It's beyond insanitsoto eat something off a shelf before paying for it as a grown adult. Like freaking weird. My parents would have b
    via Jessicamorrell
  • 13
    Kaetzen Orkester Yeah, my kid grabbed things at that age, too. It's why I kept the cart in the middle of the aisle and brought snacks with me. Or shopped when he was at daycare.
    via KaetzenOrkester
  • 14
    Quick-Maintenance-67 People don't think about the apples being dirty, I worked in a store in college & the night manager asked me why I was washing an apple I had just bought for lunch. I explained that apples can have wax, pesticide & insect feces on them, and then sweaty workers pick them, someone might pack them by hand, and then one of our own people might touch them to consolidate half empty boxes and then customers might touch them too looking for the "best" apples. He decided he was going
    via Quick-Maintenance-67
  • 15
    UnitedChain4566 The only time I'd eat something at the store, as a cashier myself, would be a CANDY because of hypoglycemia. And I'd keep the barcode intact to the best of my ability (low blood sugar trumps keeping it intact, though, as I can always grab another). Every time I'd have a kid eating something, I'd tell the parents to grab another as it's a weighed item. You inconvenience me, I inconvenience you. It's only fair. (A lot of parents would at least have more of the item in my case, thou
    via UnitedChain4566
  • 16
    Chriss Miss_Mom I'm probably going to bit for this but I 100% pick out something for my kids to munch on play which while I shop. It takes on average 1.25 to 1.45 hours to get to the closest town/grocery store. I only go 1ce every 2 months and need to buy. EVERYTHING, from fuel to food to supplies to you name it. I don't have kid care so they along for the ride. Shopping is then about 2 hours sometimes closer to 3 (for groceries) I also have other non food stops on average we leave home at 7am a
    via ChrissMiss_Mom
  • 17
    There is on the go lunch grabbed and snacks I bring but the kids look forward to picking a treat we have probably been out of for awhile at home. And it keeps them happy while I trail 1-3 carts around a store. I only do a package we can open never a by weight item. But yeah if I forgot to grab my drink from the car I will grab one and drink it as I go I'm not waiting 3 hours for a drink and I have a schedule and plan so I'm not popping out for one and coming back. Moral you never know what's goi
    via ChrissMiss_Mom
  • 18
    tempestoftheblood My husband took our 3 year old non verbal autistic son to the grocery store, he eats, a lot. Like he's the size if a 7 year old, he's growing so quick. They were in the produce section and he was obviously grabbing for things but not making a fuss when he couldn't have them (we usually have a snack or 2 on hand just in case)
    via tempestoftheblood
  • 19
    Then he saw a mom hand her toddler and apple from the apple section and he got so upset. He's non verbal, he doesn't understand when he's being talked to or explained something like that's not ok, all he knows is he saw a kid get an apple and now he wants one. So yes, please stop doing this
    via tempestoftheblood
  • 20
    NomadicShip11 "oh sorry my kid just grabs things and-" your kid is not yet an adult person with full autonomy or independence. you're the parent. Say NO
    via NomadicShip11

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