Have you ever seen very overweight people in the grocery check out line, open their food, and start to eat it!

Question

And their children are there watching and learning from them. What would you like to do at that moment?

Excuse me, I apologize if I offended anyone, I shouldn't have said anything about anyone with a weight problem, I ment anyone that eats in line, and still pays for it. I just think it's poor etiquette.

Answer 1

It has nothing to do with being overweight. I've seen people of all shapes and sizes do this. There's nothing wrong with it as long as they pay for the stuff. Some people like to have something to drink or munch on while they're shopping; there's nothing wrong with this as long as they pay for it, and most people do pay for it. What does it matter if they eat a candy bar in the store or two minutes later in their car? If it had been a fit person doing this, you would not be passing this judgement. Fat people aren't fat because they eat too much. They're fat because they eat more calories than they expend. Serious athletes eat more than most fat people, and they also expend way more energy. You should open your eyes and gain some perspective.

Answer 2

No matter who opens their food in the check out line, it is in poor taste. I am very overweight and I don't do that. I think that wrong is wrong, it doesn't make it ok if a this person does it. I think that poor eating habits are definately observed by children, and lots of thin people have poor eating habits that they pass on to their children. Each person's body matabolizes differently so one person can eat poorly everyday and be as thin as a rail and another can eat like a bird and be obese. For example, I eat far healthier than my mother, I do not use drugs, smoke, or drink alcohol or coffee and she has been thin all my life and I have been overweight since I was 8. I haven't really seen a lot of people, overweight or thin, eating their food in the grocery store. What I have seen most often in the grocery store is people yelling at their small children. Recently I heard a lady tell her child(about 3 years old), who was quietly sitting in the cart, that she was going to cut her(the child's) fingers off if she didn't move them from the bar that you to push the cart. Where else was the child suppossed to put her hands? My husband walked up to the woman and told her that if she were blessed enough to have a child, she should treat her better. The lady responded by saying that he should talk to the little girl's doctor because she was diagnosed with ADD. To me it looked like the little girl was sedated, she didn't make a peep. Perhaps the mother was ADD. She wasn't doing her daughter any favors by passing along that rage and poor manner of problem solving.

Answer 3

It's got nothing to do with "very overweight people". I know there have been times when I have considered munching on something in my cart while in the grocery line, but it just can't be done in my opinion, as it has not been paid for, and it tantamounts to stealing food! On the other hand, I have seen desperate mothers with babies in arms, opening a small packet of food from their grocery cart and distracting a baby with that - which I feel is quite acceptable, once in a long while, as motherhood can be very involving and one doesn't want a crying baby! Payment must be made right away and this should not be a common occurrence (and no, I'll not vote on Mothers' Rights on this, if the lawyers ever have to make that out!), and that said, usually even a store manager will let go a little bit to quieten a baby! Think about it. As for any other people ("very overweight" or otherwise) this is unacceptable behavior and should be minimized, whatever their suffering may be, and children, well, they watch over parents' unacceptable behavior more and more in some families and that is just unfortunate.

Answer 4

Its not just overweight people.

Depends on what it is. If I get very thirsty at the check out, I will open a bottle of water or whatever is handy and cold. If I positively cannot wait, and stupidly went shopping while hungry, I will open a little bag of chips or something.

Often the waiting in line takes longer than shopping. I don't want to faint.

On the other hand, if they are ripping open a TV dinner/Sarah Lee cake with their teeth and wolfing this down, not a good idea.

Answer 5

My father-in-law does this. (He's 340lbs now, but according to my husband, he did it when he was still thin.) It annoys my husband and me to no end. We've tried to explain to him that he hasn't paid for it yet, so it's not his to eat/drink. But it just goes in one ear and out the other. The people at the grocery store have never said anything to him, but sometimes I wish they would. It's rude and downright embarrassing to be with him when he does this. My husband wants to "smack him upside the head." (His words, not mine.)

I'd like to clarify that my father-in-law opens food and eats it while he's still walking around shopping; it's not just at the checkout lane.

I can understand opening a bottle of water that one intends to pay for while at the checkout lane, especially if it's a hot day, the store doesn't have good AC and some person in front of you decides to haggle with the cashier over the cost of something. Over half of my family has diabetes and needs to eat something at a certain time. They plan very well so that they can eat in a more appropriate place, but when they've been waiting in line for over 45 minutes and it's past lunchtime, there's nothing wrong with opening some food you intend to pay for.

Answer 6

Overweight people aren't the only ones that do that..I've seen all types of people do that. I mainly see moms do it though like they open food for their kids before they check out. Or i've seen someone drink their beverage before they check out..I personally never do this because technically its not paid for yet. So I usually wait..
But there isn't anything you really can do about someone else doing it.

Answer 7

I don't think it has to do with someone's weight but just the way they have been brought up, even thin people would do that! So many people misbehave, you can't generalise and condemn overweight people only. I unfortunately don't think it is possible to educate people if it has not been done by their parents!!

Answer 8

I've only seen parents allow young children to eat while waiting in line.

Answer 9

That is not right!

The only time I have done anything remotely like this is opening a bottle of water on long shopping trip.. but I always pay for it.. Now that I think about it.. is that wrong?

Answer 10

Nothing. I've done it myself, and I'm not even overweight! As long as you are in line and pay for the food, I think it's Ok! Sometimes we are just starving after work!