This weekend, I did something that I have never done before. I confronted a complete stranger at the grocery store for rude behavior. I was in the produce aisle looking at the half-pound boxes of blueberries, when I noticed a man on the other side of the display. He was opening boxes, sampling a few berries from each box, and then replacing them in the bin. In an act very unlike my usual self, I brought it up. I thought I was polite and reasonable, but he yelled at me so I walked away with my face turning red (and no blueberries). Was I wrong? I am not opposed to people sampling things like grapes that are sold by weight. But sampling things that are sold as units seems like cheating.
Also, does confronting the man make me a rude and nosy busybody? A stranger once berated me in public for leaving Sebastian in my car with the window rolled up (in my defense, it was a shady, cool evening and only for about ten minutes). It was right after the baby had died and I was already feeling very vulnerable. Her words made me feel like I wasn't even capable of taking care of a dog, much less a baby. I was impassive to her face, and then I cried in my car. I wonder if she would have said what she did if she had known what I was going through. For that reason, I am very ambivalent about saying something at the grocery store. What do you guys think? Was I out of line? And is it inappropriate to sample blueberries?
1 comment:
When the berries are in a closed box which is supposed to weigh a specific amount then taking them out to eat in the store is kind of like stealing from the actual purchaser, isn't it?
I don't know if I'd have the nerve to call someone on it, Steph, but the other day at a grocery, just about every box of strawberries looked as if it had been opened and a couple taken out. Very annoying! No culprits were seen in action, or I might have turned into GreatAunt Annie and given a lecture.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
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