13 Bizarre Supermarket Moments That Turned Routine Grocery Runs Into Chaos

Going grocery shopping usually sounds like a simple task. But for some people, a quick supermarket run can turn into a wild adventure, and these stories prove that anything can happen in the snack aisle or checkout lane.

• My grandfather came back from the supermarket and said, “It’s crazy how expensive potatoes have become.” Turned out they were kiwis. © delores / Pikabu
• I ran into someone at the grocery store who I swore was my friend from college. Same haircut, same glasses, same awkward stance. So I snuck up behind him, clapped his shoulder, and said, “Hey, you handsome disaster!”
  He turned around slowly. It was my boss. From work. And this was our first time bumping into each other outside the office. I laughed, apologized, and made a quick exit.
• I worked as a grocery cashier for many years. One time there was a woman that had two items for a “buy two, get one free” offer. I told her she needed three total and offered to have a bagger run to get her another. She said, “No, I have two. It says ’buy two, get one free.’” I tried explaining again, but she’ shook her head and looked at the lady behind her like, “Can you believe this?” I finally got through to her by asking, “Ma’am, if the promotion was ’buy one, get one free’, how many items would you bring to the checkout?” © PaintSea**** / Reddit
• I usually shop at the supermarket that has its own “radio station”. One day, the station was playing a Neil Diamond song, which I knew, so I was singing along. A dude was walking towards me. Close to 6′6′ tall, with shoulders a linebacker would be proud to call his own.
  “You know the words, sing with me!” I said. He scowled ferociously, dropped his hand basket, put his arm around my shoulder, and picked up the bass line! Then a young lady parked her cart, came to my other side, put her arm around my waist, and sang soprano! By the end of the song, there were six of us singing, and another dozen people singing and clapping along! © Ralph Watermeier / Quora

• A little girl and her grandfather were ahead of me in the checkout line. She kept whispering into his ear, tossing glances my way. Then he suddenly said, louder, “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask her?” He looked right at me.
  The girl turned to me and asked, “Is your name Olivia?” I nodded, shocked. She smiled and pulled out a crumpled drawing. It showed a girl in a coat and boots, exactly like what I was wearing.
  The grandpa looked puzzled and said, “She’s been dreaming about someone named Olivia for weeks.” I stood there speechless, goosebumps all over.
• In a store for household goods, I approached the salesperson with the words, “Hello, could you help me?” And he almost shouted back, “I’m so tired of you all.” Then I realized that the man was just an ordinary customer wearing a green T-shirt that looked like an employee uniform. Not a smart choice, mate. © OdioElIngles / Pikabu
• I dropped my wallet in the parking lot of the grocery store. Didn’t realize it until I got to the register and panicked. As I turned to leave, a man tapped my shoulder and handed it to me. I was so relieved I nearly hugged him. He smiled and said, “You might want this, too,” and handed me a folded photograph. It was a baby picture of my daughter I forgot I kept in there.
  He looked at it and said quietly, “She looks like my niece did. Before we lost her.” We talked for 10 minutes. Just strangers holding pain and gratitude at the same time. I never got his name. But every time I look at that photo, I think of him.

• At the checkout, an old lady of about 80 years old was standing in line before me, holding cereal and milk. Her eyes were very kind, and she could barely stand and leaned against the counter. She saw that I had only a can of soda and said, “Son, you go before me, you only have a soda, and I’ve got a lot.” It made me feel warm.
  So, I made up a cunning plan. I paid and lurked near the cash register, pretending to check something on my phone, waiting for the right moment. The old lady’s purchases got rung up, and at the last moment, I stepped in and asked the cashier to let me pay for her purchases. While the lady tried to figure out what was going on, I paid and left with a smile on my face. © Varvich / Pikabu
• I was shopping for my grandfather one day, and his grocery list included a pack of adult diapers. I grab the items and get in line. After a minute or so, I realize there’s an absolutely beautiful woman standing in line in front of me.
  She turns around, makes eye contact, and we smile at each other. I see her eyes shift down to the diapers, and the smile fades away slowly as she realizes what she’s looking at. She turned back around, and I was too embarrassed to try and salvage the situation, but it makes for a gold laugh when I think about it now. © Surfside141 / Reddit
• Once, a cashier was rude to me, and I remembered her. The next time, she gave me the wrong change, and she made such a big mistake in my favor that I could have shopped a couple of times for that amount in that store.
  I told the security guard that the cashier didn’t give me the correct change and asked to call the manager. The cashier became indignant, but when the manager came and the cashier realized that she had given me too much, she got really embarrassed. I’m bad, and I know it.
  © BanPObespredelu / Pikabu

• I came to buy some herring. I chose a large fish and said to the shop assistant, “Please, give me this one.” The assistant pulled a different fish out of the bucket. I said, “No, I don’t want this one, I want that one.”
  She reached for the bucket again and pulled out a different fish again. I said, “I don’t want this one, I want that one.” And the assistant goes, “I want a lot of things too! Take what is given to you!” I haven’t heard anything that rude in 100 years! I just went to another store. © Graviy / Pikabu
• I work as a cashier in a supermarket. Today, a young man passed through my cash register. He was wrapped in a blanket with a helmet on his head, holding a roll of toilet paper. His friends were following him, filming it all on video and laughing wildly. I loved it! © Podsushano / Ideer
• I came home from the grocery store, put the bags on the floor, took off my jacket, and realized there was something in my pocket. It turned out to be a pack of ham. There was not enough space in the basket, so I’d put ham in the pocket and forgot about it.
  I went back to the store. At the cash register, I said, “It seems I stole your ham, and I’d like to pay for it.” You should have seen the cashier’s face! © chuckigeck / Pikabu

If you’ve ever second-guessed an online purchase, you’re definitely not alone. Some shoppers got more than they bargained for—and not in a good way. Take a look at 18 People Who Discovered the Reverse Side of Online Shopping and Learned This Lesson for Good.