15 People Who Turned Shopping Into an Adventure

Going to the supermarket seems simple enough — you pick up what you need and head out. But sometimes, it’s not that straightforward. In fact, some people have come away from their grocery trips with funny or downright bizarre stories.

• 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
• There was an adorable boy, probably 4 years old, with his dad. They were in front of me in the checkout line. The little boy was talking to his dad, but I wasn’t paying attention until the man said in a bit of a loud voice, “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask her?” The dad was looking at me while he said it.
  The little boy then asked me my name. I told him and asked him for his name. He told me. Then he turned to his dad and said, “I’m going to marry her someday!” I felt highly complimented that this little guy was smitten with me! It made my night. © NolaJen1120 / Reddit
• I was 11, and my sister was 9. We had just moved to a new town and went to the local big box superstore with our mom. My sister had to use the bathroom, and with us being new in town, of course, we had no idea where it was. We stopped a manager to ask, “Excuse me, where are your bathrooms?” She seriously replied, “We don’t sell bathrooms.” © 2gecko1983 / Reddit

• Today I went to an electronics store to look around and check the prices. Suddenly, I saw a store employee creep up next to me. So, I stepped toward him and said, “Good afternoon, can I help you with anything?” The guy froze for 5 seconds and then said, “Yes, buy something, please...” © zver714 / Pikabu
• 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 embarrassed. I’m bad, and I know it. © BanPObespredelu / Pikabu
• 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 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 witnessed a fight between sisters at Walmart. Hair was pulled, legs were kicked, and punches were thrown. Everyone had their phones out video taping it. The best part was the mother screaming, “Please, stop! You’re embarrassing our family!” She kept repeating that as everyone watched. © thechadc94 / Reddit
• 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

• 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
• I went to a supermarket a couple of months ago, filled the basket with food, took it to the self-service checkout, rang everything up, and brought it home. Only then did I notice that I had no receipt. And then I slowly realized that I had rung everything up, put it in the bags, didn’t pay, and left.
  While I was walking back with the same bags, I imagined the picture: the staff watching the camera footage of a person walking into the supermarket with a bunch of food, going straight to the checkout, taking out this pile of food, ringing it up, paying, putting it back into the bags, and leaving! © heim.dallr / Pikabu
• I left my 6-year-old son at the entrance of a supermarket with the bags from a restaurant (we got takeout). I’m standing in line at the checkout, and he yells that some woman took the bags. I ran out, and the woman calmly walked away. After I caught up with her, she seriously told me that they were her bags! I just grabbed them and left. © exrazesheraz / Pikabu

• My grandfather came back from the supermarket and said, “It’s crazy how expensive potatoes have become.” Turned out they were kiwis. © delores / Pikabu
• We were looking for a certain item in the supermarket and saw a woman and a man with badges passing by and talking. We approached them and asked about the item.
  The lady took out her smartphone and started looking there, and the man called someone on his walkie-talkie. He said to us, “Someone will come and help you in a moment.” Eventually, the woman found the item. Her badge said that she was a regional director, and the man with the walkie-talkie was the store director. © KotAbc / Pikabu
• Ahead of Christmas, there were huge lines in supermarkets. People dragged their children there to get through the checkout faster, ask to be let through, or get through with a scandal. But seeing a pregnant woman load huge boxes into her cart, then bend down and lose her fake pregnant belly at the checkout in front of a bunch of people was priceless! © Overheard / Ideer

Even the simplest tasks can take an unexpected twist. In the following article, people recount over 15 instances where a routine cleaning session escalated into a full-blown drama.