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Hey Pandas, What’s The Most Awkward Thing That Has Happened To You In A Grocery Store? (Closed)
We all know awkward things happen in grocery stores—from crying children that create drama from nowhere, to even slipping on a piece of lettuce and falling face first. I wanna know the embarrassing things that have happened to you in grocery stores. Don't be scared, we all fail sometimes. That's just a part of being human.
So share your stories below and upvote the most entertaining ones you see. Let's make each other laugh and perhaps our day will become brighter and happier!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
I was in the early months of a new relationship, the ‘be prepared just in case’ stage where you keep a couple of overnight essentials to hand. I was doing a quick post-workshop at the supermarket. At the checkout, I pulled my wallet out of my handbag with a flourish and launched a pair of red lace panties three feet into the air and down onto the cashiers’ lap...
Final score:
50points
#2
I was once shopping and acutely aware of an older man staring at me. I was getting a little nervous when he must have noticed my discomfort and came over to me. He apologized for staring and said he thought I was exceptionally beautiful. I, of course, wanted to jetson out of there asap as a 19 yo alone in a store. But he apologized again and explained he didn't mean to be creepy. He genuinely thought I looked old school hollywood beautiful and wondered if I was related to Rita Hayworth. Up until that point I had never really thought I was truely beautiful, let alone, stop and stare, old school hollywood beautiful. That encounter gave me a confidence and self love I didn't have before. His sincerity has stayed with me even after a decade has passed. I hope he knows what a gift his kindness was that day.
Final score:
42points
#3
My husband and I were shopping at Wal-Mart with our 3 year old son. We passed another couple with their child who wore a Batman T-shirt. So our son stood up in the cart, pulled down his pants to show everyone his underwear and yells, "Look, I have Batman too"!!
Final score:
40points
#4
My most awkward moment in a grocery store was when a friend of mine and her young daughter (around 4 at the time) and I went to Walmart. Well it was around the Halloween season and I decided to take her daughter to look at the costumes. So as we were in the aisle she picked up a pirate sword and started to swing it around. So I picked up a sword to and told her On Guard! and so we started dueling in the middle of the aisle. So as we were doing that her mom was laughing and then we got the death stares from a few of the shoppers and a woman in yoga pants came up and said "aren't you too old to play with little kids?" and with out skipping a beat my friends kid said look she has jiggly legs like grandma. The Woman got beat red she stared at us until we left the area. But her face was priceless.
Final score:
38points
#5
When I was at uni I used to get carded a lot when buying alcohol or cigarettes and was rather annoyed by it. One day as I was doing a larger shopping I started getting my items out of the cart, the lady at the till started ringing them up one by one and I was somewhere in another world in my head. I bought one can of alcohol free beer but it was at the very end of the heap of stuff yet and the cashier was actually ringing up a a bunch of sardine cans when she looked at me and said she'd like to see and ID. I looked at the can in her hand and I blurted out "We're being carded even for FISH now?!" before realising she probably just looked ahead, spotted the beer and wanted to give me some time to forage through my purse until she gets to the item. She gave me a look that clearly said "one more of these idiots and I quit..."
Final score:
34points
#6
Accidentaly bumped into an old lady and blurted out "Yeehaw, Oh i'm sorry ma'am" I practically yelled the Yeehaw. I don't remember what what was on my mind.
Final score:
33points
#7
Asked a young guy stocking items in a grocery store; "Hey buddy where are your nuts?" Not where are the peanuts? Where are your nuts? After seeing the wide eyed look on his face, I realized what I had asked. I got embarrassed and muttered; "Never mind I will find them myself". He literally said "Uh, no you won't". Yeah, I still blush today.
Final score:
33points
#8
I was waiting in line at a grocery store in Denver when a six month old baby crawled out of her mother’s arms and over her right shoulder as if this was the most natural thing in the world to do. I had to reach up to keep her from falling on the floor. The child then wrapped her arms around my neck and held on. It took the mother and myself a couple of moments to realize what had happened. She turned around and took her child back stating that the baby had never done that before. The child looked up at me and smiled. I have thought of this many times over the years and each time I found a smile on my face and tears in my eyes.
Final score:
31points
#9
Mom was occupied with the purchase and I wanted a toy from the claw machine, so I reached in there to grab a prize. A struggle ensued, and it turns out that the machine is much better as grasping prey than I am. I was up to my shoulder in failure and couldn't get my arm back, so the tears started flowing. Within minutes, I was a pathetic puddle on the ground, surrounded by my mom, a couple store managers, and a couple of local firefighters who eventually rescued me. Sounds embarassing, but luckily I was only 4 so it would be almost 10 more years before I would start to develop a sense of shame.
Final score:
29points
#10
It was my husband's birthday, and we went to walmart to pick up a cake and ice cream. As we went to pay, our bank card was declined. It was so humiliating that I broke down crying. A man who was in line behind us saw what was going on, and he paid for our groceries. I will never forget how kind that stranger was.
Final score:
27points
#11
So you know the lobster tanks that they have at the store? Well, five year old me was obsessed with them, and would always run over to watch them. So one day, I run over to them and wave, and one moved it’s claw. I thought it was waving at me and thought I could control their movements. So I decide I want them to run around, so I start running in a circle. I kept running, and I puked. Then I slipped in the puke and accidentally knocked down a box full of chips. They exploded everywhere. And I’m not allowed back into that store.
Final score:
26points
#12
I was rushing to visit my in-laws with the kids. They live just a few minutes' walk away and we popped into the shop on the way to get some treats for them. We were running late and I was so distracted with the kids that after finally getting past the checkout I realised in horror that I didn't have my wallet. I was so embarrassed, I apologised to the cashier for having scanned everything, to the kids for having to leave the biscuits behind, explained and tried to run for the hills. But the lady in front of me, (who was still there sorting out her bags) took over and insisted that she would pay for it, said the same had happened to her. She literally wouldn't be stopped. I fully felt the blessing of this act of kindness but I never felt so embarrassed in my life. The kindness actually made me feel a lot worse despite my better judgement, but of course I tried to hide it as best I could.
Final score:
26points
#13
for some stupid reason i wanted to give a hug to my dad with my fucking eyes closed. I hugged a stranger.
Final score:
25points
#14
It was Interesting that my daughter shared her school lesson with a stranger in the middle of the pasta aisle. My young daughter ran up to a stranger with his 2 year old and In a very loud voice said “YOU are the Dad and have the penis”. I just shook my head at the very embarrassed man and told him to have a nice day.
Final score:
23points
#15
I was a cashier at a grocery store as a very young adult. I was dirt poor, didn't own a car and walked everywhere. My metabolism is such that, if I don't eat regularly, my blood sugar can plummet and I pass out. Being poor, I hadn't eaten much for a few days, add in the walk to work, and you're looking at a recipe for disaster. Yep. I passed out right there in my check stand. But that wasn't even the awkward part. I hit the bridge of my nose on something when I fell and ended up with a nice little gash. After I'd recovered for a bit in the back, I resumed my shift. A little while later I was ringing up for an older lady. She kept staring at me and I could tell by the look in her eye that she was upset. As I ring up the last of her groceries, she reaches out, touches my arm and says, 'honey, between you and me, I'd leave the guy.' I said 'oh, no no! No one hit me. I swear! I just got lightheaded and passed out.' She looked like she didn't believe me, because that's exactly the sort of thing a battered woman might say, and left with her groceries still shaking her head. Broke, practically homeless and virtually starving? Sure. But physical abuse victim? Absolutely not.
Final score:
23points
#16
Not a grocery store but in a food court, I slipped on a chip that someone had dropped. No harm was done but boy, the panic of the center management was something to behold. The pharmacist arrived first followed by the manager and a crowd of staff all terrified I would sue. It is still a family joke twenty years later.
Final score:
20points
#17
I get rather mesmerized by all the options while shopping. I was an early 30’s male, walking slowly along the dairy wall with my focus zeroed-in on the vast variety of products before me. That is until I walked straight into a lady doing her shopping. This lady was late 50’s / early 60’s, a bigger lady, and had her back to me before I slammed into her. The collision surprised me, and I instantly pulled back, realizing I was at fault here. In that reflex reaction of pulling back, my hand was somewhere around her hamstring when I bumped into her, and as I jerked my hand upward while she began to turn - my hand slid right up her butt crack... She turned around and I blurted out “Oh my god, I’m so sorry”. She didn’t say a word. She just stared straight into my eyes, deep, with a giant smile. I apologized again and asked if she was alright - not a word in response - just that penetrating stare and joker smile. I apologized, again, and began to walk away. She swiveled to keep the laser stare and scare smile on me, saying nothing. I left the store. A very intense 5 second interaction, and all I knew is that I didn’t want any more of it.
Final score:
20points
#18
When I was ten, I was dancing in a trader joe's and I crashed into a huge tower of premade coffee jugs. I wasn't hurt, and nor was the coffee, but my dignity is another story...
Final score:
17points
#19
Frozen goods isle at Walmart. Older gentleman opened the freezer cabinet, stuck his head in, proceeded to sneeze, closed up, and walked on about his business. I chose to purchase my ice cream elsewhere that day.
Final score:
17points
#20
Early 30's, shopping at night. Guy asked me about cookies. Yup, fell right into it. Then he said he just wanted to ask me out. I told him I was in a relationship. HE SAID HE DIDN'T CARE; my S/O didn't have to know. I told him that I would know and NO, I would not go out with him. I was so rattled that I left and paid without finishing my shopping. It creeped me out because it was so late at night. I never went shopping at night again.
Final score:
15points
#21
I was 3 at the time and I saw some candy I picked it up but in my rush to catch up with my mom I put it in my pocket and ended up taking it home without paying when mom found out draged me to the store and made me confesse and return it.
Final score:
15points
#22
I’m a teacher, so I often run into my students or their families in the grocery store. As I was walking up and down aisles in the grocery store, I passed a guy, who I recognized from a parent-teacher conference. He kept staring at me. Finally, he stopped and said, “You look so familiar. Where do I know you from?” I often refer to my students as “my kids,” so I replied, “I think you’re one of my kids’ dads.” To which he responded, “No. You’re very beautiful. I think I would remember f***ing you.”
It took me a few minutes to recover from that.
Final score:
15points
#23
As the proud new manager of a grocery store, my son led me on a tour, taking me to see the new display of bulk candy in the middle of the store. As he talked and laughed in excitement, he popped a red and white mint into his mouth and immediately appeared to be choking. When he couldn't talk, I screamed for help and gave him the Heimlich maneuver. People came to our assistance while my son gestured that he was not choking, but couldn't talk. One customer brought him coffee from the break room to "melt" the candy. My son was completely embarrassed in front of his fellow employees that he was never choking at all, but had a muscle spasm in his throat when he propelled the large candy into his mouth and it slid down his esophagus! He was completely humiliated by my screaming for help!
Final score:
13points
#24
I once was in a grocery store and some old lady mistook me for her grand kid
Final score:
12points
#25
Proudly saying ¨i will pay for it ¨. but came up short $5
#Awkwardgroceystorymoments
Final score:
10points
#26
9yo me went to the grocery store and there was a lady there who looked very much like a friend of ours. I got excited and run up to her and hugged her.
She looked down at me and another girl she was with also looked strange at me.
I wished the floor would swallow me. Apologised in a hurry and left 😅
Final score:
9points
#27
This happened on a vacation. So there was a guy that I somehow kept coming across at every aisle. It was totally unexpected. We were doing our respective shopping and unknowingly came across each other at every other aisle. After 20 min of this, we crossed again in the Dairy section and he smiled at me. He was very cute so I smiled back. He let me go first for billing too. It felt like a movie and it was some kinda meet cute moment. A week later he tries to get in touch on fb and Ig. It felt so weird because how did he find me? I blocked him and am very scared to even make eye contact with strangers at any store I go.
Final score:
9points
#28
I went to go pay for some items at the self checkout and my card wasn't working so i tried multiple times and the cashier at one of the stands was like sir is this your card? and i just stood there being like uhhhhh yes? and so she called in security and i was just like i can pay cash and i am forever made fun of by everyone i know for that
Final score:
8points
#29
I was on an aisle shopping when the store was pretty empty of customers and look up to see a giant walking "Twinkie the Kid" at the end of the aisle waving at me. Now that's a huge costumed Twinkie in a cowboy hat & boots. I wonder if I've lost my mind and desperately look around for anyone to verify what I'm seeing, but no one was in sight. I weakly waved back, and he walked off, never to be seen again. I still picture some guy taking off the costume in the employee lounge, chuckling "Freaked another one out!"
Final score:
8points
#30
This happened about a year or two ago.
I saw the back of my friend Rowan at the produce aisle and I ran over and whacked him on the back of the head (because that's how we greet each other lol).
When he turned around, it wasn't Rowan.
It was my teacher. (Rowan's like 6 feet tall oof)
Final score:
8points
#31
I brought down a police officer.
I was leaving the shop with three bags and managed to miss the top step of the stairs (not even 1 meter drop). Shopping bags tearing at my arms, I fell forward and right into a tall guy who had a coffee in hand and wore a vest with giant letters saying POLIZEI. Me and my shopping bags knocked him straight down and landed on top of him. Needless to say, his coffee was gone and I was mortified.
His colleagues helped us up, we were both ok. I offered new coffee and his colleagues teased him about his non-existant reflexes and that he should maybe return to the car instead of raiding the nearby metro station.
Worst part: I saw him again a few days later. I was walking down the steps to the metro station and he was coming up. When he spotted me, he changed sides and hold his coffee with both hands.
Final score:
8points
#32
Years ago I worked as a Courtesy Clerk (bagger) during the holidays. I was bagging the groceries for a very petite and gracious elderly lady. As I was finishing her order I asked her if she was ready for Christmas, as was customary to ask each shopper back in the day. She looked me straight in the eye and said "F**k Santa" and pushed her cart off without another word.
Final score:
7points
#33
I was around 5, it was a really hot day, and my dad and I were in an Aldi (I think). I saw a cheap little hand-held Disney princess themed fan, and showed to my dad. I turned it on, and felt the cool air on my face. "Ahhhh," I said. After a little while, I turned it off and kinda forgot I was holding it. After shopping, we exited the store, and the hot sun reminded me of the fan. I tuned it on, said "Ahhhh." again, and my dad looked down at me. He realized that we didn't buy the fan, and stopped in his tracks. We ended running back into the store to return the fan, and I was just sitting there, embarrassed, as the store clerks glared down at me. Maybe my most embarrassing, but a funny memory I remember to this day.
Final score:
6points
#34
This was about 10 years ago when I decided to quit smoking. I told my husband that I wanted to go to the store and get some hard candies to help me quit smoking. We go to the candy aisle and we're seeing chocolates and those jelly orange things and all kinds of soft candy, but no hard candies. I loudly blurted out "I just need something hard to suck on!" Then I realized what I'd said and just wanted to fall through the floor.
Final score:
6points
#35
I was shopping with my 2yo old brother years ago. Anyone who knows a 2yo knows they are both appallingly honest and completely unfiltered. He was in a phase of classifying both things and people. This trip to Target begins with us barely clearing the automatic entrance doors when we see a very large woman walking less than 6ft away. My brother very audibly remarks, "Those are REALLY BIG pants!" Then while shopping, an Asian man was perusing the same isle when my brother made eye contact and loudly told him, "You're Chinese!" The man was Asian certainly but we had no way of knowing if he was in fact Chinese. He didn't reply to my brother so I proceeded to whisper to my brother we couldn't know if he was Chinese or not. Then we found ourselves in the check out line behind an older lady who was very sweet when my brother told her, " You're old!" I was mortified, but she just laughed and agreed. I went home and told my Mom I couldn't take my brother out in public until he had some more life experiences and better manners.
Final score:
5points
#36
To keep my daughter well-behaved in the supermarket, she got to pick out dog-treats for our family dog. In the check -out line, she spotted the candy and started whining. "No, You already got dog treats." The lady behind me said ,:I'm not going to judge you because she looks healthy."
Final score:
5points
#37
My most awkward moment in a grocery store was when we were in the checkout line behind two other people with massively full trollies (Christmas so all checkouts were loaded) and my then 3 year old realised that the lady in front had the same shirt as my mum. He spent nearly 15 minutes screaming that that “mean lady had stole mumah’s shirt” and telling her “police get you” while I went redder and redder and apologised repeatedly.
Final score:
5points
#38
I was around 13 years old and I was buying my mum a mother’s day card, a pencil case and a new pen for school. I walked up to the machine to pay for my items but I didn’t see the big sign that said card only. I stood there for a minute or so figuring out where to put my £5 note and I was looking around nervously. One of the people who worked there pointed out that it was card only so I walked over to another machine that took cash (rather embarrassed at being so dumb). As I scanned in my pen and card, I realised the label of the pencil case had fallen off by the card only machine. I saw it on the floor and wandered off to pick it up. When I came back to the one with my items, I saw a man standing there and so I stood awkwardly behind him. He noticed that there was stuff there but he had already scanned in some bread so it had combined my items and his. He looked confused and I couldn’t explain the situation to him as I don’t he spoke English. Another person who worked there came over and deleted all my things from the machine and so I had to start all over again somewhere else.
Last time I went to Sainsbury’s and this memory still haunts me in my sleep.
Final score:
4points
#39
When my son, a very pale-skinned, blue eyed child, was just about a year old, he was discovering words and applying them to similar situations. His father is very tall (6'10"). We ran into the grocery store to just pick up one item, so I carried him rather than using a stroller. As he was looking around, he saw a very very dark skinned, tall man and used his loudest voice to say, "Look! Dada!" The gentleman was in line right next to us and loudly replied, "No, son, I don't think so!" It was awkwardly hilarious! Almost as funny as his response to seeing a clydesdale horse's genitalia at an amusement park with his dad!
Final score:
4points
#40
I was at the garden center place with my mom and she told me to stand by the entrance to wait while she got a cart. So I was just standing there awkwardly and waiting and a woman approached me and said something like "where can I return these plants..." and I was like "I don't work here..." and she laughed and left... This happens quite often at many local stores people just start asking me stuff like I work there... haha!
Final score:
3points
#41
My son was a preemie and small for his age. He hated to be confined, but in the grocery store I made him sit in the cart's child seat for his safety and my sanity. After multiple attempts to get down from the cart and being firmly told he was NOT going to run free in the store, this tiny guy who looked about two years old sat in the cart repeatedly yelling "POOR LITTLE BOY!" as I cringed my way through the aisles.
Final score:
3points
#42
I got separated from my dad in a walgreens.... Thinking i found him, i walked up behind this guy and tapped his buckled knee (as a joke ya know) well it wasn't my dad and the man was old and fell... oops lol
Final score:
3points
#43
Not exactly awkward, but I thought I might share. When I was ~2 years old, there was this abandoned squeaky toy on the floor of a store. My brother picked it up, and I started chasing him around for the toy. Eventually I caught up to him and got the toy, but it was really dusty (the floor it was on was really dusty too). But I still wanted it, so at the checkout, 2 year old me asked the cashier if I could keep it. I don't remember much after that but I guess that the cashier said yes because I still have it today!
Final score:
3points
#44
This is bad. Walked into the store with my dad, and promptly started my period as we hit the entrance. Of course I didn't have any feminine hygiene products in my purse! Had to hide in the restroom while my dad went to get tampons to deliver to me. I was 30 years old.
Final score:
3points
#45
I was shopping for some feminine products and this woman looked so confused and said “wow I don’t even know What kind to get! There’s so many, right?!”
So I spent about 5 minutes explaining to this woman how I used to work in retail and had to stock the feminine products and there were so many different kinds and I was overwhelmed. She laughed and then said “Hold on this girl is talking to me” and then removed her AirPod and asked what I was talking about...
Final score:
3points
#46
Some random child (probably around 6 years old) kept following me and putting packets of condoms in my basket. Had to remove the condom packets about 4 times!
Final score:
3points
#47
I’m a kid so for me it was my mom asked me to get some milk and gave me 20 bucks and waited in the car and once I got the milk I went to self checkout and it wasn’t working so I asked for helped and the guy who helped me had such an attitude and said ,”DID YOU READ THE SIGHN”? And the sighn was in the smallest print and said only credit cards
Final score:
2points
#48
I apologized to a manakin for bumping into it with my trolley 🙄
Final score:
2points
#49
Met my old lover in the grocery store, the snow was falling Christmas Eve. I stood behind her in the frozen foods, and I touched her on the sleeve. She didn't recognize the face at first, but then her eyes flew open wide. She went to hug me and she spilled her purse, and we laughed until we cried.
Final score:
1point
#50
I dropped a container of ice cream on the floor, and it opened and went EVERYWHERE kinda funny, but embarrassing at the same time. If only the containers were slip proof.
Final score:
1point
#51
One time we were at the shops and a worker smashed crates of sauce all over the ground and then just kept walking off.
Final score:
1point
#52
I'm pretty sure just about everyone has done this but, when I was younger around 7/8 I lost my mom in the store and I saw someone I thought was my mom, and I yelled at the top of my lungs MOMMY and they was looked at me and I looked at them and I said "your not my mommy" and they burst out laughing and brought me to the front desk.
Final score:
1point
#53
I broke a wine glass when I was like, 3. It was not on purpose. I felt so bad lol.
Final score:
1point
#54
i knocked out an old lady with a coke bottle (it was an accident)
so, I work at my local IGA and I shelf stack the drink isle (aka isle 3 or 4) so long story short I was stacking coke bottles and one slipped out of my and when I was on an orange stool and knocked out an old lady and there were like 10 people looking at me like I've killed someone the embarrassing thing I did was laugh...
Final score:
0points
#55
When my oldest son was about 4 or 5 he used to accuse me of running red lights if I would go through a yellow light.
It was the Christmas season and a major retail chain hired a police officer to sit by the entrance. As we were walking in, the officer asked "how are you" and my son said "my mom runs red lights." That's not the embarrassing part. I explained to my son I don't run red lights and he didn't need to tell the police. The next time we were in the same store, he walked up to the same cop and says " I'm not going to tell you what my mommy does." You guessed it. I was mortified.
Final score:
-1point
#56
My mother... let the door swing shut behind her as we were leaving, and another old lady tried to dash in... the door hit her in the fanny and she did a somersault. We boogied to the car as fast as we could.
Final score:
-3points
#57
Saw my ex in a store while with my dad who didn't know we dated. I was like "I don't feel good so bye!" At least we were exiting though, or else... That's why that was my only attempt at dating for the next 5 years. :l
Final score:
-3points
What do you think ?
P.A.B. 4 years ago
I was about 5 years old in a little corner grocery store with my mom and sisters. Mom sent me to get a can of something ( don’t remember what) and I got it and threw it up in the air and caught it several times. Another little girl saw and decided to do the same thing. She tossed her can into the air and it smacked her on top of her head and she started bawling. I hurried away.
Bowtechie 4 years ago
A woman tried to put her rotisserie chicken in my basket when I was shopping. I was making my way to the freezer aisle when this woman beelines for me with a weirdly relieved expression and goes "oh thank god! Would you mind if I use that? This is way hotter than I expected it to be." and she holds up the chicken. I told her I was using it but they had baskets literally ten feet to her right and she just... stared at me? It was like she couldn't comprehend that someone else might be shopping at the already very crowded store (this was pre-covid, btw). After a very awkward stand-off, she huffs away and I finally start shopping. People are wild, man.
2763MilesAway 4 years ago
my mom told me when i was little we were in a checkout line and a guy in front/behind us had an eyepatch and i called him a pirate. he was nice about it and said "arrrr" to me.
P.A.B. 4 years ago
I was about 5 years old in a little corner grocery store with my mom and sisters. Mom sent me to get a can of something ( don’t remember what) and I got it and threw it up in the air and caught it several times. Another little girl saw and decided to do the same thing. She tossed her can into the air and it smacked her on top of her head and she started bawling. I hurried away.
Bowtechie 4 years ago
A woman tried to put her rotisserie chicken in my basket when I was shopping. I was making my way to the freezer aisle when this woman beelines for me with a weirdly relieved expression and goes "oh thank god! Would you mind if I use that? This is way hotter than I expected it to be." and she holds up the chicken. I told her I was using it but they had baskets literally ten feet to her right and she just... stared at me? It was like she couldn't comprehend that someone else might be shopping at the already very crowded store (this was pre-covid, btw). After a very awkward stand-off, she huffs away and I finally start shopping. People are wild, man.
2763MilesAway 4 years ago
my mom told me when i was little we were in a checkout line and a guy in front/behind us had an eyepatch and i called him a pirate. he was nice about it and said "arrrr" to me.
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