Supermarket trouble

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This is probally of no great interest to anyone but i just had to post and say what a terrible evening i had having to shop in my local supermarket (I apologise as i dont know if there is a U.S. version of the term).

My wife and i always after she fineshes work ona monday and and of course its the busy period and today seemed exceptionally bad. Nothing happened except my head spinning round and round!!

I always walk of from my wife and just keep walking as i just cant cope with slow walking in a crowded area. I can never really see what is to the side of me only were i am going. But today every turn i made i was coming up against people and looking the other so as to not make eye contact and then changing direction straight away and then just keep walking.

Eventualy we managed to get through it, in the car and flee!!

Its like being surrounded by monsters that you feel are not attacking you but just ganging up on you and they have eyes that if you look at them are like laser beams that burn yours out.

I know this is the same old stuff to everyone here but i just had to share this as most of you actually know what im talking about unlike every single person that i know around me.

Alex(uk)

"Supermarket" is a word we use, too. Also "grocery store". Either one is understandable.

I have learned over the years that if I have a high stress level, it is best not to attempt to go shopping, because I will not be efficient, and may end up frozen in the middle of an aisle, unable to figure out how to get started up again! Talk about embarrassing. When you are starting to shut down or melt down, getting someplace quiet to rest is Priority One. After all, it's not like you're going to get much done in that state anyway.

In a pinch, putting up a hood on your jacket can help. So can going to the restrooms and hiding there for a little while. Or sitting in the car... or even mentally going someplace else, if you're any good at that (visualization, or daydreaming, or whatever you want to call it).

Obviously you want to keep your stress level low so that this sort of thing doesn't happen, but sometimes it's unavoidable...

And that is why I often do not go to the store with my parents.

I had a similar experience today, so I know how you feel! I knew that I wasn't feeling like going in a busy store today, but I needed to return some items for a refund. There was a long line, and people kept training those lasers on me from every direction. Riding the bus was worse, since most of them now have long seats that face each other so people can stare at you head on. I wore my sunglasses for that part. But it did feel like being surrounded by crazy, unpredictable objects that were hell bent on interacting whether you like it or not. By the time I got home, I was nearly in tears. Thank God I got a chance to listen to calming music, and wind down.

Ugh, I know what you mean. I have a hard time going grocery shopping. Well, any shopping really. My stepdad and I went to Costco yesterday while we thought everyone would be in church. It seemed like half the people in Las Vegas had the same idea. Not only was it ridiculously crowded, but someone bumped into me and almost sent me into shutdown mode. It's a shame that not all stores are 24/7 or I'd do my shopping in the dead of night while everyone else was sleeping.

@Callista: Awesome tips! I'll definitely keep those in mind next time I venture away from home. Thanks for sharing those. ^_^

I could never shop on my own, but I do love to go shopping. Fortunately for me, the only time it is really busy in the stores is around Christmas. I just love going places, and it isn't even really the shopping that I like. Its almost like an adventure to go out into a store for me, I enjoy going up and down the aisles and looking at what is on the shelf. I couldn't do it alone though, as it feels awkward. If I go alone, I will browse, and unless its an electronics or games shop, I will buy something cheap just to make it look like I came for something.

The first time I went in my local Tesco after it had been made bigger I hada overload attack and sat on the floor. Staff came to assit me and give me water. I didn't want to leave as I knew I had to get used to the change. I wear earplugs in the supermarket but I have got used to the change now and the lighting.

yeah, I have to be psyched for it. You could have been going against the general flow. say right to left...

Grocery shopping can be hard for me, too. Here are some things that make it worse:

1. Bright Lights. I'm pleased that my local supermarket has turned the lights down a bit. That has made it better.

2. Music. I don't mind some of it, but a lot of the music they play in supermarkets really annoys me. "Did you ever know that you're my heeeeeeeroooooooo!! !! !! !!" It makes me really tense, and I can't focus on what I'm there for.

3. Crowds.

4. Too many flipping choices. Like, maybe I know that we need a box of Wheat Thins, but when I'm standing there in the cracker aisle, I see Low Fat Wheat Thins, Ranch Wheat Thins, No Salt Wheat Thins, Cheesy Wheat Thins, Multi-Grain Wheat Thins, Gravel Nut Wheat Thins, Parmesan Roadkill Wheat Thins. It makes my head spin, and I lose track of what I'm looking for.

5. "Helpful" employees that sneak up from behind you and shout, "HOW ARE YOU TODAY?? ARE YOU FINDING EVERYTHING OKAY?????" I prefer the stores where they just let you be.

2) really hits me... I hate the music at most of these places as it is of the genre "Mainstream my mother would listen to" Basicly, it is everything I don't wat to listen to. Give me something that has passion in the music, not something that every mother would listen to on their way to work. For that reason I am into most of the 80s rock/metal, things like Great Big Sea, and can't think of anything else, but their is alot. I also hate female singers that sing in a way that sounds like they are trying to seduce someone.

supermarket visits for me are done as quickly as possible, but im never really uncomfortable, unless i go with other people, such as my brother.

he spends aaaaa-aaaa-aaaaaaaaaa(...)aaaaaages in there, wannnnndering baaaack and foooorth, exaaaaamining the wares, picking up stuff, putting it back down, walking in circles, thinking, maybe stopping up entirely, just to stand there, and exist inside the store, in the meantime i am getting so desperate to get the hell out, i dont even know where to put myself while waiting, so i end up just defiantly standing on the spot, radiating pain and horror on everyone who walks past me (i hope)

but if i go allone, im like a lightning, on tracks, woosh pizza, woosh coke, woosh cigs, wooosh out.
i have even JOGGED (im not a jogger) in order to make everything go faster

I used to like shopping at my local Asian market. There were usually Asian people working and shopping there, and best of all, NOBODY BOTHERED ME. They usually kept their eyes averted when passing me in the aisles, or chatted with one another instead of trying to start inane topics of conversation with me. Lately, however, due to the recession, (prices are cheaper in ethnic stores) I have started seeing other Americans there. And guess what? I nearly jumped out of my skin, while I was examining a display of tea sets, and this guy came up behind me and boomed, "HOW ARE YOU DOING?" I could have cheerfully socked him on the jaw. I wanted to say, #*@&* is how I'm doing, now!" I couldn't even answer him, because I was hyperventilating.

I have an incredibally difficult time shopping. Which means of course I avoid it quite a bit and yet again go against the grain from "other women." LOL

My issues seem to be overload mainly. I become extreemly spacy as soon as I get to the store. If I go with someone else its much easier. Alone and I'm doomed to be there for hours, not because I'm having a good time, but because time seems to move so slow. I feel trapped and stuck in mollasses most of the time. Too many lights. Too many people that I always seem to be in the way of. Too many people trying to interact. Even just hearing, "Excuse me" and knowing THEY are looking at me and THEY expect a response of some form. And when I find what I'm looking for, I find a million other things too. Bread. Do I want white, wheat, rye, pumpernickel, honey, potatoe, family size, small size, day old, poppyseeds, oh donuts are here too, gotta get bread, do we need hot dog buns? Oh that bread is on sale. Oh but look at the unit price on that loaf! Count count count. How much money do I have? *panic* Do I have enough? Count again.

I literally had to stop and take a deep calming breath after just writing that last paragraph. Thats how stressful shopping is for me.

At the checkout its even worse. They talk to you there. And you have to count money, or remember pin numbers. I talk to myself under my breathe to help me remember a number I've known for years. The checkout girl says, "Hi how are you today?" and I mumble back, "Good." As I'm leaving the store it dawns on me that perhaps I was supposed to ask her how she was doing. I panic thinking I was extremely rude. In the end I rationalize that I didn't care how she was doing anyway. I just wanted to pay for my stuff and leave. So ya, I guess I was rude. I always do that in public when strangers talk to me. Practiced answer back and keep moving. DON'T LOOK THEM IN THE EYES! Head down, quick smile that means nothing and keep walking.. try not to run.

Shopping sucks.

With someone else there, I can get lost in the isles. Just touching things and daydreaming. (No, I cannot buy anything without touching it first. I just. CAN'T.)

Im terrible with supermarkets as they are far too crowded for me.

Shopping is annoying.

Most countries you can now order your groceries online and have them delivered to your door!! ! Great idea!