Autism at the supermarket

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what is supermarket- grocery store trip like for you? isn't it loud and noisy and colorful? also they have COOKIES who resists those?



video is by autisticNintendofan not mine...

in grocery stores are you able to talk or point to foodstuffs? is it hard for you, such a noisy trip?

I really don't like grocery shopping, but I'm better at it than my mum, since I can be done in a half an hour or so.

I like the grocery store a little. It's more I have mixed emotions on it. I enjoy shopping for the food itself but sometimes I feel awkward when multiple people are maneuvering in narrow aisles. I usually feel this way when I'm in any place with a lot of people around. I like it on the rare occasion when there is less people there. I feel very self-conscious to be in other people's way but maybe that's just me. I try my best to not be but sometimes it can't be helped.

I go during off hours, usually Thursday nights after work. I love grocery stores. I just find them amusing, and everything is organized. So as long as it's not busy, like on the weekend, I'm fine. The checkout can be a chore, though.

Also, it can be annoying when other consumers just stare at what they're thinking of buying. I feel like the other customers have never been in a store before. They always seem oblivious to anyone else coming down the aisle, as if they don't go there and buy the same stuff every week.

I work at a grocery store, and yes it can be a bit noisy and overwhelming. I will give some advice if you want to go when it's a little more quiet and you want to avoid too many people:

The busiest hours are usually about noon to 1:30 PM and 4-7 PM. Avoid those hours if you don't like all the noise and the crowds. Also avoid going on weekends if possible; if you do, stick to the morning.

A lot of people try to guess which line will go fastest. It will usually be the one with fewer people, even if someone has a somewhat bigger order. It takes time to process the transaction, so unless the checker has nobody bagging for them or some little old lady is buying $300 worth of cookies it's usually best to just go for the shortest line.

The reason why people look at things and think of what they are buying is because they have to compare prices and look at them, not everyone is rich. I actually found out that some people are so wealthy, they don't even have to look at the prices and compare products and the quantity to figure out what is cheaper. That was new for me.

As for me, if I know what I am buying I can get out of there fast. My husband does most of the grocery shopping so he goes and shops and I pick him up. I am one of those as*hole shoppers because I tend to block everything out and not pay attention to my surroundings so I cut people off in stores, get in their way, etc. That is why I am more patient with others who don't get out of my way when shopping and then they have the aisle blocked with their cart and not move it. Maybe they are also like me and so intuned into what they are doing, they are not paying attention what goes on around them. They are just there and know what they want and focus on it they can't do both at once so I don't assume they're rude people.

One thing I avoid is self checkouts, I always mess up on those and I have no patience for them and you have to wait for a store employee, so annoying so I would rather deal with a cashier than with a machine that acts up because I goofed up or found it confusing. I would have to deal with a human anyway but at least at the checkout I don't have to wait on any employee to assist me.

It's okay. I just get my stuff and leave.

The only problem arises if there are many cars in the parking lot. I don't like to have to wait for parking.

I don't know anymore.
Loud noises and chaos almost never bothered me anymore, and I'm barely coping. I don't even try ignoring everything around me. Even if it's the public wet market.

I just need my glasses just to read aisles and find things. Otherwise, I'll end up bugging employees with directions.


The worst thing happened to me in a supermarket was more than 13 years ago - I got lost. Twice during the same year.

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I shop at Sprouts Market (think an affordable version of Whole Foods). I like it especially because it is usually quiet, no blaring music, few shoppers in the morning and some great food.

At the Kroger family of stores here in Utah, it is often the opposite of Sprouts -- autism-wise.

I don't have any issues with self-checkouts. They've been a bit of a godsend for me, but the ones at our local supermarket are only really suitable if you have just a few items.

It's the situations at the cashier-controlled checkouts that make my blood boil. Whichever one I'm queuing at, there's usually a holdup caused either by a cashier who can't operate the till properly, or an item which won't scan, or a customer who queries a price. The cashiers are also painfully slow in scanning the goods, and spend far too long yakking to the customers, or to each other. Finally, after the customer has spent two or three minutes waiting for all the purchases to be scanned, only then does he or she decide to start rummaging around trying to find some cash, or a bank-card, rather than having it at the ready.

Quite often when I'm in this particular supermarket, I can't help thinking of the George Romero film Dawn Of The Dead', in which a horde of murderous zombies takes over a shopping centre.

I sometimes think the entire town I live in is the set of a Romero film....

Big list and unusual items sometimes trigger the failure fear of getting the wrong thing.

My wife is very accepting of my attemps which are more successful than not.

I used to make frequent phone calls to check.
Anyone's use online ordering to at store pick up at places like Wal-Mart.

I don't mind it so much, if anything bothers me it is check out.

I dont mind grocery shopping as long as it is for myself only. I go at times when there arent much people (15 minutes before they close, monday morning when everybody is on their way to work, something like that). I usually eat and drink the same things so i know where the things i need are and i am in & out very fast.

It gets super frustrating tho if i need to shop for someone else or if i need to go to an unknown grocery store. I run around like i never have been shopping ever because the list i asked for ofcourse isnt ordered to a walking pattern that makes sense. I overlook things right before me, i get lost and sometimes get anxious. And even with a list i am sure to get something wrong or in wrong quantity... Or when they rearrange the shelves in a known place, i want to tear everything down when they do that...

Peace
TK

Sometimes I bring my harmonica and do impromptu blues songs about shopping, long lines or they moved stuff AGAIN at Walmart.

^That sounds fun. I probably wouldn't do something like that, since I wouldn't want to bother anyone.