Well, that was awkward

HisGirlFriday13

I got back a little bit ago from the grocery store. While there, I kept bumping into a family composed of mom, dad, toddler and MIL.

MIL does not speak English. Based on DIL's interactions with MIL, DIL doesn't speak MIL's language.

Son/husband kept acting as translator, and every time DIL put something MIL didn't approve of in the cart, MIL would take it back out and rail at son/husband in their language, complete with wild gesticulations.

Son/husband would put it back and tell wife that mommy said no. Then she would yell at him in English and tell him to put his mother in her place.

They rang out behind me and she had a small basket of stuff and his mother was jabbering about it and wife told husband, 'You tell her I'm buying this with my own money and she just suck it!'

It was like a train wreck -- it made me feel bad to watch, but I couldn't look away. Andplusalso, I kept running into them in every damn aisle.

CMGragain

Ha!  MIL might speak more English than DIL thinks!  I have a basic knowledge of 4 European languages, and I do know enough to understand some of the rude comments I occasionally hear.

HisGirlFriday13

I think both of them knew more of the other person's language than they were letting on, tbh.

Whatever language they were speaking wasn't a European language I recognise -- which eliminates French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, or Russian. It also wasn't Korean, Japanese, or Chinese.

Based on the MIL's head covering and dress, I'd say they werr Middle Eastern, so the language might have been Arabic or Farsi?

Angusaur

My FMIL is a PITA but at least I can understand her when she's talking about me!

lc07

Oh, that poor couple! I feel for them. I have a MIL who is from another country and another time - it could practically be another planet.

All the best stories come from the grocery store. 

Aside from yours and my cart-stealing moment, I also recently went grocery shopping and there was a woman who looked like she had literally just stepped out of the bathroom after taking a shower. She was wearing slippers, a bathrobe - like a BATH style robe, and her hair up in a full bath towel piled on top of her head. 

It was all I could do to not take a picture to post for you guys.

HisGirlFriday13

I'm going to start staking out grocery stores and taking notes to write a novel.

lc07

I'm also fascinated by what people buy at grocery stores. It's not a judgy thing it's a I-think-that's-super-interesting thing - that a lot of us buy such different things.

HisGirlFriday13

lc07 said:

I'm also fascinated by what people buy at grocery stores. It's not a judgy thing it's a I-think-that's-super-interesting thing - that a lot of us buy such different things.

Agreed!

PennyBlossom2311

Oh my! I feel for the husband. Poor guy. I would hate being caught in the middle of that fiasco! 

singinchick13

That is absolutely hilarious!! I would not have been able to contain my laughter. People probably laugh at me, though, zigzagging through the aisles making faces and funny noises to entertain DS in his stroller. We do most of our shopping at a huge Walmart that isn't very busy, but he always manages to make friends.

hellohkb

If my DIL told my son that I can "go suck it", I'd be acting like MIL too! That's hilarious.

LadyMillil

lc07 said:

I'm also fascinated by what people buy at grocery stores. It's not a judgy thing it's a I-think-that's-super-interesting thing - that a lot of us buy such different things.

I checked out behind a guy buying strawberries, whipped cream, fancy cake, condoms and lube yesterday morning. 

wandajune6

lc07 said:

I'm also fascinated by what people buy at grocery stores. It's not a judgy thing it's a I-think-that's-super-interesting thing - that a lot of us buy such different things.

I used to make a living off of something similar during/just after grad school- we did consumer research based on loyalty card data. It was amazing how much you could learn about a person after multiple purchases!

I love watching people shop and watching what they put in their carts. I'm out of the grocery world now but still get a kick out of it!

theartistformerlyknownas

Saw this and thought of this thread.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/woman-a-leading-authority-on-what-shouldnt-be-in-p,35922/ 

lc07

cmfarr said:

lc07 said:

I'm also fascinated by what people buy at grocery stores. It's not a judgy thing it's a I-think-that's-super-interesting thing - that a lot of us buy such different things.

I checked out behind a guy buying strawberries, whipped cream, fancy cake, condoms and lube yesterday morning. 

FTW!

abbyj700

Ugh...if my FMIL tried to tell me what we could purchase at the grocery store - in any language - I would flip a nutty. And the husband telling her to put stuff back? OH HELL NAW!

APDSS22

I do all the grocery shopping.  Occasionally I allow DH to come with me, but he's really hard to shop with.  Since I do all the cooking and all the couponing, I also get to do the shopping.  If his mother were to go with us and try to tell me what I could get I would lose it.  Luckily, she likes shopping deals almost as much as I do.  People look at me like I'm crazy because of the binder, but I never pay more than 50% of an item.

lc07

APDSS22 said:

I do all the grocery shopping.  Occasionally I allow DH to come with me, but he's really hard to shop with.  Since I do all the cooking and all the couponing, I also get to do the shopping.  If his mother were to go with us and try to tell me what I could get I would lose it.  Luckily, she likes shopping deals almost as much as I do.  People look at me like I'm crazy because of the binder, but I never pay more than 50% of an item.

I am so impressed, @APDSS22 . My sister is an amazing couponer. I haven't grasped it fully yet and don't have a system down. I still struggle with the time it takes me to do it vs what $ I could make in that time (I'm self-employed). I'm sure, like anything, it just takes practice and I would get quicker at it over time.

ktjanesmom

Sounds like "mommy" may have been paying.  Certainly odd though.

APDSS22

lc07 said:

APDSS22 said:

I do all the grocery shopping.  Occasionally I allow DH to come with me, but he's really hard to shop with.  Since I do all the cooking and all the couponing, I also get to do the shopping.  If his mother were to go with us and try to tell me what I could get I would lose it.  Luckily, she likes shopping deals almost as much as I do.  People look at me like I'm crazy because of the binder, but I never pay more than 50% of an item.

I am so impressed, @APDSS22 . My sister is an amazing couponer. I haven't grasped it fully yet and don't have a system down. I still struggle with the time it takes me to do it vs what $ I could make in that time (I'm self-employed). I'm sure, like anything, it just takes practice and I would get quicker at it over time.

I've been doing it hardcore for over a year now.  Luckily, I make a steady paycheck so I have the same amount guaranteed for a two week period.  I also have a couple of good websites that put together deals and my local grocery store not only doubles coupons up to $1 but also gives fuel rewards.  It gets easier the longer you do it because you know what a good deal for your area/particular store is on an item and you can anticipate when to buy more and when to hold off.  Good luck with your couponing!

lc07

APDSS22 said:

lc07 said:

APDSS22 said:

I do all the grocery shopping.  Occasionally I allow DH to come with me, but he's really hard to shop with.  Since I do all the cooking and all the couponing, I also get to do the shopping.  If his mother were to go with us and try to tell me what I could get I would lose it.  Luckily, she likes shopping deals almost as much as I do.  People look at me like I'm crazy because of the binder, but I never pay more than 50% of an item.

I am so impressed, @APDSS22 . My sister is an amazing couponer. I haven't grasped it fully yet and don't have a system down. I still struggle with the time it takes me to do it vs what $ I could make in that time (I'm self-employed). I'm sure, like anything, it just takes practice and I would get quicker at it over time.

I've been doing it hardcore for over a year now.  Luckily, I make a steady paycheck so I have the same amount guaranteed for a two week period.  I also have a couple of good websites that put together deals and my local grocery store not only doubles coupons up to $1 but also gives fuel rewards.  It gets easier the longer you do it because you know what a good deal for your area/particular store is on an item and you can anticipate when to buy more and when to hold off.  Good luck with your couponing!

I think I just need to start somewhere. It seems like an overwhelming concept but I'm sure I've just built it up in my head to be harder than it is. I make a decent amount of money. I guess I just wonder that if it took me 2 extra hours to coupon and go to different stores, that in that same amount of time I could make more money working than I would have saved, KWIM?

APDSS22

lc07 said:

APDSS22 said:

lc07 said:

APDSS22 said:

I do all the grocery shopping.  Occasionally I allow DH to come with me, but he's really hard to shop with.  Since I do all the cooking and all the couponing, I also get to do the shopping.  If his mother were to go with us and try to tell me what I could get I would lose it.  Luckily, she likes shopping deals almost as much as I do.  People look at me like I'm crazy because of the binder, but I never pay more than 50% of an item.

I am so impressed, @APDSS22 . My sister is an amazing couponer. I haven't grasped it fully yet and don't have a system down. I still struggle with the time it takes me to do it vs what $ I could make in that time (I'm self-employed). I'm sure, like anything, it just takes practice and I would get quicker at it over time.

I've been doing it hardcore for over a year now.  Luckily, I make a steady paycheck so I have the same amount guaranteed for a two week period.  I also have a couple of good websites that put together deals and my local grocery store not only doubles coupons up to $1 but also gives fuel rewards.  It gets easier the longer you do it because you know what a good deal for your area/particular store is on an item and you can anticipate when to buy more and when to hold off.  Good luck with your couponing!

I think I just need to start somewhere. It seems like an overwhelming concept but I'm sure I've just built it up in my head to be harder than it is. I make a decent amount of money. I guess I just wonder that if it took me 2 extra hours to coupon and go to different stores, that in that same amount of time I could make more money working than I would have saved, KWIM?

Yeah, I'd start with flipping through the coupons when you get the grocery ad and matching coupons with items for sale in the grocery ad for the store you already go to.  Then maybe build up to searching couponing websites like thekrazycouponlady.com and using their online coupon database to spread your coupon web.  Stock up on a few things you use frequently like deodorant, rice, etc. that have a long shelf life.  (How great would it be to run out of deodorant and have an extra one already in the house?)  Don't stress yourself out about it too much, just save a couple extra bucks here and there and work it up a little at a time. 

I have a rule that I can visit the grocery store and Target right next to my work however many times I want on days I work because I'm not wasting gas.  In order to go to Walgreens or CVS I either have to have something else to do out there (I gas up my car at the cheapest place, which is out by the CVS and the hardware store my husband goes to for building his furniture is out by the Walgreens) or it has to be a moneymaker deal.  I never get something that I have no use for (like baby products) and I give my cat product coupons to my husband's coworker who has two cats.  Other than TK, it's pretty much my only hobby.