Grocery stores should be straightforward places, right? We go in, we pick up our groceries, we pay, we leave, we go home, we cook our food... and that's the end of that until the next shopping trip. We surely don't expect to run into anything downright unprofessional or just gross? Right?
Well, nothing is sacred, as we learned after today's burning question from Redditor Catnip_Tea, who asked the online community: "What are some dark secrets about grocery stores?"
"I worked at a chain grocery store..."
I worked at a chain grocery store years ago. We had this awful smell down one particular isle. The manager never wanted to investigate and would just say something must have spilled. She even went as far to have us hang air fresheners on the shelves to mask the smell. Several years later the store underwent a remodel where isles were moved. They found a giant rats nest under the shelving unit of this particular isle. It was one of the most disgusting things ever. Once they cleaned it out the smell finally resolved.
"No idea what was in it..."
I worked at a "heath food grocery" in Florida when I was in college. About 90% of the money the store made was from supplements, not food. The food was to get people to come in and do all of their shopping at one place. Also, we had a semi-secret, cash only product kept in the back office that was a drink to help you pass drug tests. No idea what was in it, but I sold at least 20 bottles per week.
"The only thing..."
The only thing that washes a shopping cart is rain. We do haul trash bags in them.
Often times the customer trash cans are just mixed because the janitor sure as hell isn't digging out that bottle you thew in the compost. Everything just goes in the dumpster.
Most of the time the rewards cards did nothing at the chain I worked at.
"Worked as a night stocker..."
Worked as a night stocker and checker at a Kroger and the number one stolen thing was meat. Every night all over the store you find open packages of meat hidden everywhere or just checked under shelves.
"At least..."
I did service desk, and the meat and cheese returns angered me the most.
Those big strips of pork ribs or brisket are easy to slide under a coat or pants. They ring in at just under $20, so people know you have to take them back. I heard every iteration of "oh we didn't need it, but it's still cold!" Even so, it's going in the trash.
At least the batteries or cosmetics I can just put back on the shelf.
"Apples can be stored..."
GiphyApples can be stored in proper conditions for close to a year and still be sold at the supermarket.
So that apple you're buying in May is most likely from sometime the year prior.
"Grocery store managers..."
Grocery store managers are very prone to being bribed by businesses when it comes to slot space.
I was talking with a coworker at a part time furniture store job I had a few years back. Guy was retired and used to manage grocery stores.
I ask him about it and he starts talking about all the free sh!t he got from Coke, Pepsi, Nestle, all sorts of big companies. They would offer him free Falcons tickets, flights to resorts all over the place, etc.
Why? Because when they offered him this stuff he gave them more space on the shelves. Coke wants 5 feet more shelf space? Sure thing, just send me some tickets to see the Eagles next Saturday!
Even when companies started cracking down on it they'd just send gifts to his family.
"I work in retail bakery."
I work in retail bakery. We don't make anything from scratch. Everything comes in frozen. We just bake it or thaw them out before putting them on the shelves. Cakes are pre-made we just put icing and decorations. Lots of customers don't like that our products are kept in the freezer.
"We waste..."
We waste A LOT of food.
Quality inspectors at grocery warehouses tear open bags, cut open fruits and veggies, and stick thermometers in meat and chicken. That all gets thrown away.
When meat products especially are above a certain temperature, they get discarded too. I was once responsible for getting rid of over $100,000 worth of meat due to temperature.
Made the warehouse discard $10,000 worth of strawberries that went moldy in the warehouse. Didn't even get to the store.
"Most big chain supermarkets..."
Most big chain supermarkets have really shoddy buying practices. The big one is for anything that is prone to spoilage, they'll leave it sit at the warehouse until it starts to rot then claim "spoilage" and negotiate for cheaper prices. The growers have no choice but to accept the lower price and the store pays 16 year olds minimum wage to go through all of the produce and remove the rotten ones.
Rotten watermelons are fucking foul.
"They had a specific night..."
GiphyMy first job was working at a grocery store. A few weeks before a planned ad launched, the stock team would reprice the items in the ads and mark them up, so the sales price was only a few cents less than the original, non-sale price. They'd do this in advanced and cycle through the store marking up items before they went on sale, then shortly after the sale went off, the prices would be lowered again. They had a specific night a week where the stock team would stay overnight to reprice everything.
"And just to make it clear..."
This is more of a dark secret of store waste but...
A good deal of grocery stores, not all, have to throw out bulk if you put it into the bags but don't buy it. Like if you scoop some gummy bears into a bag, for example, and get to the till and say you don't want it now, it gets thrown out because it could have been tampered with.
Also any form of "Pharmacy" product that is consumed (vitamins for example) or used for healing wounds, think neosporin and the like gets thrown out because it could be tampered with, if you return it.
And just to make it clear I'm talking about stuff that is sealed on return, no store will put any of this back on the shelf if they are opened, well no non-shady store at least, lol.
"There is a reason..."
I have worked in grocery stores for about 18 years. With 10 of them being in management. There are too many to list so I will give a couple. I would say 95 - 98% of customer complaints just get ignored. Almost every time someone will give you your money back just so you come back and spend more money. When you say you will never come back. We don't believe you.
Most grocery stores have a net profit of about 2-3%. The really good ones can get up around 10% (although rare). Just think about that. There is a reason you don't see enough registers open when you shop. Labor is the #1 controllable expense.
I personally never use self check because they are taking a job from another person. Plus they breakdown easily and I have had to fix them too many times.
There is a reason why things are in specific places in most stores. Like fresh produce right when you walk in, or dairy all the way in the back corner of the store. Ever wonder why sugary kids cereals are on the bottom shelves? Its so kids see them.
There are so many tricks grocery stores use to get you to buy more items. This isn't even the tip of the iceberg.
"I would highly advise you..."
I would highly advise you to refrain from getting anything in bulk from the "scoop" bins. Only get it if it's in the pull down gravity bins.
I've seen so many bare hands grabbing items from those things.
Nuts are expensive, and I've seen "contained" items taken to the back and brought right back out after it's been "dumped and replaced."
"I used to work..."
I used to work in a regional chain in the meat department. It wasn't too bad but there was this one practice that bothered me.
Never. Ever. Ever. Buy 80% or less ground beef. In our store all they did is toss all the waste trimmings into the meat grinder, with a sirloin steak for color.
"At my store..."
At my store we use the shopping carts to carry our garbage (small ones and big ones). Because of how cheap our bags are we usually have leakages (especially in our deli). I cringe every time I see someone throwing a non covered item into a cart, like a fruit or something.
"Worked for a grocery store..."
Worked for a grocery store for 5 years, also had friends that worked in different stores and the thing that all these stores have in common is that all of them have rats and cockroaches.
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.