I Noted A Older Man Saving Money At WINCO Foods This Morning.

Remy

Remy

Well-known Member
Location
California, USA
He was in the dairy section. Took his broccoli crown out of the bag, opened his pocket knife and cut the stalk off the broccoli. The part that is essentially unusable. Don't know his income and I guess he was trying to save a little. I couldn't do this but I'm not sure I blame him.

Years ago at the same store a woman in front of me had a case of soda on the bottom part of the cart. I noted that she put her reusable bags in the cart so you couldn't see through to that bottom shelf. She didn't have multiples of this soda. I've only put one on the belt before if I had more than one heavy item, such as cat litter but I'll state "I have 2 total litter."
 
By cutting the stalk off he’s essentially buying broccoli crowns which do cost more. Overall I find it saves money in the long run to just buy the crowns, unless I’m making soup.
 
I don't know how they set up the veg. department in USA currently but in Spain, Portugal, Italy and France the supermarkets have large areas or piles of cauliflower, broccoli, onions and most people pull off the inedible leaves stalks and skins. We also get very dirty veg. I am talking mud, dirt and snails and bugs. Potatoes are often covered with dried dirt. No one would think it unusual for an older person to cut down on the weight or bulk of inedible veg. parts because most elderly will be carrying them several streets home or to get on the tram. I don't think most Americans mind either really. I heard that supermarkets have alot of veg and fruit waste and regu laarly throw much of them away.
 
Remy said:
He was in the dairy section. Took his broccoli crown out of the bag, opened his pocket knife and cut the stalk off the broccoli. The part that is essentially unusable. Don't know his income and I guess he was trying to save a little. I couldn't do this but I'm not sure I blame him.

Years ago at the same store a woman in front of me had a case of soda on the bottom part of the cart. I noted that she put her reusable bags in the cart so you couldn't see through to that bottom shelf. She didn't have multiples of this soda. I've only put one on the belt before if I had more than one heavy item, such as cat litter but I'll state "I have 2 total litter."
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Veggies in the Dairy section ?

I've seen that ruse with the stuff on the bottom of the trolley before.. and covering with bags.. nowadays our trolleys don't have bottom shelves..
british-supermarket-trolley-picture-id175437118
heavy-duty-shopping-trolley-500x500.jpg
 
Aunt Bea said:
It's sad and disturbing that petty theft is viewed as a money-saving tip.
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The woman with the soda was certainly stealing. I could be wrong on her but I don't think I was. I was right behind her and watched this play out. As far as the broccoli guy goes, I'm not saying I condone what he did, but if he's on a very, very tight budget, I could understand. And fact is, he was saving himself money by doing that.
 
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@hollydolly Oh that's interesting. I guess it's something more people will try.

I was in the dairy section getting the soy yogurt I like. He was cutting off the stalk in that area. They were not very busy but the produce section had a lot of employees around putting out produce. That may be why he went to the dairy section. To hide so to speak.
 
Murrmurr said:
Not as much as, say, 3 decades ago. Now a lot of our veggies are genetically altered or treated with chemicals to prolong their shelf life.
☹️

Personally, I'd rather see dirty potatoes.
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Agreed. But I think a lot of Americans don't want to think about where their food comes from. They want clean stuff. OMG! Dirt on my potato??? I can't eat that!!! Seriously some minds probably think like that.
 
Remy said:
Agreed. But I think a lot of Americans don't want to think about where their food comes from. They want clean stuff. OMG! Dirt on my potato??? I can't eat that!!! Seriously some minds probably think like that.
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You're probably right. Younger Americans who live in major cities have probably never seen fruits and vegetables "in the wild". They expect them to look like the pictures in ads or whatever. They shouldn't, though. I mean, when does a Big Mac ever look like the picture on the menu? At least you can wash a potato.
 
He probably went to the dairy section to remove the stem because he knew that he’d be called (caught) out for it in the produce section.
 
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