Is hating to Shop an Aspie Thing?

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The doctor that diagnosed me said most people with AS hate shopping.

I love it on the other hand. It's to me like jumping off a bridge is to a thrill seeker - but
when it gets too busy, loud or uncomfortable - I just want to get out of there.

I hate Shopping. I don't like the clothes that they make for Young Women. I'm not very interested in the things that they sell in Department Stores. The only Stores that I'm interested in, are Hobby Stores and Large-Scale Antique Shops. I wonder why?

Someone mentioned sensory input. I think that is a lot of what bothers me inmost any stores.
The lighting. The horrid music. People with phones. People without phones that clog up the isle. Whiny kids. Running around kids with no parents in sight making noises or getting in trouble.
My son (who I also think has aspergers) and my daughter come with me and help because they know I hate doing it and do it as fast as I can.
My son gives me a look and a laugh when some screechy kid is in the next aisle over and I blanch(?) visibly.
The only stores I don't have problems with are bookstores and hardware stores. I can wander in those for a long time.

Shopping is horrible for me most of the time...
I just stand there with my Mum going "Isn't this a nice top, do you want to try it?"
And I'm just there thinking "No I don't like it this shop is terrible the clothes are for teenage bimbos and if that person keeps talking on that phone for much longer then I'll-".... We cut off there.
However, when I get to shop on my own it's fun, because there's this shop in town that has clothes that I actually like.... That, and I always go to the games shop.
That sensory thing is bang on, though, there are certain things that just drive me insane.
My worst one has to be the sound of people whispering.... It's just.... not..... RIGHT!! !!

I'm with cockneyrebel on that one. I love hitting yard sales, thrift stores, antique shops, estate sales and other secondhand places looking for a good bargain on some neat old gadget. My favorite stuff to find at these sales is old TV's and radios, and other electronics. Photography gear, and old appliances are neat stuff to get at yard sales too.

I usually end up buying the stuff, taking it apart, tweaking and repairing it, and having fun with it. After getting it working, I'll use it for a while, get bored with it and sell it, and start the process back over again with another basket case machine

I rarely get anywhere near as much enjoyment for the buck with new stuff from the mall that I get with old stuff like that!

With two exceptions, I hate shopping.

I hate the crowds, the noise, the hustle and bustle, the noise, the bright lights, the children running around like tazmanian devils on speed.

There is one used bookstore I like. Once or twice a week, I'm the first person in the door when they open and by the time it gets busy, I'm outta there. There is one thrift store I like because it seems to attract the sort of clothes I like, and because my mother works there. She will let me in a few minutes before they open (she actually does that for a lot of her "special needs" customers. She got permission from the head office to do so.) and if I start to get overwhelmed, she'll let me hide in her office for a bit. Those are the only two stores I like.

I hate grocery shopping. I want a replicator for my kitchen! I usually take an NT relative, too. It's generally one of my brothers or my mum. None of my female relatives actually like shopping with me. My shopping style has been described as a search and destroy mission. I know what I want, I don't browse, I make a list, and if it's not in stock or I can't find it, I don't get it. One of the reasons I love my parents is when they're going to Costco, or Target or whatever, one of them usually calls me to see if I want anything, and I can just go pick it up at their house. I pay them back of course, but those two stores have lots of stuff I want, but are very hard for me to shop in. BTW, my family RAWKS.

i don't like shopping unless its something i want or have been looking forward to getting.

I don't mind shopping for groceries too much - except the checkout. There's something about the whole process of interacting with cashiers that drives me buggy. They installed some automated checkout machines at one of the supermarkets here, but they are far worse - first, they announce everything, loudly, and second, often something goes wrong and you have to get one of the assistants which defeats the whole purpose. I do get really annoyed when I go to the grocery store with my wife ... I make her decide everything we're going to get before we go because I don't stop, I grab everything I need in about 5 minutes flat and proceed to checkout. I start to go crazy if we stall to compare products and such.

Love bookstores, and hobby stores, except I hate Chapters.

I simply don't shop for clothes etc. I have no fashion sense anyways. My wife does that, she enjoys shopping (which she does almost entirely online or via a Sears mail order outlet, she's not terribly keen on malls herself).

For some inexplicable reason I don't mind Canadian Tire much (I'm not sure what the American or British equivalent is; they have bicycles, fans, gardening stuff, televisions and hardware and lighting and automotive stuff - it is sort of like a department store, but it is not, there are no clothes for instance, except maybe some overalls and things like that. They have big, wide aisles and it is generally darker colours and cool temperature at the CT).

The worst, worst, worst of all are dollar stores and Wal-Marts. I went to Wal-Mart once, I will never go again.

Edited in: Just wanted to ask, does anyone else experience a real nervousness and sense of discomfort at the cash register? I get this everywhere, even in stores that I do like (used bookstores for instance)

Well, you know, it still depends on your personality and your interests. So it may or may not be an Aspie thing, depending on what you love and hate to be shopping for.

Grocery shopping is not even always the same result for me. Usually I hate it, but thats also because usually when I have been asked to tag along, I am not feeling well, or I'm sleepy, or I have a mind fog and can't think of anything I want, etc. But many times, when I go to the store thats right near my house, I enjoy it. See, they were supposed to build this small outer mall near my place and it became like a big joke. I think they had to stop for a long time cause they didn't have funding. And I was thinking they cancelled and were never gonna build that mall and that grocery store. But a few months ago, they finished! so it was exciting to actually be in there and it was a really different grocery store. Clean, polite, and lots of different choices. Whenever I go in that one, I'm always alone, and they have alot of organic foods and I'm trying to eat better now, so I shop with this feeling of indepedance and pride of what I'm buying, so its a good experience.

Ofcourse grocery shopping overall I find very boring and I don't really like it. It's also very hard to be in there and stop yourself from buying all sorts of treats they have in there.

Clothes and shoe shopping I absolutely DREAD. It feels almost like 'what did I do to deserve this?' I don't know what I like, and nothing ever fits, its all for very skinny girls these days. I make it a rule that I absolutely REFUSE to go clothes shopping on my birthday because that will be sure to make me upset. However shopping for videogames and related electronics I LOVE it, and I find myself in those kind of stores really more often than necessary. I don't usually find something to buy though, I'm surprised I don't want to buy that stuff all that often. But I love when I find sales on it.

But ultimately, I like shopping - going to the mall because, I have no idea where to go! If it wasn't for the mall and appointments, I would never leave the house. Shopping gives me an opportunity to meet someone, although it hasn't ever happened. But atleast I'm out there.

Ever since he was little, my son could never quite handle grocery stores. At first it was meltdowns, then it was extremely hyper behavior. I think it would be an Aspie thing IF there are sensory issues involved too. He can handle some stores, but not others and almost never a grocery store. Since there are times when we have no choice, he actually came up with a good solution (after scaring me half-to-death when he disappeared) - when he's overwhelmed he will go outside and find a bench or quiet place to sit and wait for me to finish. In a grocery store, he'll find the magazines and read.

Funny about WalMart - that's where we lost him. But he can handle Target - lighting? displays? Shelf height? I don't know, but we were with a friend who needed to stop there and sure enough, we finally found him heading for the front door.

I would buy something that would be useful. Too cool to care.

I don't hate shopping, I just generally don't do it often mainly because of lack of money to spend and all.

I don't know what Target is like. Wal-Mart drives me bonkers because there are too many people, the aisles are so narrow, and the colours and lighting are so bright and piercing. I only went to Wal-Mart once, and it was quite literally Hell on Earth for me. If Target has wider aisles, the colours are more subdued, and/or the density of people is less, it would be easier for me so it might be for him too.

Here's a pic of the interior of a Canadian Tire, which I feel relatively at ease in:

http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~srivast/lab/ ... 01tire.jpg

Note the lighting is low, the shelves are very tall and give a sort of sheltering feeling, and the colours are all very subdued and not terribly brilliant.

Compare with this pic of the visual riot of colours and light in a Wal-Mart aisle:

http://www.nobelsoftware.com/vedci/imag ... almart.jpg

I actually quite like buying new stuff, but I find the process of going out and buying stuff a bit of a chore most of the time.

I usually end up getting distracted by stuff I'm interested in rather than what I should be buying.

Bookstores are usually good because they are quiet and not too crowded, which are qualities I appreciate in a shop.

you descibed my son to a tee.. this was my ealy indications that he had some sort of stimulation issues. since I was a single mom for many years before I met my husband I had to lug him to the grocery store. he would be crazy there and then after.. one man told me that he was upset that they took away spanking privledges for parents.. i was off the deep end because my son was off the deep end also.. so I turned around to him with a horrible rage inside of me and told him it was because stressed out parents would want to kill people like you for giving them your unwanted advice. I do think its an aspie thing but also for people who can not handle sensory overload.. it is very hard to be a little person in the grocery store and your mom makes you go.. he is not much better now and he is 9. he hates to be in there and can not stand the loud noise and not to mention the smells of certain foods such as fish..

not all woman like to shop.. i don't mind the grocery store but I despise the malls.. not to mention I don't think you ever get good deals there.. my speed.. the outlets.. it all open but most of the time we have to travel to get there.. but I enjoy the hunt of shoping in the outlets and know that i get more for my money than in those big malls.... PS I also can not stand the riff raff that hangs out on the malls and have no adult supervision..