Autism at the supermarket

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I don't mind grocery shopping too much, although I strongly prefer going when they're not really busy. I sometimes get frustrated when stuck behind people who seem to be caught in slow motion - I just want to get in, get what I need, and get out. I seem to move a lot faster in stores than the majority of people.

Also, what is it with people who will pick up stuff in crinkly packaging and stand there rotating and massaging it noisily for 5 minutes while they look it over? It makes me want to snatch it from them and ask whether they need someone to read it for them.

WP USERS R f****n RETRDED

I don't mind supermarkets, but I do get avoidant of them if they are too busy. Mostly children make me uneasy, because toddlers seem to hate the supermarket and they express that by screaming at the top of their lungs, and older children are always messing around and are very distracting.

Also people annoy me when they seem to think that they are the only ones in the whole supermarket, and they carelessly step backwards into you.

Smells, lights and sounds don't bother me at all, the only sounds that bother me in the supermarket are kids that have a set of lungs on them, and workers banging boxes and crates together.

But I am not like the person in the video though. I can communicate verbally, and if I get stressed I just hide it, or perhaps casually move away if too many strangers are standing too near. If there's a noise that upsets me I just either ignore it or glare at the noise and walk away.

I hate it if I've run into a crowded time or that's the only time I could go. I don't mind it at all if I've managed to go at a quiet time.

My local place doesn't play music at all, except toward Christmas, then they blast Christmas songs way too loud, and I hate that.

If it's not busy, I can actually enjoy the experience of systematically going around with my shopping list. I also quite like to browse things that are not on my list, mostly in the non-food aisles. My local supermarket has a small clothing section, office supplies, homeware, books, movies etc, and I enjoy looking even if I don't buy. Then I get on with the rest of my food shopping from my list.

Things I don't like, similar to already mentioned by others, are when people are oblivious and step back into you, walk into you, or park their shopping cart right across the aisle, blocking it. Or when entire families are shopping and spread themselves all over the aisle so that nobody can proceed past them. I realize it's not always an option to leave kids at home but I would like it if parents did what my mother did which was to make me mindful of not physically being in people's way. People stand around or walk with no mind to leaving space for others to do the same, these days, or to go in single file if they can see others need to pass through. It's just a simple courtesy but it's a lost art.

I also HAAAATE it when I'm picking something off the shelf and an arm just suddenly shoves itself right past my face. It's a shock and the rudeness never escapes me. People these days don't even say a simple "Excuse me" or "I'm sorry, just need to get that". They just silently stand one inch away from you and shove their arm around your face to get their item, without saying a word. No manners.

I've become sort of desensitized to stores, though the fluorescent lighting exhausts my eyes. Supermarkets are actually sort of bleached to my eyes because of the way they're lit.
FYE is actually worse to shop at than the big supermarkets because they play their music too loud. On the bright side, that's how I discovered Crystal Method. Best driving music ever.
Barnes and Noble, if it's not crowded, is the only store I could stay in forever. It's usually lit more softly than most stores and the smell of books is so calming.

I get what I need and leave as fast as I can.

I really, really hate supermarkets. I think they're like a little microcosm of everything that's bad about humankind. Like when people put their trolley away in the trolley bay; do they slide it into the previous trolley and leave every neat for the next person to come along? No, they throw the trolley in any which way. After several of these, everything gets tangled and it screws everyone else up (I'll tidy them up when I take mine back as I hate to see the mess). Then there are the people who treat it like a social event and stand around in groups, chatting and blocking the aisles. The cashiers who pass everything through the scanner as fast as possible without caring if you can keep up with bagging your food. People dawdling and browsing - why! a***holes who take the disabled parking spaces (which I need for my wife) for their crappy 4w-drive monsters and force me to drive around and around until one becomes free. People who seem to forget that they need to pay for things and spend 10 minutes searching for their purse/wallet. People leaving their trolleys, unattended, in the middle of the aisle while they disappear to get something. The noise, the tannoy, the lights, the way they move the stock around every few weeks to mess with my Ch'i. Argh!

I always take a list (I have a planned menu for the week on a whiteboard at home). I know the prices because I generally buy the same things each week and quickly scan offers to see if something is cheaper. I put everything in my trolley in order and I then put the shopping on the conveyor in order so I can bag things correctly (yes, I am that anal) - that is if the cashier doesn't act like a dick and scan things out of sequence on purpose (the other day I had cartons of orange juice lined up in front, behind those some bottles of cider and behind those a box of wine. The cashier scanned them in this order: oj, cider, oj, wine, cider, oj - she actually reached behind things to mess with me!). I then leave as fast as possible. I can get a week's worth of shopping for a family of four in 10 minutes if there's no queue at the checkout.

Supermarkets are full of laziness, inconsideration and I hate them. Rant over

too many people, strong odors, bright lights, disorienting and people at the check outs try to make small talk with you. just let me buy my stuff and leave.

Thanks for sharing my video.

Can't cope with super markets at all, or any social situation for that case.So frustrating