Bursting into tears in the middle of a supermarket!

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Is anyone else here prone to bursting into tears in the middle of a supermarket or am I just a wimp?

I seem to be prone to doing such a thing...but for varying reasons:

I went out today to pick up my prescription and get a few bits of shopping for the weekend (mostly the brand of chocoate ice cream I always have every saturday, which I did try to get delivered with my regular supermarket order to save me having to go out and buy some but they were sold out so...). I travelled by taxi as there is no bus service from my area today but the taxi was so late arriving to pick me up that I panicked and burst into tears.

1 Because my ice cream was melting and I was worried about it (I get upset if I don't have my usual ice cream flavour on a Saturday)

2 Because I was worried about how I was going to get home and felt stranded

3 Because the noise and lighting inside the supermarket was upsetting me and if I went outside it was a) just as noisey and b) freezing cold.

All in all it got too much and I actually stood there and cried like a 5 year old complete with a full blown verbal strop about taxis and not being able to get home.

Eventually I managed to find someone kind enough to call me another cab (I had no cab company phone numbers on me as I had mistakenly left my mobile phone at home).

It's not the first time I have burst into tears in a supermarket....the last time I burst into tears it was because they did not have my usual flavour of ice cream and now my whole saturday would be wrong or weird or ruined or whatever (I am never quite sure exactly why my saturday is not right without my usual ice cream brand. No I don't want to change flavours, no I don't want something else, no there is no fear that something bad will happen if I don't have my ice cream...my day just feels wrong without it and I miss it...it would not be my usual saturday).

The time before that it was because there was so much noise I couldn't function over it so I just dropped my shopping in the middle of the floor and stormed out.

And will they please change the lighting in those places to something that does not hurt my eyes and give me a headache! I would appreciate it!

Anyone else struggle with the supermarket?

Oh yes. Between the lights, all the stuff and trying to find what I want in the middle of all that mess, the floors with their patterns and obstacles all over the place, people and carts careening all over the place in random patterns, all the various noises, plus my daughter randomly wanting this or that that I can't afford--yeah, I'm a mess. I haven't yet had a full meltdown but it's been close.

I'm going to be a bit sexist here.

You're a woman. Men will look on ladies crying in a supermarket much more kindly than they would if there was another bloke doing it. They get protective, especially if the woman happens to be attractive.

I wouldn't worry about it. Can you not find a supermarket that is smaller and with less bright lights and noise?

I usually order in and avoid supermarkets themselves. This time though I had to go as it was the only supermarket I could get to today that sold my particular flavour and brand of ice cream.

I hate grocery shopping too. Too many people, too bright, too noisy, too much of a rush. I've dropped my basket in the middle of the floor and fled as well. The only time I actually cried was when I tried hopping over a gate with a big sign on it that said NO EXIT, and a clerk started yelling at me. Managed to scare the clerk enough that he just let me go.

Avoiding trollies and trying to find what you want are a nightmare in and of themselves, without anything else added to it lol.

Not that doesn't kill my pocketbook. I try to avoid the weird ones. I used to send the ex shopping. He'd go at weird hours when no one was around. I can't do that due to the unsavory element. Maybe I ought to dry the little one's headphones.

Wow, so they're quite a big problem for you, eh?

I'd be tempted to do that also but I don't like the privacy concerns of doing so.



Try Aldi in future or another supermarket without music and noise?

Headphones can help but I didn't have mine on me today as I had not expected to be out long. It was only supposed to be a quick trip by taxi!

I don't think there is an Aldi near me as I live in the middle of nowhere. There is only a tesco or sainsbury nearby. Also I am not sure Aldi sells belgian chocolate haagen dazs...a substitute brand or flavour is not the same! Even if the substitute brand tastes similar the texture is all wrong and vice versa lol.

Also going out to any crowded place is a problem for me this includes City Centres and City Centre shops, crowded buses, parties, pubs, clubs, resturants, cafes and so on...

I hear every single little noise like a cacaphony in my head and conversing with people in those environments can be almost impossible. I have had entire conversations with people without knowing what the hell they are talking about as I can't hear them over the back ground noise. As people get fed up with me saying "what" or "pardon" I just smile and nod and hope I smile and nod in the right places lol.

Last edited by bumble on 28 Dec 2011, 12:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I ALWAYS go to the same supermarket. As long as they haven't moved everything around (which triggers either a panic attack or crying), I can get my shopping quickly and efficiantly because I know exactly where everything is. I still struggle though with the lights, noise, crowds and ESPECIALLY the babies screaming

Ah, OK. Understood. I actually thought you lived in the United States rather than here in the UK.

I have this vision of fashionable mother/daughter attire for shopping trips. Matching or coordinating noise reduction headphones. She wants camo pink. She has animal print sunglasses. I have decent sunglasses but they don't work for reading. Must remember to turn around occassionally and reassure the store person following us that we're really not terrorists or something. Maybe even talk to somebody so I don't get the usual "Cameras on Aisle 6" call over the intercom. Oh, wait....I'm on aisle 6 and there's no one else. I've considered making a sign to plunk on the cart--I need to go outside for a minute. I'll be right back. Please don't take my cart. I don't know if we have a delivery service anywhere.

Yes I am in the UK, in a little backwoods area in Norfolk lol. But even when you live surrounded by nice quiet countryside there are tesco and sainsbury stores everywhere...although i do have to travel to the nearest market town to find one. There is only a small local shop (which is over priced and doesn't sell much of anything), a post office and a chip shop where I live.

What I can never figure out is how I can be so capable academcially etc but turn into a 10 year old child in the middle of doing my shopping! It is quite a bizarre mix of traits.

People who see me perform academically when I have my intellectual head on would never expect me to burst into tears in the middle of a shop, and people who see me burst into tears in the middle of shops seem to think I am back wards and not academically bright at all.

I am strange.

I'm in a backwoods (although try to find more than 10 trees to get a wood!) area in Bedfordshire. We too are surrounded by countryside but are very close to the A1 so it is not peaceful by any means. We haven't got ANY shops at all here which is weird. The nearest one is either a 10 minute drive to St. Neots or a two hour journey (one way!) on the bus. Needless to say I am hoping to move soon!