Anyone have trouble going to the supermarket?

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I cannot go to a supermarket on my own because each time I do go to one on my own, nothing goes smoothly, and I know it's because I have a fear of crowds. It's always busy in Tesco, with horrible brats screaming and older kids running around and teenage girls giggling and me getting in everyone's way where ever I go and people staring at me....it's all too overwhelming for me, and it can't be ignored since I don't have a filter system built in my brain.

Anyone else feel the same? Nobody can feel worse than me because I think I'm the most agitated, self-conscious, paranoid person in the world.

Is there a 24 hour Tesco near you? If you go during off hours like late at night or early in the morning you may be able to find a time when the store is nearly empty. I used to shop after 8PM!

I cannot go to the supermarket because im lazy... If i'm out of food i get a friend to drive me so i don't have to carry all that food and coke home. FMLaziness.

I hate supermarkets, my husband thinks it an excuse not to do the shopping. it stresses me out hate it hate it. Don't think it would matter what time.

I almost never go shopping before midnight. I have found that at night the stores are much more Aspie friendly than during the day. Much less people and the ones you do run in to tend to restocking the store so they generally leave you alone. I'd very much recommend going in after hours if it's a possibility for you.

There are a lot fewer people at supermarkets late at night, and that does help.

However, yes I have issues still. People smoking by the door, people inside after smoking, cleaners, its all too much, and I tend to always leave the store with a headache. It'd be even worse if I didn't tend to do my shopping between 9 pm and 2 am. Sometimes I can't go to the store and need my boyfriend to do it, sometimes I can make do if I'm rushing as much as I can to get through the store.

I can only go for a short time. 15 minutes or less.

I've found out that wearing sunglasses can help somewhat.

I'll only shop during slow periods or go to smaller merchants who often have better produce. In my city, you can order groceries online and have everything delivered to your door, and sometimes it's a better option. I'll also order certain bulk items online from places like Amazon.

When I was a teen, I was encouraged/forced to work part time. Pulling weeds was OK, but those six months as a supermarket cashier was a nightmare.

Well its usually not too bad if its not too crowded...but some days the last thing I would want to do is try and go to the grocery store or wherever else.

I get overwhelmed when shopping. Part of it is the noise and part is the array of things on the shelves. If I am getting anything new or different, I need to read labels which can make shopping trips last forever. Luckily I have a service dog to help me when I tune out, which is my reaction to being overwhelmed.

I get stressed by the big mainstream supermarkets, and I avoid going until I absolutely have to. I miss my little food co-op.

No you are not paranoid, supermarkets are stressful places to be. I avoid shopping on weekends if I can possibly help it, or when school lets out, usually, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. is pretty decent. Not many people shopping, just staff restocking the shelves. You can wheel your cart around freely, select what you need, get in, get out, fast. Cannot guarantee there won't be some crying babies but most of the time it is a pretty calm place and time to shop.

Forget about the Big Box stores, I hate Costco. And I don't know how it is where you live but I love the self check out option, no cashier to deal with, and usually faster. I also prefer the same supermarket, I know where all the food items are that I buy regularly. It was a major trauma when the store decided to redesign the floor one time. If you are a night owl then I guess after 9 p.m. would be good too.

And yes there are days I would rather eat pasta, again, then go to the supermarket.....

Well I am so weird - today I needed to get some milk and a couple of other bits but I didn't want to go to the local supermarket so I caught the bus and got the bits I needed in the food stores at the airport!

OK, I'll tell you why. The bus ride is only a 10-minute journey to the airport, I love my bus-driver (and he loves me now), and the airport may be busier than a supermarket but is much bigger so people aren't right up close to you, and nobody's got big trolleys wheeling into you, and they're mostly rushing because they've got planes/coaches/buses/trains to catch, and they're all stressed and haven't got time to judge me or anything, and babies are normally asleep already because they know they've got a lot of travelling to come/had a lot of travelling, and most people at the airport are foreign anyway and so you won't really see them again if you do do something stupid, and ironically it's much easier than the supermarkets.

I have no problem with crowds of strangers.
It's crowds of people who know me that keep me away.

I'm not as stressed as Joe90 by it, but I do try to shop when there's not a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd (hate shopping anywhere during pre-Christmas season).

I do agree with the most recent poster, piroflip, that a crowd of strangers is much easier to ignore than a crowd of people who know me and with whom I'm expected to interact. Chitchat at the checkout is no real problem, because I'll never have to see that person and be expected to recognize them again.

But I still don't want to be _too_ crowded by strangers, plus there's almost always somebody in my WalMart, just one person maybe two, popping up unexpectedly shopping, whom I'm expected to know. But I can take that much, as long as I _do_ recognize them, because I don't want to be totally disappeared from my circle of acquaintances, like to know they're still in the world. I really hate hearing that somebody I remember with affection died two years ago, and I hadn't known it, or had a lot of trouble I might have been able to help with, and I hadn't known it.

I kind of like it. I have my list prepared before I go so it's almost fun like a scavenger hunt. Checkout is a bit more stressful but as others have said strangers don't bother me as much as people who expect me to interact with them.