These Are Your Biggest Grocery Store Pet Peeves

Going to the grocery store should be fun. I mean, it’s a warehouse-sized building filled with every food you could ever dream of eating, from alphabet soup to Zebra Cakes. But, let’s be real. Going to the grocery store can be a big ol’ pain in the hole for a variety of reasons. Why do shopping carts always have a bum wheel? Why is management forever rearranging things? Seriously, it’s enough to make you wonder why all grocery stores don’t have bars (they should, by the way). In this spirit, we asked our followers on X (formerly Twitter), “What is your grocery store pet peeve?” Read these responses. We think you’ll relate.

The Ol’ Switcheroo

“When they move around things randomly. Like I could have sworn that my sun dried diced tomatoes were in the same aisle as last time. 😡” —@kendra_castro

Stop. Rearranging. Aisles. We beg of you!

The Cart Clean Out

“When people decide they don’t want an item and just leave it anywhere in the store … extra annoyance points when it is meat or frozen goods left in other areas.” —@Rogue_Jedi_Theo

I think about this ALL THE TIME. How do I know the frozen chicken I’m buying wasn’t abandoned somewhere else in the store at some point?? Anyway, it’s always fun to have fresh new things to worry about. Thanks, inconsiderate people!

The Oblivious Shopper

“When people just stand in the middle of the aisle with no self awareness that there are other people around” —@Rycrev

Bonus annoyance points if they’re on the phone. 🥲

The Lazy Lot

“I don’t want to be too dramatic but if you leave your cart in the middle of a parking spot you should be tried for war crimes” —@nagy_boh

People. Put your cart where the carts go! You literally don’t even have to leave the parking lot! They’ve made it so easy for you!

The Sound and the Fury

“A grocery store I have shopped at my whole life has the worst music sometimes. Once or twice a month it is so jarring I just want to leave. I don’t think they have set music they cycle through. Sometimes during football season they have been known to play live broadcasts of games” —@pajesh

All grocery stores should exclusively play ‘80s and ‘90s pop. Make it a law!  

The One Bum Wheel

“Shopping carts with that one bad Wheel. Almost ruins the entire Shopping experience before it even starts” —@MatthewBritt82

I’ve even put a cart back that had a bad wheel and then grabbed another one with a bad wheel. Woof.

The Payout Layout

“Stores aren’t laid out for convenience/efficiency, but instead to maximize sales.” —@SteveCrockett85

Businesses are gonna business, but it would be so very lovely to live in a world that was designed for convenience rather than capitalist black magic! 

The Bad Faith Item Estimators

“Hmm where to start? I guess the big one is people going to the express check-out with a full cart, pretending they don’t know they’re doing it, and then the managers refusing to do anything about it.” —@yesTHATkevinp

We see you, express lane cheaters. WE SEE YOU. 

The Rotation Frustration

“Poor product rotation. Don’t leave some expired yogurt on the shelf Dangit! I once found a can of ravioli 8 years expired.” —@BradMLee

Sadly, that eight-year-old ravioli was probably totally fine. 

The Clock In

“working there” – @tall7and7

Oop! Hey, we know the feeling


About the Author

Sporked Staff

The Sporked Staff tastes everything and anything. They are obsessive about groceries and finding the best of any type of food or drink, from frozen fried shrimp to Dijon mustard to gummy candy. And they're always on a hunt for the best new products. When they aren't eating professionally, they're eating recreationally. And often they're browsing grocery store aisles, just for fun.

Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!

Your thoughts.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Actually it’s the EMPLOYEES who are either stocking shelves, or going around picking “pick up” orders, and block the whole aisle with their giant “carts”.

    Reply