By An-Nisa
When I first started doing the family shopping there were little things I started noticing in the supermarket. For example at certain times there would be a lot of people walking around with empty trollies, or it would be the crowds around the fresh produce and the bakery section.
At first I just found it odd but then I noticed the havoc when reduced items were placed on shelves or trollies. People fighting over food that has been reduced by a few pennies. People grabbing food they would normally not buy but because it was reduced they couldn’t leave it behind. And then the people who would buy twenty-ish packets of potatoes just because they were reduced. (My aunt who works at a major supermarket told me a tale about a lady with sixteen packets of potatoes in her trolley – and another customer just simply took two out of her trolley saying you don’t need all of these. The first woman was so flabbergasted she didn’t even react but kudos to the second woman!).
At first I found this behaviour strange – it was something I had never witnessed and I really couldn’t understand why people would do this to save an overall pound or two. But then the ridiculous behaviour I saw just became embarrassing – I hate to say this but it is always the South-Asian community behaving in this manner. I’m yet to see people from other cultures crowding waiting for discounted produce. And now I just walk past shaking my head. Don’t get me wrong I like bargains as much as the next person but I really don’t get why people make fools of themselves. I’m sorry but I’m just not desperate enough for that stale pastry which will just sit on the kitchen table until it’s only fit for the bin.
But unfortunately, maybe fortunately, I’ve not been lucky enough to witness any of the more exciting things that people do for reduced food. I’m told that when things like rice and oil get reduced there are physical fights for these items. I’m told on many occasions even the police have been called out. Really ladies – fighting over oil and rice? Do we need rice that badly that we’re willing to hit someone over it? I could understand that kind of behaviour in a war-torn or a famine-hit country where food is scarce but in 21st century England? Nope I can’t think of any justification for that!
