The Grocery Store!

[Yeshuasdaughter]

Normally I only do my grocery shopping late at night or early morning, mid-week, to avoid the crowds. But I've been stuck in bed for several days recently, and had horrid cabin fever. We decided to go down to Burger King for lunch, and then hit the grocery store across the street from there.

I went to Fred Meyer (a chain of big box grocery stores owned by Kroger) a couple hours ago, and oh my goodness, there had to be a thousand people inside the store. I've never seen it so crowded. It was like Black Friday or something. Everyone was rushing around, and pushing, and cutting us off.

My daughter and I had to hide in the toothbrush aisle for a moment, just to breathe. Usually we hide out over in the furniture dept, or over in the Starbucks seating, but even those areas were crowded.

It was so bad that finally, I said to my daughter, "I'm about to give the most seductive and attractive advice ever: How about we just leave the cart right here in the aisle, walk away from it, and leave the store, so we can get away from all the crowds of annoying humans?"

Normally, I'm semi-okay with the store. Although I can be quite shy, I try to be a people person. But this afternoon was just too much for me!

So we walked home, and on the way, tried to pet the neighbor's chickens. Now that I'm home, I'm being a good little aspie and ordering grocery delivery ONLINE!



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Which stores seem the most aspie friendly? When do you like to go shopping?

 

[Gerontius]

Aspie-friendly shopping! Wow, this could fill an encyclopedia.

It's better to go on a boring day like Tuesday--some time when there's no rush or hustle. The store should be at its emptiest early--when no moms are stopping by right after dropping the kids off at school. Go there when the road isn't full of cars, too.

And shop-- inevitably forgetting something, buying the wrong something, or wandering about.

Or shop late--after everyone's dinnertime. But dinnertime at six is falling by the wayside during- and post-pandemic.

I hope it all goes OK for you there. Walking to the store & going with your daughter must be much more relaxing than driving.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

Aspie-friendly shopping! Wow, this could fill an encyclopedia.

It's better to go on a boring day like Tuesday--some time when there's no rush or hustle. The store should be at its emptiest early--when no moms are stopping by right after dropping the kids off at school. Go there when the road isn't full of cars, too.

And shop-- inevitably forgetting something, buying the wrong something, or wandering about.

Or shop late--after everyone's dinnertime. But dinnertime at six is falling by the wayside during- and post-pandemic.

I hope it all goes OK for you there. Walking to the store & going with your daughter must be much more relaxing than driving.

Thanks Yeah that's what I usually do, go on Tuesday late, like around 9pm.

Yes, walking is very relaxing. We have a nice, hilly suburban neighborhood. There are lots of dogs to pet, and various neighbors have chickens, goats, turkeys, etc. Also, all the cats know us and they come out and flop out at our feet, begging for adoration.

But for me, driving is the most relaxing. I could get in a car, and other than stretching my legs and sleeping, I wouldn't mind if I didn't stop driving for a long time.

I just love it. I feel the most aspie when I drive. I almost feel like I am the road, and instinct kicks in. I kind of get into this very pleasant "zone", and all the other cars are a tapestry that I have to become part of, keeping appropriate speed and distance. I miss it so much.

Gary Numan and I have a lot in common in that respect.

 

[Metalhead]

Headphones help when I go to the grocery store. It's difficult for other people's noise to bother me when I drown it out with Satanic metal. You can say the words of Satan calm me in the world of chaos that is a grocery store. j/k

 

[Magna]

Covid (or those humans responsible if it was in fact a man made atrocity) ruined a key aspect of my life: Grocery shopping. It used to be one of my few enjoyable public pastimes in my life. I would go in the evenings generally when it was less crowded. Grocery shopping was like heaven to me for a few reasons:

• I've been a lifelong lover of cooking. Show me someone who loves cooking but hates shopping for food, ingredients, etc.
• I love the order of how stores are set up with things organized in categories (Produce, Dairy, Meats, Bakery, etc).
• I loved to spend a leisurely amount of time looking at new items, reading labels, buying a few things I've never tried before.
• Pre-Covid, I would spend up to two hours in a grocery store going through every single aisle (except the heinous "cancer-cloud" aisle (cleaning products, detergents and other olfactory crimes).

Ruined. Will I ever be able to spend that amount of time in a grocery store again feeling completely safe and never think about people near me potentially having a deadly contagious disease? Will I ever be able to enjoy my simple but very meaningful pleasure without wearing a confining mask?

Thanks, Covid et al.

How do I make stores more autistic friendly?

It used to be high-fidelity earplugs but now I use an electronic earbud with noise cancelling. By touching one of them once, I can turn the "World Off" (one of the actual settings).

The FL-41 tint on my daily wear glasses filters blue light.

 

[Kalinychta]

I think you did exactly the right thing. Cowering amongst the toothbrushes and then fleeing the store altogether…good calls. I think all shops are more or less aspie-friendly when they have very few people in them, although I do always find the lights very draining.