I was recently shopping at a chain store with my kids. We had gathered a few purchases, which is no small feat when one of your children has the attention span of a cocker spaniel. We got on the rather long checkout line, and were immediately faced with about 20 feet of nonstop candy.
I get why stores do that. I'm sure they get a lot of people making purchases they otherwise wouldn't because they see an item while they're waiting to buy the items they already decided to purchase. I've done it myself.
But if you are a parent who does not want your child to get candy during every outing to a store, these checkout lines are torture. It is basically me saying over and over, "no, you can't have that candy either."
Reason number a million why I prefer to shop alone.
Personally, I'm a snickers man, myself.
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When I was a kid, the grocery store we went to had a couple of designated checkout lanes that sold lightbulbs instead of candy to alleviate this problem. So as a very funny teenager, whenever I was shopping with my mom and we were in a section selling lightbulbs, I always started begging her, "MOM CAN WE GET SOME LIGHTBULBS!?!?! HOW 'BOUT A NICE 60-WATT? PLEEEEEASE?!?!"
ReplyDeleteMy mother found it very charming.
@Anonymous at 7:18 - You've got my vote for truly adorable story.
DeleteI've trained my kids to know that that check-out candy is "special occasion candy." They know only to ask for it on special occasions like their birthday, valentine's day, etc. Rarely do they ask for it now and when they do I remind them they can choose something next year on their birthday or whatever special occasion is coming up. Sometimes they try to stretch the definition of "special occasion" but I try not to let them stretch it much.
ReplyDeleteI don't have kids but the ability of companies to market their essentially toxic (or at least totally nutrient-deficient), artificially flavored/colored, obesity-supporting products to receptive children really bothers me. I fell for it big time as a kid and ate several pounds of candy per week in addition to other processed sweet foods. I didn't know any better and my mom didn't realize just how much candy I ate because I was a small child. I never ate less than 2 candy bars in a sitting and would buy a pound of sour patch kids and eat the whole thing while reading. Halloween was by far my favorite holiday. I wish I hadn't ingested all that crap so steadily throughout my childhood/adolescence and am glad to eat a healthy diet now. But I don't know how parents are supposed to avoid exposing their kids to the bright-shiny-sugary marketing efforts given store checkout lines, ads on TV, and vending machines in schools.
ReplyDeleteIn retrospect, I must have had incredible willpower as a child. When I was around 10, an immediate family member was diagnosed with diabetes, and I willingly gave up all candy and chocolate for a period of about three or four years because I felt it was unfair.
DeleteYes, incredible willpower, or perhaps a better explanation is, it
Deletebothered your conscience. Wow, for a ten year old to internalize
another person's pain leaves me speechless. - Paul
Agree with Paul -- that was a deeply kind, caring thing to do, especially at such a young age. Your parents must have been so touched and proud of you for that!
ReplyDeleteThe way I used to counter the candy temptation: I would comment to my daughter that it made me really angry that stores displayed candy at child height by the checkouts; it encouraged children to pester their parents and it was all tooth rot. This seemed to work.
ReplyDeletePaul's comment: I agree.