5ywjdPumpkinPrincess
33551
702
17
Mar 20, 2025 12:30 AM
5ywjdPumpkinPrincess
33551
702
17
Gindipple
Do you avoid bridges built by the lowest bidder?
ecglover
As a former warehouseman, always front the merchandise. If you can, grab the 2nd or 3rd back, and you don't have to front the merchandise.
SpaceForGold
I do this. The one at the front has at least been breathed/coughed/sneezed on more than any other behind it and may have been picked up carried around the store and then put back after a change of mind. And if in a fridge/freezer the 2nd will be colder had have not been exposed to warmer air should the door have been opened for ages.
drduffer
Yep. I think the managers tell the stockers that they need to move those cans with the dents in them, or those boxes with the slightly crushed corners to the front of the shelf.
I’m not too proud to dig all the way to the back of the shelf to find the “good” package.
spiritussancto
I frequently end up taking the last of something that there's nothing wrong with because everyone thinks there's something wrong with the last one. Sometimes there is but don't assume it
RetrogradeLlama
Of course. I don't want the one people breathed on or picked up to look at and then returned to the shelf.
TalkingBehindMyBackInFrontOfMyFace
The one in front has been fondled way too many times
sometimesarobot
Sometimes the front one gets manhandled a lot and the box is all fucky
meandercat
It's not just you...trust me. Grocery stores will put damaged stock in front, with the hopes of selling it to an unwary buyer. Which is easier than any paperwork to acknowledge damaged items.
5ywjdPumpkinPrincess
Yes the dreaded shrink
KR1570F
the grocery stores know this trick and specifically put the worst one in the second spot. gotta go for the 3rd 5th or 7th spot, obviously. /s
SauronsLeftNut
That is why it is always the 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th ones are the ones that i put the poison in.
SteveMND
I only do that with milk and if the box or packaging looks roughed up.
Speaking of milk, what the hell did they put in the cows lately? Before, usually milk had an expiration date of a week or two from when it was stocked. The milk I bought last weekend has an expiration date in MAY.
RaspK
It's the processing. Modern pasteurisation.
ArthurT
In the fridge section, its warmer... i.e. will not last as long.
stoots24
Everyone knows the front one is the Display Only copy.
GrenithTheSkald
If it's "fresh" produce like meat or dairy, then yes, the freshest is at the back. But for shelf goods, typically it all comes from the same shipment. Anything "older" is usually just merged into a row together and the latest gets put into a row beside it. But typically the best-before date on shelved goods is like a year or more beyond when it was placed on the shelf. So unless you're planning to stockpile stuff to sit in your cupboard for 12+ months, it won't make a difference in old vs new.
BofusTeefus
Common practice among boomers.
JacketHaver
I take stuff from the back or move the items flush because I used to have to 'face' the shelves at work for a grocery store. It sucked. Like taking the carts back to the corral. Its an easy thing to do to make min wage persons life easier.
Eucrow
Yup. Programmed too.
SeeMyVests
And it’s programmed in, it’s like you can’t NOT do it when shopping. I’ve never even worked clothing retail but I find myself picking up things and putting them back on hangers without realizing it. Lord help me in a grocery store.
AntiTrollPatrol
We all do this
5ywjdPumpkinPrincess
BerrysONTHEBush
I take the first. Always
literallymike
My mom raised me right. The one in front is also the one everyone else touches to get to the ones in back.
Zobbie
Never take the front item on cold stuff. When a customer just leaves an unwanted item by the till, it sits there unfrigerated for a bit before being returned. The person returning it will always put it in the front.
IhopeUgetwhatUvoted4
I check the dates on a couple items because I have been hurt before.
Sethiusalpha
Stores put the soonest expiration date in the front. I don't consume some things very fast, so the one behind that is better for me.
q2grapple
I just go in the back and take stuff off the loading dock
GravyEducation
A ladder and a hi vis vest will get you anywhere
tinyCabbage
I personally follow the delivery truck back the warehouse and get it from there
DopeChicken
I always grab the third one. Third coffee lid. Third paper plate. Third slurpee lid. I might have a problem. As I typed that I felt like rainman. Shit. Whopner
DrMoneybeard
And do you just throw away the others after you've touched them? Do you waste two single use plastic items for everyone you use? This is insane.
HelpfulCorn
Wapner + Whopper = Whopner?
RaspK
Might have OCD.
justherefortheconfession
That's how my wife picked me.
Ludicmonstrosity
That's fucked mate.
whatsthedifferencebetweenachicken
HAHAHA Me too!!!
bl0ke
Thecynicalspud
Just 'coz you're not first in line does not mean you're not first in line.
Sweezy5651
gtollie
Plot twist : it was a 3 some
Whatdoyousaytoanicecupoftea
Gaaaaaayyyyyy
justherefortheconfession
It wasn't our last
TheSlouchOfBethlehem
I take the third one back, then shift the second one to the front so the next person takes the old front one.
petrovpoo
You monster!
GravyEducation
(All best by dates read the same) yeah sticking it to the man
newsguycraigevans
bippityboppitybuttsex
I grab the one that isn't damaged or has a longer expiration date (esp with milk)...
thepandasbum
I drink a ton of milk so as long as it's got a day or 2 left, I know it'll be gone before it should. I easily drink a liter in 10 minutes with a meal.
bippityboppitybuttsex
That is a lot of milk... when you die, can we use your bones to reinforce a dam?
We don't drink a lot of milk (mostly for coffee), so the longer it lasts the better.
GravyEducation
I mean that's the way, if you're that hung up on best by dates you should literally check them the same as the employees should be checking them. Important for shit that goes bad fast. Not important at all for shit that lasts forever. Like don't bother checking the date on say soy sauce, shit will outlive you if stored right
ThisNameIsMaybeTaken
If it's not stored right, it might outlive you, too.
DrMoneybeard
Y'all are crazy, and this leads to so much food waste. I grab the first one unless there's something obviously wrong with it. Then I often move the next one up to the front because facing shelves is a PITA. Also do you guys not have health codes? Refrigerated items left out go straight in the garbage, not back on the shelf.
RaspK
THANK YOU!
znuff
Some people take the refrigerated items, put them in their cart, and then walk around the store with it for like 1 hour. The they decide to put it back on the shelf...
DrMoneybeard
So are you arguing that because of the absolutely tiny percentage of instances where a person walks around with milk for an hour then gives it to the cashier, and then the cashier fails to follow their protocol, every single first milk jug on every shelf in every grocery store should be avoided, and therefore thrown away? Now multiply that by every single other food item in the store. Just think about it for a minute.
SeeMyVests
Depends how long they’ve been out
DrMoneybeard
If it's been sitting on a shelf you have no way to know how long it's been out.
SeeMyVests
Yes, and should be discarded. But if a customer gives it to the cashier, for example, it can go back if it’s still cold/frozen.
DrMoneybeard
Yes which means it will still be fine to eat and I would therefore be fine buying it.
Wankbiscuit
If rotated properly the fresh shit's at the back.
MaleProstateMilker88
True especially with perishables.
GravyEducation
But also for certain product, "fresh" doesn't even come into the equation that much and if you're only going like two deep it all came in the same box with the same best by date. I mean you do you, it never bothered me none.
IAmTheKingOfCheese
I'll take the milk at the back, sometimes has a better date and is always colder for no extra effort
3Davideo
I'm surprised they even sell that.
Nightchime
And if nobody else is grabbing from the front, who KNOWS how long it's been sitting there!
DontAskMeAboutMyUsernameOkay
FIFO (First In, First Out) isn't used on 90% of products. It's mostly meant for things like refrigerated and frozen (quickly perishable) products, vs things that can sit for a long time (canned goods, pasta, etc). In addition, with how stores are designed, FIFO is very impractical for the worker and it results in them simply just... not doing it.
Source: The dairy dept at my work has been getting reminded to FIFO cause someone found a product that expired in September.
eggmuffin
This is the daily reminder to Americans that the world consists of other places, too. What they consider normal and and implicitly obvious is normal and obvious *to them*.
The notion that FIFO is somehow impractical is absurd to me, because the relevant shelf space is designed in such a way that FIFO is the easiest, simplest procedure.
Because I live in one of the 'other places'.
RaspK
FIFO is ABSOLUTELY supposed to be followed properly, because not doing so means you end finding out frozen products that expired 2 years ago in the returns from a store in your area; ask me how I know!! :D
Do you know why people don't follow FIFO? Because it is not always convenient, but the thing is, restocking is inherently not very convenient.
DeathLemons
Lol O'Reillys completely changed the color scheme for their brand of antifreeze and 6 months later there are still some of the original colors on the shelf from the continuous restocking
Lontri
It should also be used for canned goods and other things with a long shelf life. At my old job they hadn't been doing that, and I got tired of getting yelled at by customers when they noticed that they had bought expired dry and canned products. I spent like 3 days going through the shelves and filled two shopping carts filled with expired products. Some had expired years ago. I think the oldest cans had expired 5 years prior. Boss refused to fix issue, I reported the shop to health inspector.
FoxyEllie
Former gas station... second in command? Not manager or even really assistant, but it's a super small team and I did the daily manager stuff when she was off. Anyway, fifo is still needed on canned goods, because if you dont then the only way the back will get bought is if the shelf becomes empty, which you don't want. It's obviously inconvenient, but that's why they make coolers that have cooled storage and loading points from the back.
DontAskMeAboutMyUsernameOkay
Yeah, it's why they make them, but doesn't mean my work utilizes them. Only about 1/3rd of our refrigerated section can be stocked from the back; and the employees that work over there don't do it that way for one reason or another (I'm not them). fifo generally isn't needed for long-term shelf life products because they sell faster than their expiration dates, but maybe that's just my work.
RaspK
It's definitely the wrong way to do it, because it suggests that this is always the case, and even empirical data shows it's untrue.
snrsquishy101
Stock rotation isn't always about expiration dates. Products can have changes made during production and you don't want to be sitting on old stock that is no longer the same quality as the new stuff, which gets harder to sell as it gets older. Most non perishable foods won't see this happen but it does happen, think lable design changes or container size changes. You end up selling old stock for less to get rid of it which can lead to profit loss on those items.
Badprenup
Yeah individual employees may try to avoid doing it because it is a pain in the ass, but it's the best strategy overall
FoxyEllie
Yeah, it definitely is! I ended up employing a strategy where I only refill something when it's half capacity (hot items excepted), and i write down everything on the shelf that needs it and how much, then assemble my stuff from the back all at once. Less "take everything out and then put it back", fewer trips. I had a system and I was proud of it dammit.
Job paid 8 dollars and some jerkwad bragged about being asymptomatic covid during its height so I ended up quitting for family safety.