Woman Eats Some Of Her Groceries Before Paying At The Store & Says 'Opening Food Is A 'Normal Thing'

A social media influencer has sparked a heated discussion on TikTok about grocery shopping etiquette after posting a controversial video of herself at a grocery store checkout line. Some people labeled the woman’s behavior as inappropriate, while others admitted that they do the same thing while grocery shopping.

The woman began eating some of her groceries before she paid for them.

In a TikTok video that has been viewed nearly 4 million times, popular influencer Cecily Bauchmann documented herself checking out her groceries after a shopping trip. As she hands her items to the cashier, who is off camera, she pulls out a box of food that has already been opened, with most of it already gone. 

“I also opened this in the store,” Bauchmann explains to the cashier. “I’m sorry, I was so hungry!”

She laughs as she hands the box to the cashier, who assures Bauchmann that it is “all good.”

“ME EVERYTIME AT THE GROCERY STORE,” Bauchmann wrote in the text overlay of her video. She also adds in her video’s caption that opening food at the grocery store before checkout is a “normal thing.”

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However, Bauchmann received mixed responses regarding her grocery store habits.

Some people agreed with her, since at the end of the day, she was paying for the food she ate.

“I mean if you’re gonna pay for it what’s the problem?” one TikTok user pointed out. “It be like that sometimes, I get hungry,” another user commented.

“The first thing my son and I do when we get to the store is go pick out, open, and eat a bakery item while we shop. It gets paid for, I don’t see harm,” a third user shared.

However, other people believed that it was inappropriate to start eating items you have not yet paid for.

“Not me because it isn't mine until I pay for it in my head its considered stealing,” one user wrote. “I have never in my life opened food in the store or even considered it,” another user confessed. “It feels so illegal,” another added.

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Some cashiers advised against customers eating items before paying for them. 

“I work in a store and it’s awkward for me when people do that because I have to say something about it because you did not buy it yet,” one user commented.

“When I’m a cashier I get annoyed sometimes when people hand me their trash to scan,” another user wrote.

While there is no law that explicitly states you cannot snack on your groceries before paying for them, it may technically be considered stealing. After all, you haven't purchased the item yet, meaning that it's still the store's property. 

Not only that, but in some cases it may not be socially acceptable, depending on the food items. Opening up a bag of chips before checkout is entirely different from opening a roast chicken.

However, it is never a bad idea to check with a grocery store employee if you plan on opening items before checkout, as some stores may have different rules and expectations than others — there's no reason to risk any legal complications.

It is also important to hold onto the packaging even if you’ve polished off a food item so that the cashier can still scan it and it can be paid for.

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Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.