This is Why Everyone Shopping at Trader Joe's Hates You

Categories: LOLS, Shopping

rsz_tjs-line.jpg
zyzzyva/Flickr
Face it, the sad truth of your existence.
Once an annual pre-Burning Man stop for cheap vodka, Cabernet, and Trek Mix, Trader Joe's is now a weekly essential ― seriously, who can survive without Mandarin orange chicken, chocolate-covered espresso beans, or processed enchiladas? But guess what: While you're intent on stocking up, you're pissing off every other shopper in the store. Here's why:

You don't know how to drive and/or park.
Every Trader Joe's parking lot everywhere is an effed-up jungle from hell. If you don't know how to properly wield your Subaru into a space the size of a kiddy pool, just walk. And once you're done shopping, throw your groceries in the car and drive. Don't sit there and phone your psychic or listen to the end of Fresh Air. It's rude.

You have no clue where to properly place your cart when getting items.
If you weren't such a fucking idiot, you would leave your cart at the front of the store by the flowers. Who buys orchids at Trader Joe's? The person you just dumped if you have any self-respect is the correct answer. Everyone knows their plants die around the same time your Fair Trade University bananas go bad, i.e., 10 minutes from now.

You stand in the middle of the aisle while assessing your dried fruit options.
Quit blocking the aisles while you aimlessly wander about searching for those tricolored baby carrots you got last time. That shit is gone, man. You need to let it go. And for that matter, don't stand in everyone's way for 10 minutes while you determine whether to buy the organic chunky sunflower seed butter or the organic creamy sunflower seed butter. They cost 50 cents combined, just get both and MOVE!

Your kids.
Your fucking kids OMFG PUT A LEASH ON IT.

rsz_tjs-cart.jpg
travelingmonkey/Flickr
You're a sample hog, plain and simple.
It's a sample, not lunch! Now get the fuck out of the way so I can get my five Dixie cups of pad thai. Next up, perfectly mixing my sip of coffee with sugar and soymilk.

You're in your gym clothes or pajamas.

You're not 12 ― put on some real pants. You've left the house and people are forced to gaze upon you. And what if you were to die in a freak accident when a Charles Shaw display fell on you? Is this how you want to be remembered? As a grown-ass fool in stretch lycra who can't afford to shop at Whole Foods? Don't answer that.

You have fifteen items in the ten-item line.
That's just cheating, son. If you want to see the skinny white bitches in yoga pants turn ghetto in 5 seconds flat, just try it. I'll be there backing them up because yo, it says TEN items, can't you read!? And no, having fifteen boxes of the same cereal doesn't count.

You don't chip in.
Pack your own damn groceries, lazy! Pitch in and let's keep this line moving. I still have to get to Whole Foods, Safeway, and Food 4 Less to get the shit they don't sell here. And you can ditch that smugly superior look when you take out your own bags. I forgot mine at home, okay? Quit patting yourself on the back for shopping at Trader Joe's; all your money is going to the same red corporate America. Stop trying to make yourself feel like you're all green and locavore and shit, you're just as trashy as the people who shop at Safeway; you just have 10,000 reusable bags and like better olives, cheese, and frozen foods. On that note, make sure to pick up the frozen "El Super Authentico Burrito," it's off the chain.

And perhaps most importantly, you hate other people who shop at Trader Joe's because you hate yourself.
You're pushy, consumeristic, and gluttonous. Other shoppers project unto you everything you hate about yourself; a mirror held up to the hellscape of your own existence. Enjoy those flax seed chips and spicy hummus until they're inevitably discontinued; they'll be doing the same!

Prior rants:
- This Is Why Your Coffee Shop Waitress Hates You
- This Is Why Your Bartender Hates You
- This Is Why Your Whole Foods Cashier Hates You
- This Is Why Your Waiter Hates You

Laura Beck is a founding editor of Vegansaurus and tweets at @mrpenguino. Follow SFoodie at @sfoodie.

My Voice Nation Help
175 comments
TRae
TRae

From my Aunt Wendy:  As I was being a good TJs shopper on Sunday...grab & go, grab & go and explaining to my friend: this is how you shop at TJs on a Sunday afternoon, there was a lady lollygagging in front of the cheese display taking up way too much room who said "Well, what if you don't know what you want?"
So to add to the list: If you don't know what you want (and how couldn't you, there's very limited pickins people) then stay the F home until you do! Or at least shop on a Tuesday at 10am when all the rest of us are at work or school. ;)

dreamwalker9
dreamwalker9 like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

Absolutely hysterical!  I love your article and I don't take any of it seriously.  I am a TJ's employee and we have some really terrific customers.  And just like anyplace, we have some people I wish would stay home, but mostly - really great people. And I've work a lot of retail, enough to know that the TJ's customers are different and special.  We have people who get out of town visitors and TJ's is on the sight seeing tour!  A grocery store!  Great People!

And to those of you who are getting upset about the article - you are taking it WAY to seriously!  Lighten up!  You have to be able to laugh at yourself.  Yes, some of it is mean - eh!  Not serious!

missmistymoo
missmistymoo

OMG shopping in the SF Trader Joe's is so stressful! I went to the one in Colma recently, DURING DINNER RUSH, and it was a calm, quiet oasis. Great list, Laura - you know how to tickle my funny bone! <3

Olivia Fletcher
Olivia Fletcher

Wow. Is it just me, or was that just nasty and not funny at all?

Karl Wilder
Karl Wilder

That was just dumb. You should have left it in the vault.

mclark11
mclark11

This is f-ing hysterical but you left out the f-king people (hate to sound racist usually older white women trying to pretend their hip) who reach in front of you and don't say excuse me because they're snob ass bitches. Also, if you see the aisle is full of carts and peeps, just park your cart at the end of the aisle or in the front so there's less congestion and I can slip in and get my shit and get out fast.  :-)


vladimP.
vladimP.

I work at trader joe's and can't believe how whiny you customers have become...seriously get a life !!! american shoppers have this annoying habit of being enforcers, snitches, etc... while treating employees like complete dirt, being inpolite and having this entitlement attitude. Americans have NO respect for working class people with name tags while they elevate business men, people who make tons of money no matter how honestly that was done. This place has turned into a HATE place where shitheads find nothing better to do than complain about Trader Joe's, THE ONLY place where you get customer service, basic courtesy, and wehre you get your money back when you return a DEAD plant. 

HOW ANNOYING ARE YOU !!! try doing a war tour of Afghanistan or IRAQ may be that will wake you up.

briansays
briansays

all true not to mention the shopping cart left in the lot to roll into the side of your car

i've concluded their lower prices/bargains tend to bring a greater percentage but not exclusively group of lower income/lower educated/lower intelligent folks

still though employees are super nice and notice and chat up regulars and mine just happens to be 2 doors down from my sportsbar with full nfl package on sunday mornings

jjlasne
jjlasne

A few things annoying at any stores but especially at TJ' s: dogs in store - not sure this is legal in California-, crowds around the free samples like a distribution of UN rice at a refugee camp - same problem at Costco - and the habit of elderly retirees to shop on weekends when they have the whole week to do so. And of course, the inability of the average SF Bay Area driver to handle driving and parking in a small lot.

jjlasne
jjlasne

Quite funny must I say. May I add that Trader Joe's is owned by the richest family in Germany, not corporate America.

tjskp
tjskp like.author.displayName 1 Like

lindsey, learn to pay attention to your register screen. As a Trader Joe's employee, I will tell you when I hit "15x" and scan the one box of cereal, the item quantity count at the bottom left of screen STILL tells me I sold FIFTEEN items... not one. One line of code on your receipt does not make for one item sold.

Epuckett1986
Epuckett1986

You're a fuckinh ignorant piece of shit. No one cares about your pretencious opinion and you should seriously consider taking yourself out to the parking lot and fucking yourself up the ass.

-tj owner and operator Athens, ga

dreamwalker9
dreamwalker9

@Epuckett1986 I didn't know TJ's were privately owned???  NOT

Nathan
Nathan

Wow, Ms. Beck, you sure are filled with a lot of anger and hatred of Trader Joe's and the people who shop there. Perhaps you should take a few moments to calm down and think about finding another grocery store--there are several options--before you make yourself look like someone without anything to offer except bile and rage.

Well, I guess it's too late for that, but you should still look for another store.

CccJjj
CccJjj

This is typical of a self absorbed twit. Who did you fuck to get your job?

Brendan Bartholomew
Brendan Bartholomew like.author.displayName 1 Like

Hey CccJjj, would you be asking who Beck fucked to get this job if she was a man?

Didn't think so.

Jeff Mandell
Jeff Mandell

Another reason why I'm grateful I live in Minneapolis and not SF.

Wheetbix1
Wheetbix1

Move to Minneapolis - none of that bullshit here. Always a pleasant shopping experience, no lines, smart customers.

Brendan Bartholomew
Brendan Bartholomew like.author.displayName 1 Like

I'm a heterosexual male, but I just want to say, Laura Beck, if you were a man, I'd suck your dick out of sheer respect.

shaedee5
shaedee5

I'm going to make it a point to do all of the things that piss you off, just to give you an aneurysm.

Eash23
Eash23

Laura Beck is a fucking bitch

Hate-humor is fun
Hate-humor is fun

If I'd known that it's okay to bag my own groceries at TJ's I'd have done it. Been shopping there a couple of times a month for about 25 years and I've never seen a customer do this. I've been tempted to do it in order to get myself out of the store faster and make the line go faster for the cashier and other customers. All of the TJ's I've shopped are so cramped that either I'd be in someone's way or I'd have to put my cart in someone's way in order to get into a spot where I could do my own bagging. I know this article is mainly for laughs but it looks like I learned something from it!

beachdog67
beachdog67 like.author.displayName 1 Like

People who suck up electrons in blog comments calling other people stupid are stupid.

TJ Employee
TJ Employee like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 5 Like

Hello, I am a Trader Joe's employee.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions. Thank you, Laura, for expressing exactly how you feel about what goes on in a crowded, chaotic Trader Joe's store. My impression from reading the various negative responses is that many readers took your article personally. It's amazing how expressing observations with a specific perspective can win you unfounded comments about your supposed sexual frustration. Forget "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." This seemingly positive belief/rule can really stifle consciousness. The truth often does not sound nice. It needs to be said, however it comes out, complete with the true emotions behind it. This identifies what could use improvement, and why.

I thought your article was funny in a brutally honest, sarcastic, not entirely serious way. I am sure this guarantees I'll be pooped on with accusations of being insensitive, un-PC, unfit to work at Trader Joe's, suitable for mistreatment by my customers, (also) sexually frustrated, stupid, ugly, smelly, obviously smoking something"--did I cover it all? So, have at it. I did say everyone is entitled to their opinions, after all.

I have indeed witnessed shoppers getting upset by the littlest things other shoppers do (or don't do). Everything you wrote about, I have seen it, or seen similar. As an employee who is paid to do everything from stocking, cleaning, cooking, product searches, bagging, and running a register, all I want to do is be as helpful as I can. Rather than let things get to me, I focus on what I could do in each situation to create a favorable outcome. Screaming, upset kids? I walk over and chat to him/her, maybe find some stickers to give. Sample hogs? I ask the customer what s/he thought of the product, then politely let them know that there are x number of people behind them who look like they would also love to try a sample. Cart in someone's way? I move it without making a big fuss. If the owner of the moved cart notices, I smile and say it's fine and thank you. Over 15 items in my express line? If it's pretty dead, I don't say anything. If it's busy, and just a few items over, I still don't say anything. Really, 18 or 20 items doesn't take much more time for me to bag than 15. I'm not in the business of embarrassing my customers. Rarely anyone tries to come through with a giant full cart. Other customers usually deter these from staying in the express line, so I don't have to point it out. I'm not a goody goody(I will call a customer out if they take a shortcut behind the register area, where we don't have eyes in the back of our heads and could very well knock you with our elbows or baskets that we lift from the counters and place behind us in stacks -- we move fast! If you want to get mad, swear, shout that you're the customer, etc etc, we will ring for a manager who will ask you to leave, no joke). I am a person who believes in doing a good job and giving good customer service on the clock. Do I sometimes get annoyed by situations when the store is crowded? Yes, and I believe that being considerate and helpful goes a long way when the store is a madhouse. If I can do this regularly for my job, I expect that customers should be able to help themselves by being considerate to others as well. I do see many examples of this happening. I want to roll my eyes when I see the opposite, though. Keep up the good work generally being decent human beings!

Jorge
Jorge

So negative....why?

NotFromSF
NotFromSF

This is why I will never move to SF.

FromSF
FromSF like.author.displayName 1 Like

Good thing, to live in SF, one needs a sense of humor, and an understanding of sarcasm. You're better off not living there since you lack both ;).

easy John
easy John

Vulgar, overused language. If you can't write a review using a version of "fuck" three times you really need to find a new line of work.

Easy John

Pearldoggy
Pearldoggy

Laura Beck...Are you in the 7th or 8th grade?....Boring....

BobAKABuffy
BobAKABuffy

YES! "Pack your own damn groceries, lazy!"Nothing irks me more than COUPLES who both stand there, often chatting or on their phones or both, waiting for their 50 items to be rung up and then bagged for them. And then start paying by credit card. Even saw this lesbian couple not bag their shit and then have the bill split between their 2 cards like they were dining with a table of friends in the Mission.

pladimV.
pladimV.

@BobAKABuffy I never bag my own groceries at TJ's unless it's a few items. I got over that shit a long time ago. 

@parmie
@parmie like.author.displayName 1 Like

haha this is hilarious and so true!

Flatcatmusic
Flatcatmusic like.author.displayName 1 Like

As a Trader Joes employee, this is fucking spot on. Any idiot who doesn't understand how funny this is, has obviously never worked in or spent much time in a TJ's. It is not bashing the company. TJ's is a good store that has an over-abundance of weird, leftist, yuppies shopping at it. The section about "You're in your Gym Clothes or Pajamas" and "It's a sample, not a lunch." Literally sprayed coffee out my nose.

You did leave one thing off this list, however. The snotty, late-twenty-something blond in gym clothes driving an Escalade, who insists on a "carry-out" for her three half full bags of groceries!! Seriously, lady, really? You just finished such an intense workout that you can't push your cart to your fucking car and transfer them into your trunk! Unbelievable.

Katie
Katie like.author.displayName 1 Like

The driving/parking one made me legitimately laugh out loud because of the 1/2 dozen Trader Joe's I've been to, every single one of the parking lots are totally ridiculous and filled with SUV driving morons who suddenly forget simple driving concepts. I'm so glad someone else notices this. :)

Also, ""El Super Authentico Burrito" = lulz

Melody
Melody

Actually most TJ's don't have express lanes. They want everyone to suffer the same fate.

Tasty!
Tasty!

too f-ing funny!!!

PepeLeDouche
PepeLeDouche

This piece is the product of a society comprised of smug hipster-douchebags that no longer have anything to complain about but the most mundane details of everyday life.

Boba
Boba like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

why are people getting all upset about this article? touched a few nerves? it's meant to be funny, and if you didn't think it was, that's okay, humor is subjective; just keep movin'

Guest
Guest

do one on why your cab driver hates you

MsGruntled
MsGruntled

Perhaps the best reason people hate you that was left off the list: You are disgusting to look at: Mr. I look cool with my hair in a rubber band and Ms. I love my long, dry, krinkly gray hair. It's disgusting.

Jodi
Jodi like.author.displayName 1 Like

I feel as though I wrote this post!!! So true!! Made me laugh so hard. Thanks for posting such a great article. LOVED the part about packing your own. Don't people know how stupid they look when they just stand there and watch. GROSS LAZY PEOPLE!!!

metropolitan
metropolitan

you obviously don't go to trader joe's in nyc where half of those things are a moot point. parking lot? what parking lot?kids? what kids?gym clothes/pajamas? wtf?

Trevbone2012
Trevbone2012

All criticism is self criticism, Laura. I forgive you.

Shmal
Shmal

TJ is yuppie ville with a small y. Kiss of. Anyone who is looking for natural food can find it unpackaged in many good natural food stores without bargaining with the devil. Well, maybe not the devil. I know Americanos are into fast and convienent so shop away while those shopping aat the real stores, not necessarily Whole Foods, but maybe a step up where you can package the weight you want and get is naturally to. Check out the co-ops. Do something progressive and get of the fast trip and do some slow meals and cooking.

Berkeleybrian
Berkeleybrian

"Quit patting yourself on the back for shopping at Trader Joe's; all your money is going to the same red corporate America."

Actually, your money is going to the Albrect (spellcheck?) family in Germany. They own TJ's.

NYC
NYC

15 boxes of same cereal = 1 scan (= 1 item)

-TJ's Crew Member

Onetime
Onetime

soooo... you can take the guy with 225 boxes of 15 different cereals.you gotta draw the line somewhere

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