Everyone has a secret, a little white lie, something they’d rather not say out loud. In Metro’s confession section, a Metro reader dares to do so. This week: Romy (31), who deliberately doesn’t scan all her groceries at the supermarket.
“I pay my bills on time, I’m the first to send a Tikkie after a group dinner, and I get stressed out if I’ve underpaid our cleaner by a penny. I’m always honest when it comes to money, I don’t want to be a defaulter. I don’t have to worry about that, though, because I have a 36-hour job that allows me to live comfortably.
Invention
My husband and I have a fixed monthly budget for groceries, and even with the increasing inflation, we can manage just fine. I go to the supermarket once a week and scan my groceries myself. I think it’s a great invention, I never have to stand in a regular line again. I scan the groceries with my phone, so I don’t have to scan each product at one of those poles – and I find it more hygienic than using a store scanner; call it a legacy from the pandemic.
It was truly accidental the first two times when I forgot to scan a purchase in a hurry. It was something trivial, a cucumber that cost less than a euro. You have to weigh it and scan the label, but I forgot to do that. I only realized when I unpacked the groceries at home – silly, I know, but going all the way back for that one cucumber seemed excessive. For a long time, it went ‘well’, and then a few months later, I forgot to scan something again, the coffee pods for the espresso machine. It’s quite an expense nowadays, easily costing around ten euros. I felt embarrassed once again, but I thought: I just spent 100 euros on groceries, they won’t miss that extra ten at the supermarket.
Confession: not scanning on purpose
And then there was a sort of turning point for me. Apparently, you can just not scan items and no one bats an eye. And that can save you quite a bit of money. So, I decided to test it out and ‘forgot’ something intentionally at checkout. I have to admit, it made my heart race. It’s silly, really, because the previous times I had no idea and I paid for everything. But I felt like a fifteen-year-old who stole mascara from the drugstore. It was something trivial again this time, a pack of butter. But it worked; once again, I could walk out without paying for that item.
I’ve been doing it more often since then. Not because I can’t afford it, but I don’t know, it gives me a kind of thrill. Besides, the supermarket makes so much profit, they won’t miss that one pack of spaghetti from me. I don’t do it every time, though, but sometimes I get an impulse and think: I’m just not going to scan this product today.
Risk
Although it’s thrilling, I also feel deeply ashamed. I would never dare to confess this to anyone else; not even my partner knows. Plus, I’m taking a risk every time because you can be randomly selected for a check every once in a while – it happened to me once when I had scanned everything, so it was fine. Plus, I already have my excuse ready if I do get caught, by saying that I wanted to pay for that item separately. If they believe me, that is. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
More editions of Confessions can be found here.
Due to privacy concerns related to sensitive topics, the names have been changed. The real names are known to the editorial team.