Did you ever pull a cookie heist?

I'll take two if I want, if there is no sign that says "one per customer". Why not? They are placing the cookies out for all - and if they want people to follow their rules, post them. If they dont care or don't have rules, then why should it matter? No, I wouldn't take the whole tray, but again, why not? Doesnt' say you can't.

At the wholesale club where I shop they give out samples on tons of stuff. I usually end up being there at lunch time. I have to say, I would never be able to take more than one, sign or no sign. I do however always ask when going to a friends house "wow, those look great, how many do I get?" That way, I'm not only complimeting the person offering but, I also know how many I can have. I always cook for the army AND the navy when I have a dinner party. LOL

Hehehehe, no I never ever pulled a cookie heist lol. Although I have seen many people do this. I don't usually like to take anything from the 'try me' tray just because you never know if the last person there has washed their hands or not (or if they have a cold or are just getting over the flu.) I'm not a germ-o-phobe by any means, I just don't trust people to not touch cookies, etc, that they're not going to eat. I'm from the old school: you touch it, you eat it. I've seen kids and adults alike touch one, then take a different one, and that's too many community germs for me lol. In somebodys home, if they offer me a cookie from a plate, I'll only take one. When I have a group over, I always try to make enough so that I won't run out of something. While I wouldn't be embarrassed if I ran out of something, I'm pretty sure I could find something else to substitute so nobody'd go hungry.

If I fix food for anything, I tend to fix monstrous amounts of food. I judge what I take at other's homes by what I know about them. People like me, who love to feed armies, will usually say, "Have some cookies" and will have Grandma's antique plates piled high with cookies. In the store, if I were really hungry, I might take two cookies, but that would only be bakery cookies. The ones in packages are generally not worth the calories. The ladies in the bakery and deli would not care. I used to be a sampler and give out the samples. I am never unemployed, you see. I avoid samples for a couple of reasons, neither of which is believing they are contaminated. I avoid them because I will either want to buy it if I taste it, or the second reason is that I really cannot afford the extra calories. Would I be embarrassed to run out of food, you bet I would, it will not happen here.

I don't tend to grab the food samples in the supermarket because usually there would be a sales person nearby and they would bug you to buy the whole package! As for going to people's home, I usually eat before I go to their houses so that I wouldn't turn up really hungry and stuff. Also, if they offer me some cookies, I would just take one and wait to be asked to take more. And if I am holding a party, I would make sure that there is more than enough food. I would feel embarrassed if I don't have enough food for our guests.

I just get them for my kids. I feel odd eating in public so it's not an issue for me. ;) As for party food I feel that everyone should be welcome to take what they want. I do prepare extra just in case the people who came were hungry. Running out of food could be embearassing, or you could look at it as people really like your cooking. :)

I usually stay away from those samples...even if they look attractive...at a place in India, which is usually dusty I wouldn't want to try anything that is out in the open (and God alone knows for how long!) Well, if it was kept as in your local market, I would probably try one. If people offered me cookies at their home, I would take one and if it was really good, I would tell them so and pick one more. People will be thrilled if a guest did that in India. I make a little more than I expect would be eaten and I would surely be embarrassed if I ran out of food!

A plus rating for this great discussion! I would love to say something about worrying about all the bacteria and germs; but...... a cookie is a cookie is a cookie! In all honesty, I don't sample cookies, but dear Goddess it's not a pretty sight when I go to the Amish Bulk Store. They actually put out cheese samples. Surely by now they ought to recognize my car when it pulls up. If not, then you would think at least one of the people working there would recognize my face or my belly! I have a very interesting technique though, so they may not actually know what I am doing. I will browse a bit and then peer at the cheese tray and pick up one piece with the toothpick provided. Then I browse a bit more and put something into my cart. I then go back to the cheese section and stab another cheese. At this point I may put a block of cheese into my cart. Back to browsing and adding another item to my cart. Back to cheese area. If I am at the cheese display area and see that the deli area is really busy and the workers don't really have time to monitor the cheese tray at any one given time, I will go on a very quick picking hayday, then go back to browsing. This continues for at least an hour. In my defense (as if there could be any defense for behavior such as this), I usually spend anywhere between $60 - $100 at the store while I am there and I only go about once every 3 months. Geeze, I am really creepy aren't I?

LOL cookie heist :):) WEll maybe I have pulled one a time or other, but not regularly. Have I taken more than one cookie from the samples in the supermarket? It depends. If they were really good, I might have :)ANd if I did, I took the second or third quite naturally, no special reason to feel furtive. Now if it was the way you describe they do in your local marked and if there was a "one per costumer, please" sign, I would tak only one, because I had been asked nicely :) I don't think people necessarily mean only one cookie when they ask " WOuld you like a cookie" But I prefer to wait to be offered the second one. As for preparing food for a group I don't make too little but don't like to make too much either I try to make it balanced . I like to have enough so people can feel free to eat but not too much that it will go to waste.

no, I do not go back for more at the samples stations - I would be horrified if the server recognized me! instead I whisper to my husband... pst, honey - there is a sample cart over there.... want to try one? you do? hey, see if you can get me one too! lol. now with unmanned samples like oranges or little cakes or a dice of meat or cheese at the deli I would probably have no trouble taking two, but not always - if there was a sign one per customer I would not take more than one. though I would allow my children to also take one, even though technically they are not customers. except that they do influence my shopping to a degree.

I don't tend to grab the food samples in the supermarket because usually there would be a sales person nearby and they would bug you to buy the whole package! As for going to people's home, I usually eat before I go to their houses so that I wouldn't turn up really hungry and stuff. Also, if they offer me some cookies, I would just take one and wait to be asked to take more. And if I am holding a party, I would make sure that there is more than enough food. I would feel embarrassed if I don't have enough food for our guests.

I just get them for my kids. I feel odd eating in public so it's not an issue for me. ;) As for party food I feel that everyone should be welcome to take what they want. I do prepare extra just in case the people who came were hungry. Running out of food could be embearassing, or you could look at it as people really like your cooking. :)

My kids would be better at answering this then me. I don't take any samples from a store. I have a thing about other people touching my food. Even if they have gloves on that still doesn't tell me their fingers weren't in their hair 5 minutes before I showed up so I just can't do it. But I have seen from working at a StarBucks more "cookie monsters" then the calm demeanored people. We used to put out samples of our dessert counter over by the sugar and milk area. It would be nothing to see one person walk away with 4 cups of samples or to stay at that counter and take a really long time to fix their coffee while they ate half the tray. Really, what ever happened to everything in moderation! LoL

if people are watching me then i would only take one - be it a sample cookie or at someone's house. but if no one's really paying any attention and the cookies are yummy, then i've been known to sneak a second or a third. ;) as for when i'm entertaining, i tend to take after my grandma in the sense that i keep offering people more and more food until their about to pop. i'd feel badly not having anything to offer people.

Well, there have been times I have tried more than one of a Sample if they were cookies, but it would depend on the circumstances as well. As to other foods they have for sample, there have been many I have passed up due to what they looked like, or foods I did not care for in the first place. When over at someones house, or at a function, etc. where Cookies are served... it would depend on how well you know the people, and how many cookies there are versus how many people are there. Usually if there is more than one kind I will take one of each if there is enough, and then wait for someone to say there are extras if I decide to take any more. I would never want to be somewhere and have someone be afraid to ever have me around again just because I might have made a Pig out of myself.

Whenever there are alot of people over I always make sure that if I am going to offer any of them food that there is enough food there for everyone and enough food there for everyone to get what they want and the ammount of food that they want...because I think that goes into being a good host..I would be really really embarrassed if I ask someone if they wanted food and they said yes and I didn't have enough food to feed everyone that wanted some...I mean wouldn't anyone be embarrassed if that happened to them?!