So this happened
By Lena Kovadlo
@lovebuglena (52433)
Staten Island, New York
July 2, 2026 9:01pm CST
I went to my Russian grocery store on Sunday. The girl at the register was new. Before ringing up any item, she asked me what that item was. I had to tell her it’s a grapefruit, it’s a portobello mushroom, etc.
I was honestly shocked. I can understand if it’s something from the produce department that is exotic or uncommon but if it’s an item that is available everywhere the cashier should know what that item is.
11 people like this
10 responses
@LeaPea2417 (40118)
• Toccoa, Georgia
13h
I can't believe someone would not know what a grapefruit is.
3 people like this
@DaddyEvil (175070)
• United States
5h
When I started working in a grocery store, I had to ask what type of mushrooms a customer was buying. I'd never seen a Portobello mushroom before then.
1 person likes this
@kaylachan (85200)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
15h
I would like to say I am surprised, but I'm not. More and more we're starting to see the affects of Gen Alfa and no kid left behind. You're right, she should know what the store sells. But, she should also know basic vegitibles fruits etc.
Now I'd understand if she was blind, and unable to see what you're holding, but most stores don't put the blind behind the register.
2 people like this
@lovebuglena (52433)
• Staten Island, New York
14h
In her case, she wasn’t blind. I was surprised when she was ringing up tomatoes that she didn’t ask me what it was, but she did ask me what kind of tomato it is. It was an heirloom tomato.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52433)
• Staten Island, New York
14h
I did not see a mileage post about this. But I saw a post about it on the official NCIS page on Facebook. Tony is coming back to NCIS and Gibbs is coming back to NCIS: Origins. And NCIS: New York is a new spinoff bringing back Sam Hanna.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (210018)
• United States
2h
She didn't know what a grapefruit was? Was she from the US?
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (210018)
• United States
1h
@lovebuglena That explains why she wouldn't be familiar with a grapefruit then I guess.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52433)
• Staten Island, New York
1h
She spoke Russian. Not sure where she is originally from.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (503780)
• Italy
1h
@lovebuglena I can't believe that they know so little.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52433)
• Staten Island, New York
1h
That is true. Makes me shake my head.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (59990)
•
15h
That happens here, too. I have had to identify vegetables, etc. or had cashiers ask me ''what do you use this for?'' when ringing up a grocery item they are not familiar with. The item that once really surprised me was baking soda. Cashier asked me what I used it for. Seriously? I told her baking, deodorizing, even cleaning. Her comment was, she had never heard of it. Good grief.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52433)
• Staten Island, New York
14h
It’s hard to believe the cashier never heard of baking soda. I wonder how old she was.
@lovebuglena (52433)
• Staten Island, New York
14h
I remember one time I was buying a yellow carrot. The cashier rang it up as either parsley root or a parsnip. I don’t remember. When I corrected her and told her that it was actually a yellow carrot, she was arguing with me telling me there’s no such thing.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (175070)
• United States
5h
I worked as a salesman in a grocery store. My job was actually in the Electronics department but, sometimes I had to go up to the front of the store and run a register. If some veggie was being purchased that I didn't recognize, I had to ask what it was before I could ring it up. By the time I left that store, I knew what everything in the store was without needing to ask anymore. *shrug*
If we didn't grow something on our farm when I was growing up, how was I supposed to recognize it when I saw it for the first time in the grocery store?
1 person likes this
