Food shopping can be a harrowing experience.
It can be especially stressful for people with anxiety issues.
When one has a very specific need from the market, a deviation is not a friend.
And the amount one buys can be something very personal.
Case in point…
Redditor averyaviary wanted to discuss their experience and get some feedback. So naturally, they came to visit the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit.
They asked:
“AITA for buying all the red Gatorade at the store even though a mom wanted some for her kids?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“I’m a big fan of Gatorade, and I have a specific reason for buying it.”
“I have low blood sugar and dehydration issues, and my doctor recommended that I drink Gatorade to help keep my electrolytes in balance.”
“However, I’m also neurodivergent, and it’s hard for me to change things up and try new flavors, so I only buy the red kind as it’s the only one I like.”
“Yesterday, I went to the grocery store on their stock day, and I saw that they had a fresh shipment of Gatorade.”
“I was so happy because I had been running low at home.”
“I grabbed the bottles of the red flavor and put them in my cart.”
“As I was walking away, a mom with two kids approached me and asked if I could spare a few bottles of the red Gatorade.”
“She explained that it was her kid’s favorite flavor and that they were out of stock at their local store.”
“I felt bad for her, but I explained that I needed the Gatorade for my own health reasons and that I couldn’t spare any.”
“The mom got really upset and started to yell at me, saying that I was being selfish and that I should think about others.”
“I tried to explain my situation again, but she wouldn’t listen and kept telling me I could just take the blue Gatorade instead.”
“I just started to ignore her after a while, and eventually, she stormed off.”
“Now I’m wondering if I was in the wrong.”
“Should I have given her some of the Gatorade, even though I needed it for my own health?”
“Or was I justified in keeping it all for myself?”
“AITA?”
Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter and weighed some options to the question AITA:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Many Redditors declared OP WAS the A**hole.
“OP states in the comments and main post that the drinks were just restocked and also that the OP was taking literally all of them.”
“Doesn’t matter if it’s Gatorade, insulin, or toilet paper, hoarding all of the supply when you…”
“1) Clearly have enough for a while and…”
“2) There is someone else in the store wanting to buy some makes you an a**hole.”
“The kid could be neurodivergent also. You don’t know.”
“And I guarantee you if you arrived and this mom did the same thing and took literally all of your special drink as soon as it was stocked, you would be infuriated.”
“If you really can only do red and need to bulk order it, work with the store manager or order online.”
“Often you can get up to a pallet for a lower price than on the shelves just by scheduling a special order. YTA.” ~ Encartrus
“Piggybacking on the top comment to say you should definitely do this.”
“Most stores will be happy to order extra for you and keep it in the back.”
“This is much more preferable to them than having the shelf cleared out as empty locations on a shelf reflect poorly on the store and whoever is responsible for doing the ordering.” ~ IsomorphicProjection
“I highly doubt she yelled, she probably gave him a firm tone, and his a** interpreted as yelling. 100% OP YTA.” ~ capitoloftexas
“Jumping on. I work with deliveries at Walmart, and I would much rather someone ask about buying bulk instead of taking all of what we have.”
“If you ask I’d probably get you in contact with our vendor directly, and you’d get it even cheaper.” ~ ArtieFishul
OP came back with an Update…
“I should clarify since this is coming up in the comments- I didn’t really want to go into specifics, but here we are… No, my doctor did not recommend specifically red Gatorade for this issue.”
“He recommended Gatorade.”
“The red Gatorade is needed because I deal with O[bsessive]C[compulsive] D[isorder] and have issues with changes to my routine and trying new things.”
“It can be debilitating to deal with panic attacks induced by such a ‘small’ problem and can remove my focus from my process of treating the bigger problems with my OCD.”
“So I have chosen (at the advice of a therapist) to allow myself to stick to this small routine and avoid further disruption during my process of getting better.”
“Thank you, everyone, for your comments.”
“I am going to stop replying now as this is getting really overwhelming for me.”
“I guess the consensus is that I am TA. I suppose I will accept that.”
“I wish my food aversion was something I could just turn off, but I can’t, and it’s a process to work through these things for me.”
“I hope people in the comments can understand that I am not trying to intentionally be an a**hole and take things from other people.”
“I just have a fear of not being able to keep the little things in my routine, and that feeling trumps a lot of things for me.”
“If you don’t struggle with OCD be grateful.”
Reddit continued…
“OP keeps misunderstanding and thinking they’re wrong for getting all the red Gatorade when really the issue is that they got all the red Gatorade.”
“They admit they still have some at home, that the mom only asked for a few bottles.”
“They don’t need ALL the bottles for their health. They’ll likely be able to buy more red Gatorade before their stock runs out.”
“The issue is the selfishness of hoarding ALL of it when it’s not needed, for the sake of ‘preparedness.'” ~ Was-never-here
“Yep, thank you for pointing that out.”
“OP’s edits aren’t getting to the point. No one is arguing about their food sensitives or whatnot, but about the fact that they took ALL the Gatorade available at that store.”
“It’s an AH move regardless of conditions, to be honest.” ~ kimsherd
“OP is definitely TA for taking all of the new stock, but more importantly, the dumb AH for paying for all of it at retail, when they could be buying it by the case at a wholesale club.” ~ WolfMan889
“100% this. YTA OP.”
“Now what will u do with this newfound info?”
“Will u change ur ways?”
“Or just continue being an AH?”
“I really hope not the latter.”
“If u see her again, please apologize for your behavior.”
“Whether it’s received well or not matters not.”
“I would feel u have redeemed yourself if you stop this behavior and actually are remorseful for it.”
“Be the bigger man.”
“If it’s just for health reasons, then there’s plenty more things you could have.”
“This was mainly personal preference.” ~ TreeOfAntiquity
“Hi, neurodivergent here who has OCD and doesn’t like changing or switching foods.”
“OP, YTA.”
“I understand the aversion to change and such, but taking the whole stock of red Gatorade on the stocking day is ridiculous.”
“If I have a food/drink that I enjoy, I don’t go and buy all of the stock and essentially say tough sh*t to another adult who has explained that their regular store is completely out of said drink.”
“Did you maybe think that her child is also neurodivergent???”
“And since she couldn’t find any at the other store, she came to the one where you were buying literally every red Gatorade to find some?”
“I am a special education Para educator, and one of my students only drinks purple Gatorade.”
“That student is unable to do most things themselves and needs a lot of support mentally and physically and he will ONLY drink purple Gatorade.”
“His mom would go to multiple stores just to find a pack of 8 purple Gatorades.”
“I’m having a hard time with this since you are physically and, what I would say mentally capable (compared to other neurodivergent people who do not have the ability to shop for themselves, let alone talk and type) to understand what you did was wrong.”
“OP in your post you stated the mom was asking you just to spare a few as you were buying the whole stock.”
“What if her child is neurodivergent and has debilitating eating habits that they only eat one or two things and ONLY drink red Gatorade.”
“So (if that was so) you just took away that child’s drink for the day/week.”
“Again I will state OP YTA.” ~ Frog-Bby
“I’ll probably get a lot of hate for this, but YTA.”
“You are indeed selfish for buying a store out of its entire stock of a product on the stock day because that means they will be out of that product for anyone who comes to buy it until they restock.”
“That lady shouldn’t have yelled at you obvs, but I do understand her frustration.”
“Just a suggestion, but if your need is that great you really should speak to the store manager because they’d likely be happy and able to order and stock extra if it’s a regular need.” ~ SpookyCoo
Well, OP, Reddit is not really thrilled with your actions.
It is understandable for you to have anxiety and food aversions.
But a little sharing helps everyone.
What’s done is done.
Next time maybe just spare a bottle or two.