Aspies For Freedom

yup... Friendly NTs annoy the hell out of me, dunno bout you.

Well, he is just stating the fact that he hasn't seen you coming in with anyone else, in a not very tactful way (like an Aspie might do?  :? ).

I am not sure - if both work, perhaps on a weekend (like a big shopping load where you need a car - makes more sense to have two people to carry it to the car and deal with the bags etc), but most people I see in the checkouts at my local supermarket seem to be on their own even when they clearly buy stuff for a family.

Maybe he thinks you're cute and is trying to find out if you're single.   8)

Ooh, I HATE when that happens!  I once got laughed at by a greengrocer for only buying two carrots.  I was single at the time, and while I like carrots, two was all I needed.  But this NT made a real point of showing it to everybody else in the queue and saying:"who only buys a couple of carrots?"
She didn't seem to understand that there's no point in buying more and letting them rot in the fridge because you don't need a bag of twenty.  Honestly, NT's make me so mad!
Although I have to say, I've been married to one reasonably happily for the past twenty years.  
Alison

You all ought to live in New York City. Here, all the greengrocers are Korean and if they think you're odd, they keep their comments to themselves. There are also a lot of single people in my neighborhood so someone coming in to buy 2 carrots doesn't seem that odd. Today I bought a peach and some Benadryl.  :lol:

There is also a lot of competition. There's about five greengrocers within walking distance, 2 of them on the same block, so people will flit from store to store for the best quality and cheapest prices so buying in small quantities just isn't odd. Also, if you can get fresh food just a block away, why bother to buy a week's worth? It's better to buy it fresh on a daily basis. Europeans do it this way.

Speaking of Koreans, i've noticed that I generally get along best with people who don't share my nationality or ethnicity. Any time I get into a social situation that's made up of mostly white Americans, I know I'm in for it, but when I'm around mostly immigrants or African-Americans, I do fine. Anyone notice this?

I am so often criticized and mocked by NT's looking for a cheap laugh out of pretend sincerity that I have stopped buying it unless they've been on it for 2 weeks or so. I have known one NT who was social and nice all the time, though. Just wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the box...

Maybe your mother might think that you would be indignant if she was asking for your love-life? Or maybe, knowing you have no long-term relation, she does not want to upset you on that point? Usually mothers do care for it, so lack of interest is one of the reasons not so likely.

Sibylle

I honestly would have told him that his opinion is not needed, wanted, or even cared about. If he asked me what my problem was after that, well, that's what I have the "I am an Aspie. Got a problem with that?" bit for.

Checkout chit chat is weird! My wife often chats there and it drives me crazy! However, being on the checkout for hours upon hours is probably very boring and small talk about purchases may relieve the boredom.

There's no knowing why NTs say the things they do, so it's best not to attach too much importance to them. It doesn't sound as though there is anything to be suspicious of, or worry about.

I tend to agree, though i have the rotten luck of being born in a VERY unfriendly town, hell, we made national news.. because one of the people living in my neighborhood got jailed for attempted murder! Which has made me very suspicious.. Regarding the grocer, i think he was just a bit curious, unless he asks more, don't think more of it, if he does, he may or may not show interest.

Couples have a thing about shopping together, I find. What I hate to see is mum, dad and several small, tired and crotchety children in the supermarket while the parents waffle endlessly on about the merits of two pasta sauces... I just cant see the benefit of doing that... why cant one parent stay home with the kids while the other does the shopping? It cant be to get the kids involved (Alex loves to help me shop but then he really does help, counts veg and so on) cos they are belted into the buggy/ trolly and only spoken to when they are told not to whine/ scream/ touch.

Bickering and temper fraying en masse doesnt seem like a terribly good social activity even to the most sociable of parents!!

I read in a blog recently (written by someone who is obviously NT) that when he was living with a foreign student, the student found it strange that a checkout person would ask 'how are you?' when they were acquainted at all.  
His NT host, in being a good host to explain the cultural niceties, pointed out that she was just being nice, that sometimes ppl just ask how you are and may not even care about the answer.  The foreign student responded by saying that asking someone how they are and not really caring, is not nice!  

And the NT respected his logic.

Man, NTs just aren't satisified with their own lives, they have to go nosing into everyone else's.