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Right or wrong?

Discussion in 'Gardening Discussions' started by Verdun, Jul 18, 2017.

  1. Verdun

    Verdun Passionate gardener

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    In local Lidl store earlier a woman was squeezing every nectarine in the display. And I mean EVERY nectarine for several minutes. :mad:
    "I'll have the fruit you've squeezed to death and rejected shall I" ? I said.
    By all means check the fruit in the punnet before you buy but EVERY ONE?
    this happens with bread too and these guys squeeze with a vigour! .....sorry if you are a "squeezer" too but this aint nice for the rest of us. :nonofinger:
    On the plus side another customer loudly praised my criticism :)
     
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    • Scrungee

      Scrungee Well known for it

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      Yes, saw parents watching their kids touching all the unwrapped bread in between picking their noses and Lidl's staff ignoring it, don't buy unwrapped stuff there any more, or lift top box and select fruit/veg from one beneath.
       
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      • Jiffy

        Jiffy The Match is on Fire

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        and that's when it's in the shops, you want to see what happerns to your food before it hits the shops :yikes:

        some of the things we have seen would put you off bread for sure :biggrin:
         
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        • shiney

          shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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          I agree and I also say something to them. :blue thumb:

          The stupid thing is that you can't check fruit that way to see if it's ripe. :noidea: By the time you're the tenth person to squeeze it the fruit will feel soft even if it isn't ripe! What you end up getting is unripe bruised fruit. :doh:

          The same problem occurs if you're trying to find a ripe honeydew melon. Everyone presses down on the top so eventually the top is soft - but it doesn't help the melon to ripen. There's a much more effective way to find a ripe melon.

          I'll have to continue this another time as I have to go out now. :snorky:
           
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          • pete

            pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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            I thought everyone knew that supermarket fruit is rarely ripe, if it is it's past its sell by date.
             
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            • Snorky85

              Snorky85 Total Gardener

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              I like that @Verdun ! I am very much for saying things aloud like that to get the message across. I don't like people man handling food and definitely not snotty kids. However......how on earth do you tell if an avocado is ripe without feeling it?!?! Please someone tell me-I am sick of wasting so much money on blimmin unripe avocados. @pete is right-only ripe when out of date....even the "ripe and ready" stuff.
               
            • shiney

              shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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              Back to the melon :heehee:. The best way to check it is to hold it close to your ear and tap it with your knuckle. If it sounds hollow then it's ripe.

              When it's not ripe the seeds inside, in their fleshy coating, fill the centre. As it ripens the seeds and fleshy coating shrink a bit. So when you tap it you get a slightly hollow sound.

              I ignore the looks of shoppers when I pick up a number of melons and test them. :snorky:

              Avocados:- these are a bit more difficult. Never press them with the tips of your fingers. Hold it in the palm of your hand, wrap your fingers around it and squeeze very gently. If there's a slight give to the avocado when you do that then it's ripening.

              @pete is correct. With most things they are not yet ripe. The products that they sell saying 'ready to eat' should be ready to eat. If you then cut them open at home and they're not ripe you should then phone the store, tell them what you bought and that it wasn't ripe, and take it back for a refund on your next visit. You need to keep the wrapper and take it with you. :blue thumb:
               
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              • Verdun

                Verdun Passionate gardener

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              • Jack Sparrow

                Jack Sparrow Total Gardener

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                I recently read a damning review of a pub stating that the landlord shouted at a child. The landlord replied that the child was in the flower bed picking the flowers whilst the parents sat and watched.

                G.
                 
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                • shiney

                  shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                  I'd not only have shouted at the child but asked the parents to leave. :old:

                  When I was still working (as a hairdresser) I had a procedure for handling awkward children. We used to get a lot of children and they were very welcome and all staff were encouraged to treat them as friends and equals - BUT - if they were unruly they were asked to stop. If that didn't work then the parent(s) was asked to stop them (usually quite sufficient in most cases). If that didn't work they were asked to leave, but sometimes they may have already been 'in the chair'. In those cases 'Ve had vays of making them good!' :whistle: :heehee:

                  We were the most popular salon in town - especially for children. We were even on TV in a feature on children in 1963. :dbgrtmb:
                   
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                  • miraflores

                    miraflores Total Gardener

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                    I am afraid I am also a squeezer :psnp:(sorryy) but a gentle one - (in my defence)
                     
                  • Verdun

                    Verdun Passionate gardener

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                    Sorry miraflores, if you are anything like this woman then practically every fruit was squeezed. I squeeze too....if too soft I leave it; if ok I buy. I dont squeeze the rest. I guess you can wash fruit but......
                    I think the worst are the squeezers of bread.....in many stores bread is unwrapped......dirty hands (with the best will in the world few of us wash our hands before we enter the store yet we would have handled money, shaken hands, petted our dogs, filled with fuel or worse) on fresh bread is not a good combination. I will comment, if the mood takes me, "we can have the rejects then, can we"?
                     
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                    • silu

                      silu gardening easy...hmmm

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                      I was in a Lidl a couple of days ago and spied a huge basket of very nice looking Cherries. I approached at speed thinking "ah I'll just have a taste of 1 and if good I'll buy a good bag full as I LOVE Cherries"
                      However, when I got closer I saw a hand written notice above the basket saying that Lidl was not keen on try before you buy, obviously others like myself like to test them. Ok I see their point but I was all ready to pop a cherry into the gob and see if they were nice or not with a view to buying lots. Crestfallen I bu''ered off down the fruit isle and bought some pretty bog standard Bananas instead. Cherries like plums can either be glorious or not so I wasn't really prepared to shell out for what are a quite expensive item before testing them 1st.
                       
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                      • Phil A

                        Phil A Guest

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                        You ought to copy that to Lidl @silu :)
                         
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                        • Verdun

                          Verdun Passionate gardener

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                          Other side of the coin folks......how many people have you seen eating the odd grape or two or three with no intention of buying. I have seen a family do this.
                          Other than food, how many of us try air fresheners, etc., and not purchase? Or unpack a product,return it to the shelves only to pick up an unopened one? Some customers are naughty :yahoo:
                          I guess it is a difficult balancing act for the stores.
                          I am far from a prude but the food squeezing is potentially a health problem :noidea:
                           
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