Free food! | TheaterFire

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Ok_Industry3016@reddit

Rough buddy. Our house got broken into before we had an alarm system. Thin the asshole abused my cat because she was terrified when the the door opened and would run under the bed, Sometimes I saw her shaking so I grabbed her to let her go under the bed, Some people suck.

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Squibit314@reddit

Have you been to a Costco on a Saturday afternoon? 🤣 That’s prime free sample time.

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Vegaprime@reddit

Just for the hotdog combo would be worth it.

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Historical_Drink_350@reddit

My ex-girlfriend and I would hit Costco on a Saturday for a "free sample" lunch.

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ONROSREPUS@reddit

My wife and I grocery shop on saturday mornings before everybody is out and about. We hit the free samples as a appetizer for Saturday lunch. There is this little old white haired lady in her early 80's that is severing every morning. She really likes my wife and usually has something special saved for her.

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butterflygardyn@reddit

My dad did the same. And he wasn't lazy and we weren't poor. My husband volunteers to go to Costco on a Saturday (i would rather have bamboo shoots shoved under my fingernails) so he can eat his way around the store.

Men love free food.

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ScrammyGirl@reddit

What a great memory with my dad. The cheese samples were the BEST!

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oridisia@reddit

There were too many of us kiddos to take to the grocery store after the youngest ones joined the family. We ate a LOT of pancakes and spaghetti (not at the same time!). Both were very cheap to make. Might also explain why I like carbs so much. 😆

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TeaVinylGod@reddit

To save money, my mom would drop my sister and I off at a matinee while she went shopping with just enough money for a ticker, no popcorn!

That way we wouldn't be asking her for crap like cereal and ice cream bars. Saved her money.

And these matinees were old Disney films like Zebra in the Kitchen and The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes.

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Magerimoje@reddit

My mom just left me in the car

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SushiGirlRC@reddit

My mom left us at the library, but we weren't kids who ever asked for stuff at stores.

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Most-Confusion-417@reddit

Your mom was a genius!

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TransatlanticMadame@reddit

My mother would do this.

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Reader47b@reddit

Free samples? In the 80s? Ima gonna have to call bullshit.

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TurbulentRoof7538@reddit

Oh, yes. Many samples… cheese under domes, fruit under domes with toothpicks, ladies with tiny tables handing out food and coupons..yep. The 1970’s and 1980’s were a strands time

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Reader47b@reddit

Never, ever saw that.

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UnicornFarts1111@reddit

I worked with a sample lady in the 90s. Yes, they did this in regular grocery stores back then.

Now, the only place I see it regularly is at Costco.

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katiekat214@reddit

Publix does it occasionally, mostly in the deli

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Ok-Huckleberry-6326@reddit

Whole foods - Sometimes. Not that many but I knock the cheese cubes back. No shame in my game!
It's possible my reach outstrips my grasp shopping there in the first place, but wife insists on organic food.

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omfgwhatever@reddit

I don't remember it so much in the 70s (not saying it wasn't a thing), but definitely in the 80s.

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304libco@reddit

Heck I still like to go

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Leather_Network4743@reddit

My mom would go to three, sometimes four different grocery stores in a day to maximize coupons along with weekly sales to make sure she’d come in under the food stamp budget. Multiple “samples” of krab salad in the seafood department from one store then a free cookie from the bakery of another were always guarantees, but there would usually be something in the other one or two stores to round out the “meal”.

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omfgwhatever@reddit

Back when the coupons in the Sunday paper were for things you actually might buy.

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Outrageous_Drag6613@reddit

I remember my grandma doing that

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BraveG365@reddit

I never got to try any of the store samples....my mom always said they could be nasty since don't know who had touched them before hand or if someone sneezed around them etc.

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Nefandous_Jewel@reddit

Oh!! How CRUEL! Samples are two thirds of the fun of shopping!

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Lets-B-Lets-B-Jolly@reddit

Costco still has $1.50 hot dog and drink meals where we live. If samples don't fill the kiddos up, that will!

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dreaminginteal@reddit

Apparently when I was very young Mickey D's would have sales once per week or month. The regular hamburgers for 25 cents each. They'd get a bunch and freeze them... I don't remember; I was too young for Mickey D's.

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norvillerogers1971@reddit

When I was on welfare, I took my kids to Costco to graze on free samples on Sundays. My card was expired but I didn't buy anything so they never caught on

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Ok-Till-5285@reddit

took my kids to the movies, got a large drink and large popcorn, we would eat and drink it before rhe movie for lunch, refill them and then take it into the movie to share again. Broke mom, but we got to see movies!

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Awesomesince1973@reddit

I absolutely did that when my kids were little. Popcorn costs the theater next to nothing, it's the container they pay for and count. Same with soda.

(I worked at a theater)

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AnatBrat@reddit

Sam's used to give kids a "membership card" they could flash to get a cookie. My kids had them.

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thasparzan@reddit

The tradition continues at Costco

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sits_with_cats@reddit

Sam's Club too. Sad when I see crowds of seniors going from cart to cart to fill up on samples.

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saposguy@reddit

School lunch program got me through.

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wrldwdeu4ria@reddit

I've known plenty of people who made great incomes who hork down samples like they're starving to death. At least your dad made the effort to get you fed.

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Outrageous_Drag6613@reddit

Yep. Did that at Costco too well into adulthood. The best was the mall Sees candy samples.

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ConsultantForLife@reddit

My business partner's father-in-law did very well for himself. He sold farm equipment and I think his commission was 2%. That might not sound like much but go look up how much a new tractor cost, even 20 years ago.

The dude had a Sam's club membership just for lunch - he'd go there and get samples every day, and that was his lunch.

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CSILalaAnn@reddit

When my husband was starting his first business, we had a Sam's membership. For less than a dollar, he would get a drink there, then wander the store and try samples for lunch.

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iwantmy-2dollars@reddit

Last week we were walking through Raley’s tired as hell with a 3 and 5yo in the cart. The lady at the take out counter we walked by offered them chow mein (their favorite!). Those kids were so damned happy with their mini take out boxes of noodles and plastic forks, rolling through the grocery store like queens. Dinner and an errand done. That woman was a mom and a SAINT!

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DoookieMaxx@reddit

My brothers and I were truly feral …there was never anyone home, and rarely food.

We’d go to the local shopping center for samples …I still remember the circuit vividly:

Payless Grocery Bakery Cookie, then the chocolate shop owned by this little old lady …she was generous with samples, the pretzel stand and we’d finish it off at TCBY for frozen yogurt samples.

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YourGuyK@reddit

I guess I never thought it was a being poor thing. As an adult who isn't poor. I still like free samples.

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Kindly-Might-1879@reddit

My roommate and I did this in college, in the late 80s. We weren’t in poverty, but we were definitely frugal.

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ChemistVegetable7504@reddit

I remember giving a coupon for free small fries at Mickey D’s . You have to buy something to get the free fries but sometimes being a stubborn pain in the ass pays off.

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CitizenChatt@reddit

My parents would load up at the bakery outlet. Ignore the expiration date, and those snack cakes were just as good 😊👍

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Pattycakes1966@reddit

My husband would love to wander around Costco for the free samples.

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Accurate-Response317@reddit

I did that with my kids. It gave them something to do while shopping. It kept their minds distracted from the junk isles. As well they would get a snack or two, depending how hard they went. Also worked great when Easter show time came around, we would hit the produce hall hard before lunch.

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katinthewoodss@reddit

Absolutely. “Lunch” at Sam’s on a Saturday via the sample stations was a thing.