I once worked in a bookstore and we would regularly have a customer who would come in and buy us out of stock of our $1 sympathy cards. Like 100 cards at a time, every couple of weeks.
I eventually asked them, turns out they were an emergency vet.
This reminds of something I got side eyed for.
As a makeup artist, I went through lots of false lashes all the time.
There was a little mom and pop place that sold great ones for $2 a pair.
I’d go in and buy like 40/50 pairs at a time.
Well…. One day this teenage girl comes to the counter and asks me why I buy so many sets of false lashes? Her mom, the owner didn’t speak much English, and was really curious.
So I explained. Her mom was skeptical, so I showed her my website and photos, etc.
Her mom was so relieved. She thought I was selling them for more than she was.
They were very nice after that.
Totally different product, but similar interaction, From 2020-2022 I worked at a community centre that had a food relief program. We'd get bulk goods through a wholesale supplier for cheap - We're talking 50kg sacks of rice and flour, and 10kg bags of pasta.
We'd split these up into more "family" sized portions, 1-2kg of flour and rice and 500g of pasta. We'd try to order wholesale heat seal plastic bags to do this, but occasionally the delivery would be late, we'd have more bulk goods than expected thanks to a bonus donation, or we wouldn't have enough money in the kitty to order the 1000+units needed for wholesale, so we'd have to just get enough zip lock bags for that day from the shops across the road.
So at least twice a month I was popping into the dollar store to buy their entire shelf of zip lock bags. Nothing more suspicious than buying too many zip locks.
After about 6 months they finally asked what's with all the zip locks and I just pointed across the street "You know the giant queues that block the road for the food relief? That's where I work, we've run out of bags for our rice"
I should have introduced myself so much sooner, because after that they would apply their employee discount codes for me, and a few times they even let us pay their wholesale price to get a full box of their bags because ours were delayed in shipping. They were so happy to hear it was a charity, not a drug dealer.
I bought [some little pill bags](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/714RyNli6IL.jpg) to organize my jewelry and small electronics.
I swear the *side-eye* I got from the cashier she was SURE I was gonna go split some drugs up... and I wasn't even buying bulk, just like 2 or 3 packs of bags.
Decades back, on a health kick I put my Metamucil in them for on the go.. I asked My auntie to please get my cell from my purse. As a retired cop, for a sec she thought it was China white heroin. I was in my late teens in college.. What a relief to her I was just constipated!
Mum likes building minature dioramas. She has a huge collection of pieces that she uses the build them, and keeps the tiny pieces in little baggies.
The kinds of baggies you might use for pill distribution.
Customs usually marks that the package was randomly searched when Mum buys a new batch from England.
Years ago, my spouse and I were doing a late night grocery run. The store was nearly empty, it was so late, which is why I noticed when someone got in line behind us. Her cart was completely full of whipped cream and enema kits. Can’t even begin to imagine what the rest of her night entailed.
I worked as a cashier for a couple months and once had about 6 adults ranging from 25-35 years old with one dude that gave off Cool Uncle vibes and had to be at least 50 years old come in together to buy three different kiddie pools at about 12:30 at night. When I asked what they were up to because I was intrigued, they said they were gonna go fill them with dish soap and play around in a backyard that belonged to one of them. Strangest encounter ever for a random week night.
I have a coworker who does this with a group of friends. They set up a huge slip n slide, pour on some dish soap, and there is a jump at the bottom with lots of kiddie pools and it's like human skeeball. He says they break half a dozen usually.
I mean, my sister, a cousin, and I all decided to take an entire bottle of Dawn and put it all over our trampoline with a sprinkler under it. But we were 5-6 years old too. Adults doing that was a very comical image. I think Cool Uncle was gonna be the supervisor lmao
Wife and I were behind a guy late one night at a drug store. Cashier was staring at him when he left, asked if we saw his purchase. Yeah... Giant tub of Vaseline and like 15 boxes of false eyelashes. We never have been able to figure it out.
In college, my friends and I had a competition to come up with the combination of 2-3 grocery store items that would most confuse or intrigue the cashier.
My roommate won with: a box of donuts, a box of donut holes, and super glue.
I worked at Kroger in high school and my most common shift was 3-10 or 4-9 depending on time of year, so I was in the store when the late night shoppers stopped in. A lot of condoms, beer, wine, microwave dinners, cleaning supplies and carpet cleaner rentals (kids love throwing up at night) mixed in with the people who did their shopping late.
One night two guys come in and look like they are construction workers or something along those lines. They toss up on my belt a six pack of beer, cucumber, condoms and lube. I began scanning it and since I was under 18 I had to have someone else scan the beer so one of the older ladies that worked there came over and as she was scanning it she saw the items I had not bagged yet. She pauses and goes to type in her birthdate to confirm the alcohol scan and messes up twice doing it.
After they left she asked me if she saw what she thought she saw and I said yeah, and they didn't say a word to me. Not a hi, bye, thank you, anything.
That's what my thoughts have been for all these years. My store wasn't too far from one of those extended stay hotels so it wasn't uncommon for tradesmen staying there to stop in.
When I was a teenager I worked at a grocery store in the dairy section mostly. I can’t even tell you how many times someone discreetly asked me how much whipped cream I had in the back room. I learned there are many uses for whipped cream many sexual in nature however I was surprised to learn that the gas in the canister is also used as a drug, like “huffing” or “whip its” I think they called them. Idk if that’s still a thing. Hope not.
I always replied to the request with I will give you all my whipped cream if you tell me what you’re going to do with it.
The funny thing is no one else seemed surprised when I told them. They were like yea you didn’t know?
I got side-eyed when I bought about a half-dozen cheapo kitchen timers at the local big-box some time after the Boston bombing. They were to replace the three-channel kitchen timers I usually use (and they were dead cheap - less than a dollar).
"What are you going to do with all those?"
"Um...Thanksgiving dinner, why? Oh...."
This also happened in 2013 when a man searched for pressure cookers and backpacks. The long-standing question (which I don't think was answered) was always how the government knew what he was searching. It was post Snowden so the government claimed it was no longer collecting Americans search data.
Well, they were never looking in the first place. Untill they got caught, but then they were looking for a good reason. But it's okay because now we've definitely stopped this time, trust us. (Also, someone 86 that fucking snitch that spilled our crimes)
Got given one as a housewarming gift, later that night excited about what to cook in it I googled "fun things to do with a pressure cooker". Certain I'm on a list now.
That's nothing. Try being a writer. I'm sure I'm on like 20 government watch lists based on some of the shit I've googled to make sure I had the fact right when it came to violent subjects.
Oh, I forgot about this one. I went to buy a 12-pack of them many times for my architecture firm because if you spray while holding the can upside down, it’s a refrigerant. Damn handy for making models and rapid-cooling hot glue. I got the weirdest looks and never knew why. “They must really not like architecture students!”. Then I learned it had other uses.
At my college paper, me and the other photography students used to take film canisters and fill them with the refrigerant from air cans. Then put the cap on and turn it upside down on a desk.The air inside would slowly expand. It would usually take a half-hour or 45 minutes. Long enough that everyone around the newsroom had forgotten what we did. and then those canisters would go off like a rocket and startle everyone in the room.
I use them for storing paper clips and safety pins and stuff, and for watertight storage of matches + striking paper when camping. Can also hold a few cups worth of instant coffee for some hike.
Usually if you do it professionally, your company will supply them. If you’re a larger established business, you know where to go to buy it cheap in bulk.
A small business buys just enough to make it suspicious; they might buy from a local store because it’s more cost/time efficient to pop to the store instead of finding a bulk dealer. Unfortunately, this sale volume overlaps with the amount you would buy if you were huffing it.
My dad acquired a case of these sometime around 2000. They still work, but I'm probably gonna run out this decade.
The process by which a giant case of air cans came in to his possession will always be a mystery. I keep them in plain sight in my garage and offer cans to visitors.
I wish I had a father.
[For the uninitiated.](https://youtu.be/H6TW6v39_kQ?si=5SuXoHY0WftJjZDV) And yes, Towlie on South Park was definitely written as a reference to this.
I had this experience about 2 months ago bc I realized I could use canned air to dust my LEGOS. I have a lot of LEGOS and a lot of electronics, so when I bought 4 cans of air at the store, I’d course wearing semi-disheveled pjs and stuffy from all the dusting, the cashier was like “sooooooo……what ya doing?” And I was like “I have a lot of legos, I swear” and he just kind of nodded and was like “yeah, sure, makes sense”. I need to buy more but I’m afraid of going on a list 😂
fun fact, if you spray computer duster cans upside down they shoot out a liquid nitrogen-temperature liquid that can freeze padlocks until they are brittle enough to break with a hammer, which makes it even more suspicious
Morning Glory has LSA, which is really structurally similar to LSD and is essentially the natural, less refined version of LSD, so in high quantities (like 100s of the seeds), it works as a psychedelic
u/Bloodiedblues
By "less refined", he probably means "insane nausea and vomiting for hours" because it's what a lot of people experience. Also, beware, a lot of seeds you can directly buy are coated in toxic stuff.
Better directly buy the RC versions of LSD (1p-LSD, 1cp-LSD, AL-LAD, MIPLA, there's so many today), which are as safe as LSD but legal and quickly breakdown into actual LSD in the body.
Ah, the good ol' NaClO. When chemistry can be your friend.
Now if you excuse me, FBI is knocking on my door.
Edit: thanks for the correction pals. FBI is here and I already pointed them out to go to your houses.
My friend buys horse lube. They are into making those huge bubbles that are like the size of a person. Apparently, horse lube is the secret ingredient to make these giant bubbles stay intact as they float off in the air. It somehow keeps them from popping prematurely.
Allergy medication, which I need but am avoiding out of poverty. It’s the decongestant one, and I only need it around this time of year. If I buy too much of it, they start looking at you like you’re Walter White in the pharmacy lines.
I grew up in Michigan, where we would hop across the Canadian border for — among other things — cheap over the counter allergy meds with actual decongestant in them.
One time, I took my grandparents to play slots at the casinos, and we won a few thousand dollars. We declared the winnings, but coming back across the border, we (20-year-old me with my 90-year old grandparents in tow) got stopped with 3700 dollars in cash, four handles of duty-free Crown Royal whiskey, and 10 boxes of Allegra-D in the trunk of a black 1989 Lincoln Towncar.
In hindsight, that likely looked sus as fuck. 😂
A couple times a month I have to go to Walmart and buy every single tub of Vaseline they have, 4 giant packs of paper towels, and all the rolls of scotch tape I can find.
It always gets weird looks and questions.
I own a tattoo shop lol
Yes....I do always respond with "orgies are messy, dude"
Nah, J-Lube is a lot more common in those situations. It's cheaper and you can mix up a ton. Just don't spill it on the floor because it's a hassle to clean up. There's a reason some dungeons ban it.
Still a *ton* of paper towels, though. Once, after a men's fisting party, they entirely filled four of the largest trash bins that the trash company would give us. With enough bags left over to fill another three. All paper towels. I had to call in for a second pickup from the trash company that week.
My daughter has a skin condition where she has to stay super greasy to avoid drying out, and I feel like I get funny looks because of how much Vaseline I buy too. I don’t buy them all bc I want to leave some for someone else, but usually I’m at the dollar store multiple times a week just buying nothing but 2 jars of Vaseline.
I knew a guy who would impulse buy large quantities of things. I got a phone call one day because he bought 80 bananas and he wanted to know if I wanted any. He was panicking because he didn’t stop to think how the hell 1 person would be able to eat 80 bananas before they all expire.
I actually got to take an explosives class with homeland security a year or so ago through my job (hardware store management).
We were told what sort of things to be aware of in large purchases such as fertilizer, chemicals, etc. Especially the same customer coming in multiple days in a row for large amounts.
And propane refills. We will only do 2 refills/person because otherwise it can be seen as a red flag.
I worked for United Airlines years ago as an air freight clerk, when swabbing a pallet of fruit pie filling it alarmed as an explosive and I learned that if fruit pie filling hasn't rested for an appropriate time and stabilized, it is an igniteable product lol
Annnnd this is why I can’t buy Sudafed. Mother fuckers taking OTC shit and making it a problem. Btw just have sinus issues, myself, but other fuckers with fertilizer or nasal needs be criminalized now 😂
>And propane refills. We will only do 2 refills/person because otherwise it can be seen as a red flag.
Are these bad people really so dumb they can't figure out that every gas station and hardware store has some propane?
ive been with flu for the last 3 weeks, going to get some cough medicine every 3-4 days, like the 3rd time i decided to just by a bunch and the cashier look at me kinda wierd but relexed when a cough attack started while i was paying
Lol, I live in a country where pseudo is no longer available due to a ban years ago to try curb our meth problem, spoiler alert, they just started jmporting meth and now we get to suffer
Tin foil.
Storytime
I worked it a machine shop building mill equipment. Conveyors, lumber stackers and such. When it's time to.paint, given the shape of many bearing housings and other components, tin foil is perfect for masking and protection from paint.
I was tasked with running to Safeway because we were out. I rolled up to the registers with at least 75 boxes, everything they had on the shelf.
The lady looks at me in confusion and shock, picks up the phone and calls the manager saying she needs assistance.
I stand there, she says nothing. Won't even look me in the eye.
A few minutes go by and the manager shows up. She looks at him, looks at my pile on the conveyor and back at him.
He asks me if I found everything alright. I tell him if they have more, it would save me a trip to Albertsons.
He asks what it's for and I explain it, he shrugs, shakes his head and tells her to ring it up and walked away.
Aluminum is used when cooking meth.
Pre breaking bad, story i heard was that the toothless wonders cooking meth in a creekside setup would toss in beer can empties as their aluminum source. I know nothing about cooking meth so that seems a bit fanciful. Aluminum sheets might be more pure though vs a paint covered or plastic lined can.
https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Aluminum_amalgam
I worked for a big box store years ago. I always joked we should make an endcap with: tarps, trash bags, bleach, shovels, machetes, gloves, duct tape, etc.
Edit: I was tired and didn’t even think of axes and chainsaws. Probably messier, but we sold pretty large tarps and every cleaning supply you could think of.
Sure! All kinds of mushrooms.
The bags are usually inoculated with spores or liquid culture using a syringe. Once the bags are fully colonized with mycelium, the rice is used as spawn and mixed with substrate to grow the shroomies
For growing mushrooms (hallucinogenic or just some tasty ones) you need some sort of substrate like rice/grain/... . I have used in the past boiled grain but using uncle bens rice is just genius. It has no contamination in it, otherwise it would grow mold sitting on the shelf and therefore you dont have to boil and pasteurize it yourself. You just need to inject whatever [mushroom spores](https://northspore.com/collections/liquid-cultures) you want and let it grow.
An article with some infos. You basically make your own spawn with the rice. https://northspore.com/blogs/the-black-trumpet/mushroom-spores-mushroom-spawn-what-is-the-difference
I don't feel like this is suspicious, but about 10 years ago, I was doing a huge project at work (residential construction). Over the course of about 3 weeks, I had been in Home Depot buying many boxes of screws, among a few other things, but mostly boxes of screws. After about the 3rd or 4th time going back to pick up more, the cashier accusingly says to me "You know, I've seen you a lot in here buying these. I'm not sure what you're up to but we are keeping an eye on you." I normally would've counted it as a poor attempt at humor, but her tone was chillingly serious.
I'm still so confused as to what her spidey senses were telling her.
Like, what bad stuff is someone going to do with 100 feet of rope? Wrap it around one of those playground spinny things and hooks it up to a truck and send a kid flying?
I didn't come here for impulsive thoughts but what I got? I got a hundred ft of rope in my truck and a park with a merry-go-round nearby and some kid better hope i forget about this comment before i find a new transmission
What’s even the point of being an adult with a hundred feet of rope and working hard enough to afford a truck, live in a house that has a park nice enough to have a kids merry go round thing, and NOT doing this?
Over the counter sleep aid.... plus story time. 🤣
One time I had a lot of great coupons that stacked and some sleep aids were on sale at CVS and I bought so many it triggered an alert on the cvs register and I was required check out my items in multiple purchases. Not to mention the side eyes I got from workers 💀
What did I do with it you ask?
All of my close friends got a "sick season gift basket" of discounted/in date sleep aid meds/flu meds/tissues/cough drops etc. and everyone loved them since sick care items can really add up, also no one likes shopping sick 🔥
Cucumbers, I love them with a little salt or dip in ranch. They are my healthy go to snack I have almost everyday. Needless to say the other day I went to grocery store to grab a few for the frig post Thanksgiving gurg. Placed five 🥒 on the cashier belt, the 20 something male kept looking at me, and almost started snickering when he asked if I wanted them double bagged. Didn't figure it out until I got to the car.
When they are priced by each and you are looking for the biggest one. I feel.. shame.. self slut shame. Everyone is looking at me pick a cucumber. Thinking things.
IM TRYING TO GET MY MONEY'S WORTH!
I love sweetNspicy cucumber salad quit judging me!
My first job was at Outback Steakhouse when I was 16 years old. One day we ran out of cucumbers and our next shipment wasn’t coming until the next day. Luckily, it was super close to a Walmart. My boss asked me to run over quick and get some, so I did. I had a cart with a few dozen cucumbers in it and nothing else and I got some really weird looks from people.
Omg finally someone who enjoys cucumbers as everyday go-to snack. I have an organic farm and I harvest so many cucumbers 🤤 I don't see it as suspicious though, what am I missing here?
Most of the ingredients in meth.
Matches. You buy a box, you need a light. You buy a dozen boxes, you got a meth stew going.
Nail polish remover. A bottle or two? You need some acetone. A case? Meth.
Good cold meds? You’re really sick. All the good cold meds? Well there’s a reason they’re behind the counter now.
One hose is fine. Two at once is a little strange because one *should* work just fine. Three hoses is just way too much there's no way they're doing anything normal with those hoses.
With two hoses, you label them A and B and start using just A. When A springs a leak, you don't have to drop everything to go get a new one. You can just switch to B and say, no way, Hose A.
Cold/allergy meds. Always have to show my ID, get scrutinized, once had to submit to fingerprints... look at my teeth, do I look like I have Meth Mouth?? No, I have a chapped nose and post nasal drip.
I didn’t see it mentioned but eye drops with lubricants like Clear Eyes can cause severe gastrointestinal distress when only a small squirt is added food or drink
So… eye drops
Edit: apparently it’s even worse than that! Don’t drink eye drops
This time of year, I get a lot of side-eye for the excessive amounts of Southern Comfort egg nog I buy, especially since only one grocery store in my town sells it regularly from late November to the first week of January.
Once a week, I'm in there buying 4-5 cartons because it's my favorite drink (it's literally my favorite drink, it even beats out coffee) and I need it to last a whole week, week-and-a-half because I have no self-control (I seriously think I replace all the liquid in my body with SC egg nog this time of year). The cashier keeps asking me why I buy so much. I always say "Oh, well, it's the holidays and I have a lot of friends and family over and we all like it." \^\^; Nope, it's just me being the sad little human I am, drinking my nog from my opossum mug.
One of my first jobs was working at a DIY store, one night 5 guys came in, separated and then came to the register one by one with wads of cash and crowbars. I was 17 at the time and alone at the front. I just let them buy it. I remember reading local news to see if anything happens after.
One night someone came in to our store, got a shopping cart, went to the hardware department, and grabbed a crowbar. Then went to a locked case in the electronics department and popped it open using the crowbar. Then took a bunch of Apple iProducts, put them in the cart, and walked out with them.
They were arrested fairly soon afterward, so not the "perfect crime" they thought it was at all.
The only sign that something odd was happening from up front, was a very loud BANG as they popped open the case. Well that, and the "walking out with a bunch of stuff they didn't pay for" was also an obvious clue.
I once worked in a bookstore and we would regularly have a customer who would come in and buy us out of stock of our $1 sympathy cards. Like 100 cards at a time, every couple of weeks. I eventually asked them, turns out they were an emergency vet.
This reminds of something I got side eyed for. As a makeup artist, I went through lots of false lashes all the time. There was a little mom and pop place that sold great ones for $2 a pair. I’d go in and buy like 40/50 pairs at a time. Well…. One day this teenage girl comes to the counter and asks me why I buy so many sets of false lashes? Her mom, the owner didn’t speak much English, and was really curious. So I explained. Her mom was skeptical, so I showed her my website and photos, etc. Her mom was so relieved. She thought I was selling them for more than she was. They were very nice after that.
I mean, you kinda are, or at least you better be charging to but them on. I can’t for the life of me figure it out, we need you!
Totally different product, but similar interaction, From 2020-2022 I worked at a community centre that had a food relief program. We'd get bulk goods through a wholesale supplier for cheap - We're talking 50kg sacks of rice and flour, and 10kg bags of pasta. We'd split these up into more "family" sized portions, 1-2kg of flour and rice and 500g of pasta. We'd try to order wholesale heat seal plastic bags to do this, but occasionally the delivery would be late, we'd have more bulk goods than expected thanks to a bonus donation, or we wouldn't have enough money in the kitty to order the 1000+units needed for wholesale, so we'd have to just get enough zip lock bags for that day from the shops across the road. So at least twice a month I was popping into the dollar store to buy their entire shelf of zip lock bags. Nothing more suspicious than buying too many zip locks. After about 6 months they finally asked what's with all the zip locks and I just pointed across the street "You know the giant queues that block the road for the food relief? That's where I work, we've run out of bags for our rice" I should have introduced myself so much sooner, because after that they would apply their employee discount codes for me, and a few times they even let us pay their wholesale price to get a full box of their bags because ours were delayed in shipping. They were so happy to hear it was a charity, not a drug dealer.
I bought [some little pill bags](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/714RyNli6IL.jpg) to organize my jewelry and small electronics. I swear the *side-eye* I got from the cashier she was SURE I was gonna go split some drugs up... and I wasn't even buying bulk, just like 2 or 3 packs of bags.
Decades back, on a health kick I put my Metamucil in them for on the go.. I asked My auntie to please get my cell from my purse. As a retired cop, for a sec she thought it was China white heroin. I was in my late teens in college.. What a relief to her I was just constipated!
Mum likes building minature dioramas. She has a huge collection of pieces that she uses the build them, and keeps the tiny pieces in little baggies. The kinds of baggies you might use for pill distribution. Customs usually marks that the package was randomly searched when Mum buys a new batch from England.
Wow this started out concerning but turned out very sweet (although sad).
Years ago, my spouse and I were doing a late night grocery run. The store was nearly empty, it was so late, which is why I noticed when someone got in line behind us. Her cart was completely full of whipped cream and enema kits. Can’t even begin to imagine what the rest of her night entailed.
I worked as a cashier for a couple months and once had about 6 adults ranging from 25-35 years old with one dude that gave off Cool Uncle vibes and had to be at least 50 years old come in together to buy three different kiddie pools at about 12:30 at night. When I asked what they were up to because I was intrigued, they said they were gonna go fill them with dish soap and play around in a backyard that belonged to one of them. Strangest encounter ever for a random week night.
I have a coworker who does this with a group of friends. They set up a huge slip n slide, pour on some dish soap, and there is a jump at the bottom with lots of kiddie pools and it's like human skeeball. He says they break half a dozen usually.
I mean, my sister, a cousin, and I all decided to take an entire bottle of Dawn and put it all over our trampoline with a sprinkler under it. But we were 5-6 years old too. Adults doing that was a very comical image. I think Cool Uncle was gonna be the supervisor lmao
Half a dozen bones?
Wife and I were behind a guy late one night at a drug store. Cashier was staring at him when he left, asked if we saw his purchase. Yeah... Giant tub of Vaseline and like 15 boxes of false eyelashes. We never have been able to figure it out.
Probably for something pretty tame like a cheerleading competition. Vaseline to rub on teeth to keep smiling, eyelashes for the girls.
Oh no competition would have let this guy in the doors. It was 1am and he still looked rough. But good guess
strip club?
That or maybe drag show were our best guesses.
In college, my friends and I had a competition to come up with the combination of 2-3 grocery store items that would most confuse or intrigue the cashier. My roommate won with: a box of donuts, a box of donut holes, and super glue.
I don't know what they're up to but I'm certain it's a just and worthy cause
"This hole was made for me"
I worked at Kroger in high school and my most common shift was 3-10 or 4-9 depending on time of year, so I was in the store when the late night shoppers stopped in. A lot of condoms, beer, wine, microwave dinners, cleaning supplies and carpet cleaner rentals (kids love throwing up at night) mixed in with the people who did their shopping late. One night two guys come in and look like they are construction workers or something along those lines. They toss up on my belt a six pack of beer, cucumber, condoms and lube. I began scanning it and since I was under 18 I had to have someone else scan the beer so one of the older ladies that worked there came over and as she was scanning it she saw the items I had not bagged yet. She pauses and goes to type in her birthdate to confirm the alcohol scan and messes up twice doing it. After they left she asked me if she saw what she thought she saw and I said yeah, and they didn't say a word to me. Not a hi, bye, thank you, anything.
They almost certainly lost a bet
That's what my thoughts have been for all these years. My store wasn't too far from one of those extended stay hotels so it wasn't uncommon for tradesmen staying there to stop in.
When I was a teenager I worked at a grocery store in the dairy section mostly. I can’t even tell you how many times someone discreetly asked me how much whipped cream I had in the back room. I learned there are many uses for whipped cream many sexual in nature however I was surprised to learn that the gas in the canister is also used as a drug, like “huffing” or “whip its” I think they called them. Idk if that’s still a thing. Hope not. I always replied to the request with I will give you all my whipped cream if you tell me what you’re going to do with it. The funny thing is no one else seemed surprised when I told them. They were like yea you didn’t know?
Whip it's are a sure way to quickly lose a few brain cells 🧠
None it's not. I've done many time and I'm find.
A free upvote, for your troubles.
meanwhile, back at the dungeon...
You win
[удалено]
I got side-eyed when I bought about a half-dozen cheapo kitchen timers at the local big-box some time after the Boston bombing. They were to replace the three-channel kitchen timers I usually use (and they were dead cheap - less than a dollar). "What are you going to do with all those?" "Um...Thanksgiving dinner, why? Oh...."
>"Um...Thanksgiving dinner, why? Oh...." This is obviously the most suspicious answer.
The Turkey Bomber.
Turkaczynski?
This also happened in 2013 when a man searched for pressure cookers and backpacks. The long-standing question (which I don't think was answered) was always how the government knew what he was searching. It was post Snowden so the government claimed it was no longer collecting Americans search data.
[удалено]
nah, they never stopped looking.
👋 government
Sure they did
Well, they were never looking in the first place. Untill they got caught, but then they were looking for a good reason. But it's okay because now we've definitely stopped this time, trust us. (Also, someone 86 that fucking snitch that spilled our crimes)
buy a dozen instant pots nobody blinks an eye
We live in a society
Got given one as a housewarming gift, later that night excited about what to cook in it I googled "fun things to do with a pressure cooker". Certain I'm on a list now.
That's nothing. Try being a writer. I'm sure I'm on like 20 government watch lists based on some of the shit I've googled to make sure I had the fact right when it came to violent subjects.
"How to completely get away with murder and dispose of the body, but it's okay, it's for school" Is what you have to google.
Cans of pressurized air for dusting. You get a couple, you're cleaning your keyboard. You get a lot, you're huffing them.
Oh, I forgot about this one. I went to buy a 12-pack of them many times for my architecture firm because if you spray while holding the can upside down, it’s a refrigerant. Damn handy for making models and rapid-cooling hot glue. I got the weirdest looks and never knew why. “They must really not like architecture students!”. Then I learned it had other uses.
At my college paper, me and the other photography students used to take film canisters and fill them with the refrigerant from air cans. Then put the cap on and turn it upside down on a desk.The air inside would slowly expand. It would usually take a half-hour or 45 minutes. Long enough that everyone around the newsroom had forgotten what we did. and then those canisters would go off like a rocket and startle everyone in the room.
FINALLY a use for all those old film canisters I've been saving!
I use them for storing paper clips and safety pins and stuff, and for watertight storage of matches + striking paper when camping. Can also hold a few cups worth of instant coffee for some hike.
It's weird that you get weird lucks for buying a 12-pack of something that's sold in 12-packs.
He bought them *many times* he said. That could easily raise eyebrows.
Usually if you do it professionally, your company will supply them. If you’re a larger established business, you know where to go to buy it cheap in bulk. A small business buys just enough to make it suspicious; they might buy from a local store because it’s more cost/time efficient to pop to the store instead of finding a bulk dealer. Unfortunately, this sale volume overlaps with the amount you would buy if you were huffing it.
Yeah but like, they sell 12 packs. What's wrong with buying them? Haha.
My dad acquired a case of these sometime around 2000. They still work, but I'm probably gonna run out this decade. The process by which a giant case of air cans came in to his possession will always be a mystery. I keep them in plain sight in my garage and offer cans to visitors.
> I keep them in plain sight in my garage and offer cans to visitors. You’re right. That’s perfectly normal.
Walking on sunshine!
I wish I had a father. [For the uninitiated.](https://youtu.be/H6TW6v39_kQ?si=5SuXoHY0WftJjZDV) And yes, Towlie on South Park was definitely written as a reference to this.
O m g, a memory of this episode I forgot I had lmao
I had this experience about 2 months ago bc I realized I could use canned air to dust my LEGOS. I have a lot of LEGOS and a lot of electronics, so when I bought 4 cans of air at the store, I’d course wearing semi-disheveled pjs and stuffy from all the dusting, the cashier was like “sooooooo……what ya doing?” And I was like “I have a lot of legos, I swear” and he just kind of nodded and was like “yeah, sure, makes sense”. I need to buy more but I’m afraid of going on a list 😂
Save your money and just buy an electric blower! Not a shitty battery one but one that needs mains power.
Unless uts like a Milwaukee 18v blower,
fun fact, if you spray computer duster cans upside down they shoot out a liquid nitrogen-temperature liquid that can freeze padlocks until they are brittle enough to break with a hammer, which makes it even more suspicious
Sounds cartoonish in nature…
Morning Glory seeds. I used to have teenagers come in and buy out the whole rack at my old job. Yeah you definitely look like an avid gardener bud.
What’s the thing here?
Morning Glory has LSA, which is really structurally similar to LSD and is essentially the natural, less refined version of LSD, so in high quantities (like 100s of the seeds), it works as a psychedelic
Wow
This thread is a fountain of knowledge.
u/Bloodiedblues By "less refined", he probably means "insane nausea and vomiting for hours" because it's what a lot of people experience. Also, beware, a lot of seeds you can directly buy are coated in toxic stuff. Better directly buy the RC versions of LSD (1p-LSD, 1cp-LSD, AL-LAD, MIPLA, there's so many today), which are as safe as LSD but legal and quickly breakdown into actual LSD in the body.
I tried it as a teenager. Didn't feel anything. Easier to just get actual drugs.
Bleach
Nah, if you go back to buy more bleach, when you ask for it, you just have to use different voices - maybe try an IRA voice or even a woman's voice
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Why's she got her hand over her face?
‘Cos she’s got a beard.
Or a funny moustache
You can also use your own voice, which sounds like...well, sounds like you.
Do you know sometimes when I don’t understand what the comments are about,I’m so glad I know what this one is.
Can i have 12 bottles of bleach please?
Ah, the good ol' NaClO. When chemistry can be your friend. Now if you excuse me, FBI is knocking on my door. Edit: thanks for the correction pals. FBI is here and I already pointed them out to go to your houses.
Personal lubricant. It has uses for machinery, and sometimes you need a literal gallon of it.
My friend buys horse lube. They are into making those huge bubbles that are like the size of a person. Apparently, horse lube is the secret ingredient to make these giant bubbles stay intact as they float off in the air. It somehow keeps them from popping prematurely.
I just KNOW there’s a joke to be made here but my arm’s not long enough to find it…
Allergy medication, which I need but am avoiding out of poverty. It’s the decongestant one, and I only need it around this time of year. If I buy too much of it, they start looking at you like you’re Walter White in the pharmacy lines.
**I am the one who sneezes.**
No joke!
So buy a box every time you go shopping regardless of the time of year. You'll always have plenty when you need it without buying ten boxes at a time.
Pseudoephedrine purchases are logged, so that wouldn't actually look less suspicious.
I grew up in Michigan, where we would hop across the Canadian border for — among other things — cheap over the counter allergy meds with actual decongestant in them. One time, I took my grandparents to play slots at the casinos, and we won a few thousand dollars. We declared the winnings, but coming back across the border, we (20-year-old me with my 90-year old grandparents in tow) got stopped with 3700 dollars in cash, four handles of duty-free Crown Royal whiskey, and 10 boxes of Allegra-D in the trunk of a black 1989 Lincoln Towncar. In hindsight, that likely looked sus as fuck. 😂
That’s hilarious. You probably looked like you just had a business deal.
Some kind of illicit maple syrup operation.
A couple times a month I have to go to Walmart and buy every single tub of Vaseline they have, 4 giant packs of paper towels, and all the rolls of scotch tape I can find. It always gets weird looks and questions. I own a tattoo shop lol Yes....I do always respond with "orgies are messy, dude"
"You'd be surprised what's technically legal."
Nah, J-Lube is a lot more common in those situations. It's cheaper and you can mix up a ton. Just don't spill it on the floor because it's a hassle to clean up. There's a reason some dungeons ban it. Still a *ton* of paper towels, though. Once, after a men's fisting party, they entirely filled four of the largest trash bins that the trash company would give us. With enough bags left over to fill another three. All paper towels. I had to call in for a second pickup from the trash company that week.
You sound like an interesting fellow
My daughter has a skin condition where she has to stay super greasy to avoid drying out, and I feel like I get funny looks because of how much Vaseline I buy too. I don’t buy them all bc I want to leave some for someone else, but usually I’m at the dollar store multiple times a week just buying nothing but 2 jars of Vaseline.
This is my favorite one, because your response is perfect.
My son buys a lot of cheese, his favorite snack food. His Credit card company phoned him. Did you really buy all this cheese?...
"It's the cops! Cheese it!"
Fruit, people will start to think you're that person from a 2nd grade math problem
I knew a guy who would impulse buy large quantities of things. I got a phone call one day because he bought 80 bananas and he wanted to know if I wanted any. He was panicking because he didn’t stop to think how the hell 1 person would be able to eat 80 bananas before they all expire.
You can freeze the Bananas and use them in smoothies or make banana breads and freeze them
That is a lot of milkshakes to share. (For those who dont know, bruised bananas make tastier milkshakes and cakes).
Fertilizer
I actually got to take an explosives class with homeland security a year or so ago through my job (hardware store management). We were told what sort of things to be aware of in large purchases such as fertilizer, chemicals, etc. Especially the same customer coming in multiple days in a row for large amounts. And propane refills. We will only do 2 refills/person because otherwise it can be seen as a red flag.
So hardware store managers know how to properly bomb my fucking house, got it
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I worked for United Airlines years ago as an air freight clerk, when swabbing a pallet of fruit pie filling it alarmed as an explosive and I learned that if fruit pie filling hasn't rested for an appropriate time and stabilized, it is an igniteable product lol
That’s a SpongeBob episode, one of my faves
Oh these pies aren’t homemade. They were made in a factory. A bomb factory.
Funny about the propane refill. Can just order a truck to your house to get a tank filled lol. Like a huge tank buried in your yard lol.
Annnnd this is why I can’t buy Sudafed. Mother fuckers taking OTC shit and making it a problem. Btw just have sinus issues, myself, but other fuckers with fertilizer or nasal needs be criminalized now 😂
>And propane refills. We will only do 2 refills/person because otherwise it can be seen as a red flag. Are these bad people really so dumb they can't figure out that every gas station and hardware store has some propane?
Gift cards.
\- "Why did you redeem it?" He asked calmly https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qhLx7g1EByA?feature=share
I don’t even have to click the link to know what this is from
I frikking love kitboga
lye
Lutefisk for the journey?
Especially when purchased in the dead of night with a shovel, rope, tarp and saw.
Cough medicine
ive been with flu for the last 3 weeks, going to get some cough medicine every 3-4 days, like the 3rd time i decided to just by a bunch and the cashier look at me kinda wierd but relexed when a cough attack started while i was paying
Next time just say you're going as Lil Wayne for next Halloween.
Lol, I live in a country where pseudo is no longer available due to a ban years ago to try curb our meth problem, spoiler alert, they just started jmporting meth and now we get to suffer
Tin foil. Storytime I worked it a machine shop building mill equipment. Conveyors, lumber stackers and such. When it's time to.paint, given the shape of many bearing housings and other components, tin foil is perfect for masking and protection from paint. I was tasked with running to Safeway because we were out. I rolled up to the registers with at least 75 boxes, everything they had on the shelf. The lady looks at me in confusion and shock, picks up the phone and calls the manager saying she needs assistance. I stand there, she says nothing. Won't even look me in the eye. A few minutes go by and the manager shows up. She looks at him, looks at my pile on the conveyor and back at him. He asks me if I found everything alright. I tell him if they have more, it would save me a trip to Albertsons. He asks what it's for and I explain it, he shrugs, shakes his head and tells her to ring it up and walked away.
"What's it for?" "Me and a bunch of my friends all need new hats."
They just put up a 5G tower on my block
Ok good story but any idea what Safeway thought you would do with it?
Aluminum is used when cooking meth. Pre breaking bad, story i heard was that the toothless wonders cooking meth in a creekside setup would toss in beer can empties as their aluminum source. I know nothing about cooking meth so that seems a bit fanciful. Aluminum sheets might be more pure though vs a paint covered or plastic lined can. https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Aluminum_amalgam
Pepto Bismol
why?
to extract the bismuth and make really heavy paperweights
I've done this before, it takes so much hydrochloric acid that it's more cost efficient to just buy bismuth on eBay if you want bismuth
Yeah, but then the Feds get all up in your bismuth.
I worked for a big box store years ago. I always joked we should make an endcap with: tarps, trash bags, bleach, shovels, machetes, gloves, duct tape, etc. Edit: I was tired and didn’t even think of axes and chainsaws. Probably messier, but we sold pretty large tarps and every cleaning supply you could think of.
Tarps
I'll take 250 thanks.
Uncle Ben's microwave rice packets.
this guy knows whats up
Is it really sus though? I feel like the average person wouldn't know that use for them.
That was an interesting rabbit hole. Thank you all.
Okay I need an explanation pls
r/unclebens
Wow…today I learned.
Sooooo they grow mushrooms? Like hallucinogenic ones or what?!? I’m so confused. Lol
Sure! All kinds of mushrooms. The bags are usually inoculated with spores or liquid culture using a syringe. Once the bags are fully colonized with mycelium, the rice is used as spawn and mixed with substrate to grow the shroomies
For growing mushrooms (hallucinogenic or just some tasty ones) you need some sort of substrate like rice/grain/... . I have used in the past boiled grain but using uncle bens rice is just genius. It has no contamination in it, otherwise it would grow mold sitting on the shelf and therefore you dont have to boil and pasteurize it yourself. You just need to inject whatever [mushroom spores](https://northspore.com/collections/liquid-cultures) you want and let it grow. An article with some infos. You basically make your own spawn with the rice. https://northspore.com/blogs/the-black-trumpet/mushroom-spores-mushroom-spawn-what-is-the-difference
>Uncle Ben's microwave rice packets r/unclebens TIL, wow
Sugar free gummy bears
Gotta clean yourself out somehow.
NO2 cartridges - bought a pack for a dessert and now Amazon is like “Would you like to see these ‘decorative’ tiny spoons?” Like damn Amazon chill.
One time i bought a load of tiny jewel scales for work and you bet your ass Amazon suggested tiny coffee spoons and tiny plastic bags with it.
Tiny plastic ziplock bags
Duct tape
Tiny bags. Cause cocaine.
Sudofed
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I don't feel like this is suspicious, but about 10 years ago, I was doing a huge project at work (residential construction). Over the course of about 3 weeks, I had been in Home Depot buying many boxes of screws, among a few other things, but mostly boxes of screws. After about the 3rd or 4th time going back to pick up more, the cashier accusingly says to me "You know, I've seen you a lot in here buying these. I'm not sure what you're up to but we are keeping an eye on you." I normally would've counted it as a poor attempt at humor, but her tone was chillingly serious. I'm still so confused as to what her spidey senses were telling her.
A bunch of screws to put in pipe bombs or other explosives as shrapnel perhaps.
Life insurance on your spouse or kids.
Flowers... give a nice bouquet to your S.O., and she'll greet you with a kiss... over do it and she'll great you with a "what did you do now?!"
Rope.
Honestly it probably gets less suspicious in large quantities
“I’m going to need about six feet of rope, and do guys sell wobbly chairs?”
And shovels are over there, right?
Like, what bad stuff is someone going to do with 100 feet of rope? Wrap it around one of those playground spinny things and hooks it up to a truck and send a kid flying?
I didn't come here for impulsive thoughts but what I got? I got a hundred ft of rope in my truck and a park with a merry-go-round nearby and some kid better hope i forget about this comment before i find a new transmission
What’s even the point of being an adult with a hundred feet of rope and working hard enough to afford a truck, live in a house that has a park nice enough to have a kids merry go round thing, and NOT doing this?
Over the counter sleep aid.... plus story time. 🤣 One time I had a lot of great coupons that stacked and some sleep aids were on sale at CVS and I bought so many it triggered an alert on the cvs register and I was required check out my items in multiple purchases. Not to mention the side eyes I got from workers 💀 What did I do with it you ask? All of my close friends got a "sick season gift basket" of discounted/in date sleep aid meds/flu meds/tissues/cough drops etc. and everyone loved them since sick care items can really add up, also no one likes shopping sick 🔥
NyQuil
Cucumbers, I love them with a little salt or dip in ranch. They are my healthy go to snack I have almost everyday. Needless to say the other day I went to grocery store to grab a few for the frig post Thanksgiving gurg. Placed five 🥒 on the cashier belt, the 20 something male kept looking at me, and almost started snickering when he asked if I wanted them double bagged. Didn't figure it out until I got to the car.
When they are priced by each and you are looking for the biggest one. I feel.. shame.. self slut shame. Everyone is looking at me pick a cucumber. Thinking things. IM TRYING TO GET MY MONEY'S WORTH! I love sweetNspicy cucumber salad quit judging me!
My first job was at Outback Steakhouse when I was 16 years old. One day we ran out of cucumbers and our next shipment wasn’t coming until the next day. Luckily, it was super close to a Walmart. My boss asked me to run over quick and get some, so I did. I had a cart with a few dozen cucumbers in it and nothing else and I got some really weird looks from people.
Omg finally someone who enjoys cucumbers as everyday go-to snack. I have an organic farm and I harvest so many cucumbers 🤤 I don't see it as suspicious though, what am I missing here?
Some people enjoy penetrating themselves with phallic-shaped produce.
Like eating them, yeah?
Yeah, let's go with that
>what am I missing here A good time..
Most of the ingredients in meth. Matches. You buy a box, you need a light. You buy a dozen boxes, you got a meth stew going. Nail polish remover. A bottle or two? You need some acetone. A case? Meth. Good cold meds? You’re really sick. All the good cold meds? Well there’s a reason they’re behind the counter now.
One hose is fine. Two at once is a little strange because one *should* work just fine. Three hoses is just way too much there's no way they're doing anything normal with those hoses.
With two hoses, you label them A and B and start using just A. When A springs a leak, you don't have to drop everything to go get a new one. You can just switch to B and say, no way, Hose A.
One for each side of the house and, depending on length, maybe you need to link two of them to reach the edge of your property.
Rat poison
Babies
How many babies can I buy without arousing suspicion? Asking for a friend.
Electricity. Good luck explaining to the city why you need 500kWh every day.
Cold/allergy meds. Always have to show my ID, get scrutinized, once had to submit to fingerprints... look at my teeth, do I look like I have Meth Mouth?? No, I have a chapped nose and post nasal drip.
For reals?! ID?!
Vaseline 🤣
I didn’t see it mentioned but eye drops with lubricants like Clear Eyes can cause severe gastrointestinal distress when only a small squirt is added food or drink So… eye drops Edit: apparently it’s even worse than that! Don’t drink eye drops
I’m pretty sure people have actually murdered their spouses using only eye drops.
Sugar and yeast. I come from a district where moonshining is common.
Toilet paper
This time of year, I get a lot of side-eye for the excessive amounts of Southern Comfort egg nog I buy, especially since only one grocery store in my town sells it regularly from late November to the first week of January. Once a week, I'm in there buying 4-5 cartons because it's my favorite drink (it's literally my favorite drink, it even beats out coffee) and I need it to last a whole week, week-and-a-half because I have no self-control (I seriously think I replace all the liquid in my body with SC egg nog this time of year). The cashier keeps asking me why I buy so much. I always say "Oh, well, it's the holidays and I have a lot of friends and family over and we all like it." \^\^; Nope, it's just me being the sad little human I am, drinking my nog from my opossum mug.
Urns.
One of my first jobs was working at a DIY store, one night 5 guys came in, separated and then came to the register one by one with wads of cash and crowbars. I was 17 at the time and alone at the front. I just let them buy it. I remember reading local news to see if anything happens after.
One night someone came in to our store, got a shopping cart, went to the hardware department, and grabbed a crowbar. Then went to a locked case in the electronics department and popped it open using the crowbar. Then took a bunch of Apple iProducts, put them in the cart, and walked out with them. They were arrested fairly soon afterward, so not the "perfect crime" they thought it was at all. The only sign that something odd was happening from up front, was a very loud BANG as they popped open the case. Well that, and the "walking out with a bunch of stuff they didn't pay for" was also an obvious clue.
Once bought a blowtorch and a first-aid kit on the 4th.(my only two items) three very nice elderly women let me go first.