Embarrassing Moments When Buying Diapers?

[dandelion]

I've had embarrassing moments on half my trips to buy diapers. However, seeing as how I've only bought diapers at a store twice, that doesn't say much . The first time I built up the courage to head on down to Stop & Shop and buy a pack of diapers was when I was a freshman in college, and it all went very smoothly. I browsed the store for a bit, grabbed some random little items that college students get (toothpaste, Pop Tarts, etc.) and then went to the incontinence aisle and picked up some Depends (Fitted Maximum Protection!). I then calmly walked to the counter, where a nice older woman rang me up and discreetly put the diapers in a brown paper bag with a kind smile.

The second time went just a little bit differently. I went in to the same place about a month later, and did the same pass through the store to pick up my innocuous items. When I was walking in, I noticed the same woman working the register, so I assumed it was going to be the same sort of deal. However, as I'm walking to the checkout, my favorite cashier decides to take lunch and she is replaced with a pretty attractive girl who looked like she was my age, so it was a pretty good bet that she was a student at my school. As she's ringing my stuff up, she does each one individually so that she can check if anything is on sale. She held each item up, looked at it, typed in some number, and then told me if it was on sale. As she gets to the diapers, she does the same thing and they don't come up on the screen, and she looks at me and says "Hm, Depends aren't coming up on the screen." At this point, she actually reached for the microphone thing to ask for a sale check like one of those sitcom cliches, and I considered running from the store. I'm not sure if she saw me blushing or if she just realized that it would be massively embarrassing for me, but she stopped reaching and, acting like she might burst out laughing, said "I don't think there are any sales on Depends right now anyway." She had this smile on that to this day I'm not sure if it was friendly or derisive, but I still lean toward derisive. At any rate, I tried to play it all cool and I laughed when she said it and agreed with her, but the fact remained that the line behind me (I had gone in on Sunday morning) all watched me purchase a package of Depends undergarments for adults. I must say, as beneficial as an air of confidence is in these situations, it's not easy to keep the cool exterior when she's about to announce to the store that someone is buying adult diapers.

[babyfett]

First I was so nervouse, I went to a medical supply store to purchase my diapers. No big deal. But a few day's later I went back to purchase plastic pant's. The same people were working. Which made it seem worse the second time in the store,with the same two people behind the desk.

[BabyBuu]

I remember this time when i was 12 or so and bought a pack of goodnites from superstore, this was before i was wise enough to look around for people you know. so i buy the package uneventfully, and when i get home my mom tells me one of her friends saw me at the store buying a green plastic package and asks to see what i bought. i was extremely embarrassed and then she asked me why i had bought pull-ups, i stammered out i don't know.

to make matters worse i had been planning on going to the rec center that evening and had spent my admission money on the goodnites. so my mom ended up driving me back to the store to get a refund and there was some discussion with the customer service lady about getting a gift card instead of my money because the amount was below i think it was $15. eventually i got my money and got to go swimming with my friends.

[anondl]

I've been buying adult diapers for myself since the early 80s. I don't really think about it anymore except that I don't buy at Wallmart type stores or purchase at times like 5:30 PM when there will be lots of traffic in my local Eckerd.

That is not to say that I am not self consious about my "hobby". In addition to being a DL I'm into bondage (or rather the reverse might be true. See DSM IV 302.83). While working in a machine shop on the mechanical portion of a timed lock one of my coworkers came in and asked me what I was milling. I was so flustered, to this day I don't remember what my reply was. At a pet supply store where I was buying a harness for the same project the cashier asked what my dog's name was. Again flustered!

The dog harness question was easily answered but I'd rather to have a Bridgeport of my own.

Anondl

[babyalec]

This one time I was getting some local depends max and I thought I “cleared

[Acecool]

Shoulve talked to them :-)

Yep.... Just stockin' up on these here diapers for halloween... Or a gag gift for a friend...

[ridiaperboy]

Well just then I realize that there’s 3 girls(who where very cute) maybe a year or two younger then me and there getting their photos back, and they plop themselves right behind me!! (Little back story this is like my 4 th or like 8th time buying diapers) so my heart skips a little, and im thinking its okay because ill be out of here in no time. WRONG! Little old lady dose something that takes 300 years for the cashier to do. So I’m waiting and waiting and I start hearing giggles, gee I wonder what they find so funny? I could latterly feel them staring at me .i thought they where imaging me in those diapers and it made me feel 100x more embarrass then I already feel when buying diapers some times.

Man...what a golden opportunity you let slip through your hands, Baby Alec! You dropped a Tom Brady pass in the 4th quarter, in the end zone, for a last second victory against Miami! Like Acecool said, you should have talked to them!!

What happened to you would be like me going to my local Target or Super Stop and Shop, and have three more mature women, maybe a couple years younger than me ( who, like the girls who sashayed up behind you, are also "very cute") and start giggling behind my back while I'm buying diapers, baby powder, and baby lotion. At the very least, I think I would ask "Hey...now just what is so funny, huh?". I for certain would have asked something harmless that doesn't imply anything about the diapers being purchased and only addresses exactly just what is funny. Yes...there is a good chance the 3 girls may have been imagining you in those diapers...and I bet they thought you were cute in them. You think they would have giggled if they really didn't have any sort of feeling for you?

Opportunities like what happened to you don't happen all that often. Prepare yourself for the next time it might happen...have something witty (yet harmless) ready. You never know where it might ultimately lead you!

[anned]

One time i was buying diapers and i saw this young guy check out the adult diapers then swing down the center of the store and guessed that he was clearing the store. And i was right as soon as he made sure that know one he knew was there he went right back and picked up a pac of diapers. As he was there i walked up and got my diapers and turned to him and ask him if he was a abdl. Boy did he get red.

I then told him i had seen his picture on one of the abdl sites that i hang out on and who i was.

The checker at the counter probably thought that it was strange that two young guys in a row were buying adult diapers.

[secretbaby]

Once I had a cashier gave me an uncomfortable stare, and I looked her square in the eye and in my most medically detached voice said, "Oh... no these are not for me. Actually, I am a body piercer, and when I pierce a man's penis the bleeding is profuse for a couple of days, and I have to give them a few of these."

I have never seen someone's attitude change that much, that fast. As I was leaving the store, I think I heard the noise of her losing her dinner...

That is hilarious.

[rusty pins]

One time i was buying diapers and i saw this young guy check out the adult diapers then swing down the center of the store and guessed that he was clearing the store. And i was right as soon as he made sure that know one he knew was there he went right back and picked up a pac of diapers. As he was there i walked up and got my diapers and turned to him and ask him if he was a abdl. Boy did he get red.

I then told him i had seen his picture on one of the abdl sites that i hang out on and who i was.

The checker at the counter probably thought that it was strange that two young guys in a row were buying adult diapers.

And? Man, please don't leave us all hanging! You're torturing us! What happened next? Did he admit to being an ABDL and did you talk about it at all? Give us the details!

[kootzkoo]

I once was making a purchase and of course in all drug stores (there is always a line up). The cashier asked, "Are these for a senior" I was younger at the time and just said, "yes, my grandfather lives with us". I was pretty embarrased, she goes "okay, then we will give you the seniors discount if your grandfather can't make it in"

I am kind of in the mood to go to a part of the city where I know nobody and make it more obvious that I am buying diapers

[AutieAB]

I once was making a purchase and of course in all drug stores (there is always a line up). The cashier asked, "Are these for a senior" I was younger at the time and just said, "yes, my grandfather lives with us". I was pretty embarrased, she goes "okay, then we will give you the seniors discount if your grandfather can't make it in"

In a similar vein, I was once asked in a chemist whether or not I was eligible for VAT exemption on my "purchase." In the UK, diapers are zero-rated for VAT for disabled people so in effect, what she was asking me was "Do you need these or are you a DL?" Although I'd guess she wasn't seeing it that way, I did.

VAT for non-eligible people is 17.5% so I'd be looking at a price increase of about £3-4. I am eligible for the zero-rate if I want to claim it but it will almost certainly involve a form, delays at the till, etc... So now I'm facing a situation. Either I say that I have no real need for the diapers I'm buying or I get asked questions in a shop with 5 or so other people milling around... In the end, I just muttered no, paid the VAT, grabbed the bag and got out fast! Suffice to say I haven't been there since and that's one of the main reasons I order online

[enfant]

Out of curiosity, what would have needed to tell them to get the VAT exemption? You do have a diagnosed disability, after all, and a fair number of autistic people do need diapers.

Don't online retailers require the same information from you? (Albeit without other customers hanging around...)

[AutieAB]

Out of curiosity, what would have needed to tell them to get the VAT exemption? You do have a diagnosed disability, after all, and a fair number of autistic people do need diapers.

You have to accept a fairly heavy statement about not defrauding Her Majesty's Treasury then specify your name, address, telephone, nature of disability (can be brief, I just write 'autistic spectrum disorder') sign or mark & date.

Not surprisingly for the Inland Revenue, the laws surrounding zero-rate VAT for adult diapers in the UK are rather vague but very clear at the same time . You do not have to be medically or cognitively incontinent to get the zero-rate, which is good because I'm neither. The qualifier is that the person uses the zero-rate items to cope with the effects a disability, which is sufficiently vague to include a whole raft of people including and beyond the medically incontinent. The laws specifically deal with diapers being bought by people who are and are not eligible for zero-rate. The wording is "Equipment which has been designed solely for use by a disabled people will remain eligible for relief even though they are available to be purchased by people who do not have a disability. VAT relief will however only apply to supplies which are made to eligible persons or bodies"

Don't online retailers require the same information from you? (Albeit without other customers hanging around...)

The Revenue say that, "We will expect retailers, Internet and mail order suppliers to have a signed declaration, or other supporting evidence that the supply is to an incontinent individual and not to an institution such as a nursing home, for customers who buy more than: 200 disposable pads; 50 washable pads; 5 collecting devices; or 10 pairs of waterproof or leak-proof underwear."

So technically, no, they don't have to ask any of this unless you're buying in serious bulk but to cover their own backsides when the VAT man calls, most typically they either ask you to 'electronically sign' an online declaration at checkout time with the same info as above, or print and send a paper copy prior to your first order which they then keep on file. I don't mind that online, though, it's a whole lot easier with nobody watching you

AutieAB

[Baby Mommy]

My most embarrassing moment came yesterday. Normally I buy diapers at a drug store where nobody knows me, but yesterday I wanted to just go ahead and get them and go on home, so I stopped in my neighborhood Wal-Mart. Well, the diapers were just part of what I was buying, so I didn't think a whole lot of it when I had them in my cart and met up with a neighbor/close friend/honorary stepson of mine. I knew he wouldn't think anything bad...he has a neurogenic bladder and wears 24/7. He is one of the few who knows about my problem, and that's OK with me since he has one too. So I was perfectly comfortable even joking to him something like, "Well, I'm glad it's YOU I run into when I'm buying the most embarrassing thing possible." Which got a sympathetic smile from him, since he knows exactly how it feels.

But then, it so happened none of the self-service checkout lines were functioning and I had to go through a normal checkout line. That cashier checked me out and bagged everything BUT the diapers, placing them exposed for the world to see on *top* of the heap. Like I was going to walk out of there with an uncovered package of adult diapers. I gave her a dirty look, grabbed a bag, and bagged the diapers myself.

[Guest]

My most embarrassing moment came yesterday. Normally I buy diapers at a drug store where nobody knows me, but yesterday I wanted to just go ahead and get them and go on home, so I stopped in my neighborhood Wal-Mart. Well, the diapers were just part of what I was buying, so I didn't think a whole lot of it when I had them in my cart and met up with a neighbor/close friend/honorary stepson of mine. I knew he wouldn't think anything bad...he has a neurogenic bladder and wears 24/7. He is one of the few who knows about my problem, and that's OK with me since he has one too. So I was perfectly comfortable even joking to him something like, "Well, I'm glad it's YOU I run into when I'm buying the most embarrassing thing possible." Which got a sympathetic smile from him, since he knows exactly how it feels.

But then, it so happened none of the self-service checkout lines were functioning and I had to go through a normal checkout line. That cashier checked me out and bagged everything BUT the diapers, placing them exposed for the world to see on *top* of the heap. Like I was going to walk out of there with an uncovered package of adult diapers. I gave her a dirty look, grabbed a bag, and bagged the diapers myself.

*shrug* I carry diapers openly, but I guess I'm just strange.

[Baby Mommy]

I'm not sure I'd call you strange. At least, not without knowing you. A lot of people are very open about buying/wearing/needing diapers. I'm a chicken.

Diapers are one of the most embarrassing things to buy. I was just thinking about that after my last post. Other embarrassing things to be caught with...

Feminine hygiene, especially if you're a male.

Condoms.

Head/body lice products.

I was also embarrassed once when buying ex-lax and toilet paper at the same time. That got some jokes at the checkout line.... and when I told my mother about it, she said--my MOTHER (!!!) said--"Well, at least it wasn't cucumbers and vaseline."

[rusty pins]

Diapers are one of the most embarrassing things to buy. I was just thinking about that after my last post. Other embarrassing things to be caught with...

Feminine hygiene, especially if you're a male.

Condoms.

Head/body lice products.

I was also embarrassed once when buying ex-lax and toilet paper at the same time. That got some jokes at the checkout line.... and when I told my mother about it, she said--my MOTHER (!!!) said--"Well, at least it wasn't cucumbers and vaseline."

LOL to the cucumbers and vaseline! I used to work in a small grocery store when I was in collage. One old lady used to buy a case of sanitary napkins once a month. Finally one of the baggers asked the checker what that old lady needed sanitary napkins for. It turns out she had "piles", bowel leakage and used those pads. This was before adult diapers were common. People do buy lots of things that may seem strange but here are some facts of life. Women will need sanitary products. Babies will need diapers and everyone needs toilet paper! Like a friend of mine once said at a book store when he was looking through Hustler and Penthouse, "Hey, if someone looks at me at least they won't think I'm gay!" Now, as I've stated before, I have no problem buying diapers for myself and if the clerks happen to know that the diapers are for me, I couldn't care less. I have carried them out to my car many times without them being in a bag. Anyone who just wants to make it seem they are buying the diapers for someone else should just (very casually) say, "I'd like these rung up separatly and put in a separate bag please". If you want to go a step further, once the diapers are rung up separatly, pull an envelope out of your pocket, take the money out and put the receipt inside the envelope. No one would suspect anything other than the fact that you are running an errand for someone, possibly a relative. Of course, you can't give it away by acting nervious or anything!

[Guest]

I'm not sure I'd call you strange. At least, not without knowing you. A lot of people are very open about buying/wearing/needing diapers. I'm a chicken.

Diapers are one of the most embarrassing things to buy. I was just thinking about that after my last post. Other embarrassing things to be caught with...

Feminine hygiene, especially if you're a male.

Condoms.

Head/body lice products.

I was also embarrassed once when buying ex-lax and toilet paper at the same time. That got some jokes at the checkout line.... and when I told my mother about it, she said--my MOTHER (!!!) said--"Well, at least it wasn't cucumbers and vaseline."

I've been caught buying feminine pads, and they poked fun. I was all like "You're just jelous I have a girl to buy these for!"

[Guest]

LOL to the cucumbers and vaseline! I used to work in a small grocery store when I was in collage. One old lady used to buy a case of sanitary napkins once a month. Finally one of the baggers asked the checker what that old lady needed sanitary napkins for. It turns out she had "piles", bowel leakage and used those pads. This was before adult diapers were common. People do buy lots of things that may seem strange but here are some facts of life. Women will need sanitary products. Babies will need diapers and everyone needs toilet paper! Like a friend of mine once said at a book store when he was looking through Hustler and Penthouse, "Hey, if someone looks at me at least they won't think I'm gay!" Now, as I've stated before, I have no problem buying diapers for myself and if the clerks happen to know that the diapers are for me, I couldn't care less. I have carried them out to my car many times without them being in a bag. Anyone who just wants to make it seem they are buying the diapers for someone else should just (very casually) say, "I'd like these rung up separatly and put in a separate bag please". If you want to go a step further, once the diapers are rung up separatly, pull an envelope out of your pocket, take the money out and put the receipt inside the envelope. No one would suspect anything other than the fact that you are running an errand for someone, possibly a relative. Of course, you can't give it away by acting nervious or anything!

Me, I used to be just casual. Clerk once asked "Running errands for your grandparants?"

I was like "Umm... No... What makes you say that?"

Womans was like "Well... I thought.... with what you were buying...."

and I was like "Somebody my age can't wear diapers?"

It was fun actually. The downside to getting them online is none of that now. (I get them online cause there are far better daieprs available)

[pottypants]

Since I've been 24/7, I wear cloth and plastic pants most of the time and use disposables when I go out. When you are in your 60s and use a cane a lot of the time due to arthritis, the clerks just assume the diapers are for you. The most recent embarrassing moment was last week. I was getting some depends, when a lady around my age asked me' Are those any good, my husband wears these" (holding up a pack of the store brand) I just answered, "these work for me, but I've never tried those, so I couldn't say". Then I left and went to checkout.