I almost got robbed at HEB

Océane was born in France but moved to Texas when she was a junior in high school because she wanted to experience life outside of France. As she arrived, however, she encountered her first culture shock. This is her story:

"So we land and about an hour or two later my host family arrived at the airport to pick me up. They were really nice to me and took me in as one of them. After getting in the car, they told me that we were going to a place called HEB to get to know a bit more about what grocery stores have to offer and for me to pick out stuff I like.

We get to HEB and my first instinct was to get fish because it is really expensive in France. As soon as I got the fish I found out that my host dad was vegetarian and that most of the food they buy is just strict vegetarian food. We keep walking and we hit the chips and candy section and, because I did not want my host family to pay for all my food, I decided to buy my chips with my own money. (Because I love my chips!)

As we get to the cashier I part from my family to buy my chips and an HEB worker comes to put my chips in a bag. But, the thing is, we do not have these people in France. You mostly do it yourself and you put your own items in the bags and you just leave. As I see this guy getting the chips I freaked out because I didn’t speak English at this time. I went up to him and I take the chips away from the guy while yelling, "No!" The guy looked at me as if I was crazy. I was really mad. The worst part was that he was still trying to get the bag of chips away from me. It came to the point that my host mom had to intervene and explain to me that he is a worker and he isn't here to steal my chips. Afterwards I just felt dumb as I laughed it out. That’s when I knew I had lots to learn about life in Texas."

This was Océane's first and only conflict with an HEB employee.

Posted March 22, 2018

Join 5 others and favorite this

TAGGED WITH: St. Mary's University, stmarytx.edu