‘ere I’ve got a curious question for you, as I will often do. I think a lot of you have gotten used to this by now eh? LOL!
While we love shopping, as women will, I’m curious to know if this quite compulsory purchase to staunch a monthly discomfort is something you dread or find embarrassed to buy?
Yes ladies, today we talk again about sanitary pads and tampons, and whether you feel anything when making that purchase? Are you a nip in, grab and go customer? Do you spend time comparing different prices and makes and brands? Does pausing before the shelves of sanitary pads and tampons in the usually deserted aisle of the pharmacy or supermarket make you feel self-conscious and uncomfortable? 😀 Yes, I know, I hold the most curious discussions! LOL 😀
Me? I don’t feel anything untoward, to be honest.
In fact, I’m all for grabbing value packs of sanitary pads when there’s a deal available, and if I find my regular brand sold for cheaper elsewhere, I bulk buy. I gravitate to the Whisper brand (branded as Always in some parts of the world) and on previous travels, I used to notice that it was cheaper in places like Hong Kong or China or Thailand.
The quality was pretty much the same, so I used to stock them up by the dozens! If I had ever been asked to open my luggage bag at customs upon arriving home, I think the customs officers might have thought that I was selling sanitary pads on the black market 😛
Oh yes, I’m that mad woman in a foreign supermarket pushing that trolley laden with packs of sanitary pads just because they’re cheaper than buying them back home. The problem of course, is that they’re pretty bulky so my purchases are limited by space rather than price.
I suppose I feel that this purchase is strictly a female thing, and I’m female so I don’t feel embarrassed or self-conscious pausing at the shelves of tampons and sanitary pads, debating the merits and demerits of each brand or product, and where there are samples on offer, feeling them up for comfort (LOL! Ok, that just sounds wrong!)
I even paused once for a long time at the shelf of tampons, while I held a text conversation with a friend on which to buy, complete with photos that said “Do you mean this one?” Oh yes, riveting conversations we have, sometimes 😀
The reason I got to thinking about this, is because sometimes, as I stand in the aisle, pondering whether I should pick up a back up pack which is on special offer, I sometimes see some women dart in, grab a pack and go, looking a little furtive. Or sometimes, they put it in their shopping basket, but cover it up with something else, like toilet paper, as if they’re embarrassed that they’re buying a pack of pads or tampons.
What say you then?
Does shopping for sanitary pads or tampons leave you feeling self-conscious and embarrassed?
Go on then, humour me with what you think 😀
Paris B
i have stopped buying pads in singapore cos it’s simply WAY TOOO EXPENSIVE! i bulk buy all from bangkok since 8-9 yrs back since its so much cheaper there. Selection is plentiful too. One tip i used is to line the packets around my luggage, so that it can act as a protection ‘wall” for my fragile items such as makeup pouches and glassware in the luggage.. Idea right? ahhaha
Oh High 5 for pads from Bangkok! I recently returned with 4 packs, because they were on Buy 1 Free 1 and were already so cheap to boot! I don’t know why it’s just so cheap there, but I’m not complaining! 😀 I didn’t buy enough because I didn’t bring a big enough bag. But there’s always next time 😉
Shy?
Perhaps I was never taught on it. In fact the person who taught me about period, sanitary pads were.. my brother!
Yes. Surprise? Well he was a smart lil.boy, used to earn some pocket money by helping out at the local grocery shop. So stuffs like tht. he knew it in primary school.
Fortunately, my high school invited some experts in female issues – period, health, disease & etc. In moral & PE studies, we talked about it openly & how to clean/discharge/actions etc. Even pills to take if hv to go for a major Sports events e.g swimming.
Also, to avoid others from knowing our purchase. Last time we use black plastic bags or you can easily request the pharmacy to wrap it with newspaper. Most places provides paper for that.
Haha that’s cool of your brother to be your pads mentor! 😀 To be honest, I’d never seen anywhere provide newspaper for wrapping up pads! But then most plastic bags are opaque so maybe it doesn’t matter? 😀
I might look like I’m ‘grabbing and dashing’, but I just know exactly what I want. I don’t compare brands anymore. I know what works for me, so I just grab a box and move on. I’m not embarrassed by purchasing them.
If pressed for time, I grab and go too. I think for the most part, a lot of us have brand loyalty when it comes to things like these. After all, if it works, why change right?
One of the funniest posts I had come across .LOL…In my place too, if you buy a pack of tampons or sanitary pads, the shop assistants mostly brown pack them.
Glad it amused you! 🙂 I think a lot of us have gotten over our embarrassment, but it’s amusing to know that pads get brown bagged!
Why be embarrassed about something natural? And I all my mother to buy in bulk for me at Costco and that lasts me for a few months at least!
I used to wonder the same, but maybe some people just don’t like others knowing/seeing something so intimate? I don’t know really! I wish we had a Costco here – I’d bulk buy too! LOL
One day, standing in front of the sanitary pad aisle choosing which brand to get, my 6 year old niece said in a loud voice “you use pampers, too?”.
HAHAHHAHAHH Love that Cecilia 😀 😀
Nope, doesn’t worry me. I will compare and calculate value for money until the cows come home! I have had a couple of guys scurry away but maybe that’s just on seeing me!
My friend and I had a long discussion in Japan, trying to combine our Japanese reading skills to work out what was what once – after that, nothing fazes me!
Oh dear, I’m like that in Thailand sometimes, where pads are cheap but I have no idea what the brands are or what they are meant to be for! Doesn’t stop me standing there pondering though!
I don’t feel anything while buying them. In fact, when I decide to switch brands, I would stand at the aisle comparing lengths, wings/no wings ( no wings is a deal breaker), price per pad LOL.
But I think an issue would be when you need to rush over to the ladies because of its ‘arrival’, whether you hold the pad openly and walk to the washroom or keep it covered. Nowadays I tend to keep it in a plastic bag so when I retrieve it from my bag I don’t announce it to the world that I’ve got some business to do. Hehe..
I hear ya on the no-wings! I actually met someone recently who uses no-wings pads and I was all O_O!! Ohhh I know what you mean about that emergency! I usually scrunch the pad up into the smallest possible package to fit in my hand, or grab a pouch and pretend I’m going to powder my nose… which is pretty obvious anyway, because I don’t normally bring my makeup pouch to the toilets with me 😛
I’ve made the switch to using cloth pads most of the time (unless I’m traveling) so I no longer have to endure this “embarrassment” while shopping in pharmacies :p
On a side note, I think that buying pregnancy test kits are more challenging! LOL
Hmm now that you mention it… I’m sure it is! All that raised brows at the cashier eh? 😉
Well, I never feel embarrassed or uneasy to do that. I grow up with my two sisters and I used to be the one who always been assigned to this task of buying the sanitary pads. During our teenage good old times, I guess those male cashiers at Watsons felt scared to see me every month buying HKD200 sanitary pads.
LOL!!! They must think that you really REALLY need so many packs of pads Holly! 😀 Thanks for sharing
When I was younger – like back in High school, absolutely I was shy purchasing pads and tampons.
Luckily, my mom and my dad would stock up for me so I didn’t have to venture out and buy them myself.
Now that I’m older, I don’t care at all. It’s natural. I’m like you, I definitely buy in bulk. And I will stand there comparing different brands, how many pads/tampons per box and the price. There are certain brands I prefer, but they’re more expensive, so I don’t mind buying the cheaper alternative. Though when they are on sale, I’ll buy a couple boxes. I don’t understand why someone would buy one box per cycle. The worst thing that could happen is that you start and you don’t have any pads or tampons around you! NIGHTMARE! So I have 5 boxes in by closet as I type this. =P
I really really dont know why I’m embarassed… actually not embarassed I’m shy ,i can’t talk about it to my friends not even with my family or mother..i dont know why i wish i could overcome it