A Glitch in the Matrix

[SGR]

I'm sure most of you have heard of the Simulation hypothesis that posits that we're living in a computer simulation.

Have you ever experienced something that felt like a 'glitch' in your own reality?

I'll give you a recent story, and I apologize for the length, but it's just to add context.

I went to the store recently and bought some stuff. One of the things I bought was soup. They had a 2 for $5 deal so I bought four - two gumbos, one rigatoni with meatball, and one italian wedding. I put em all in my cart. I didn't get a ton of stuff and I wasn't in the store long - so I go to check out, and bag my stuff. I go to my car, put all my groceries in the car. I drive home, bring all my groceries up and put em away. My cat was hungry, so I thought I'd give him some wet food. I open the cupboard where his wet food is, which happens to be the same cupboard where I store my soup. I then remembered I'd bought the soup, so I thought: "Huh, let me check the counters/my couch where I put my groceries when I come in, maybe I forgot a bag" - no bag. I then went and checked my trunk. No bag. I then decided to check my receipt. I checked it five times over...there was no soup listed on the receipt.

I then considered the possibilities...could I have forgotten them in my cart? No, I don't think so, because I would've noticed four cans of soup whether they were bagged or not - and in addition, I didn't just put my cart away as one would normally do, I encountered a woman on her way in and she asked if she could have my cart, so I gave it to her while I was on my way to put it away. She would've noticed the soup cans too.

Is it possible that someone took my soup? I don't think so, as I was only away from my cart for maybe 10 seconds. It was crowded in the dairy aisle and I needed some coffee creamer, and I wasn't able to fit my cart where that was. So I leave my cart about 15 feet away from the creamer while I went to retrieve it (again, this took all of 10 seconds max). The only other notable thing about this is there was a woman who worked at the grocery store right behind me at the time and she was pushing one of those storage bins on wheels (something to do with inventory I think) - because of where I left it, I heard her mutter under her breath "Not a great place to put a cart", and she gently pushed my cart up and out of the way. It would make no sense for a worker to take four cans of soup from my cart - as she obviously was behind me and knew it was my cart and not an abandoned cart. And given how close the cart was, and the span of 10 seconds, it seems highly, highly unlikely that someone could, in that timeframe and area of my view, scoop up four cans of soup out of my cart without me noticing.

So I'm completely flummoxed. It seems like a glitch in a video game or something. The crazy part? This sort of thing has happened to me two other times recently. Once with K-cups, and once with party wings. The party wings one happened to be one where my wife was even with me and we had a distinct memory about getting them because it was the last party wings on the shelf and we both mentioned that vocally - but when I went to make them last week, we had no party wings. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that one quick enough to check my receipt, which I assumed I threw away. But I double checked my car and there was no bag of party wings in there.

Do you have any distinct experiences like this where it just doesn't add up? I know we all have experiences where our socks seemingly disappear or our car keys get misplaced, but have you experienced anything more pronounced where you just can't seem to explain it and it seems like 'a glitch in the matrix'?

[Mindy]

Interesting;
What if you left the soup cans in the cart at the store?
rigatoni with meatball soup is super good, I used to get those also;
I have had similar situations like this'
I had a knife to cut my apples, it just fucking disappeared lol;
But nothing like your situation with thinking you bought soup and when you got home they aren't there;

[SGR]

Interesting;
What if you left the soup cans in the cart at the store?
rigatoni with meatball soup is super good, I used to get those also;
I have had similar situations like this'
I had a knife to cut my apples, it just fucking disappeared lol;
But nothing like your situation with thinking you bought soup and when you got home they aren't there;

Like I mentioned, I don't think that's possible, because I handed my cart off to another person when I was done. I'm pretty careful to pack everything away from my cart into my vehicle before I bring my cart back, but even if I didn't, you'd assume either me or the woman I handed my cart to would've noticed a bag or 4 cans of soup remaining in the cart.

[Mindy]

Like I mentioned, I don't think that's possible, because I handed my cart off to another person when I was done. I'm pretty careful to pack everything away from my cart into my vehicle before I bring my cart back, but even if I didn't, you'd assume either me or the woman I handed my cart to would've noticed a bag or 4 cans of soup remaining in the cart.

I wondered if the bag you had the cans in, you left in the checkout area. But if they aren't on the receipt then maybe not. What if you didn't scan the cans in the checkout area and just left them in the checkout area?

[SGR]

I wondered if the bag you had the cans in, you left in the checkout area. But if they aren't on the receipt then maybe not. What if you didn't scan the cans in the checkout area and just left them in the checkout area?

Thanks for pointing this out, I forgot to add this detail; I don't remember scanning the cans at all. This is something I returned to in my thoughts after checking my receipt: "Do I remember scanning the soup cans at all?" - I did not. I was completely sober when I was doing the shopping, so there's no way I would've put them all in a bag there, or nearby (outside of the cart) without scanning them, and then left them, as I'm always fastidious in checking to make sure I haven't forgotten any bags with my groceries in them (because a couple years ago, I forgot one that had cat food in it, so I learned my lesson). I see no possible way I could've left them in the checkout area - the only possible way that could've happened is if I was drunk or high, which I was not (it was too early in the morning for me to be doing that  )

[Psy-Fi]

I like to think that someone, somewhere, has 4 cans of soup in their cupboard (two gumbos, one rigatoni with meatball, and one italian wedding) that they can't recall buying but is listed on their grocery receipt. 

[SGR]

I like to think that someone, somewhere, has 4 cans of soup in their cupboard (two gumbos, one rigatoni with meatball, and one italian wedding) that they can't recall buying but is listed on their grocery receipt. 

That's probably exactly what happened! The lucky bastard...

[Trollheart]

I think the more important and pressing question here is, where are the pictures of your cat?

Oh, and did you know that cats can dimension-jump? I swear, when they were alive my cats would regularly disappear IN THE HOUSE and then reappear from seeming nowhere, with that kind of look that says "Yeah, I just saved the world again, you're welcome. Is that fish?"

[Mindy]