Glad you knew what was going on and could get out of the store safely and do what you needed to do to take care of yourself.

I have lots of problems when it comes to shopping. I remember this one time my mother sent me to the store as a teen for milk and I got to the store and could not find the milk. They had lots of milk there but the milk flashback in my mind did not match the milk in the store fridge. I ended up grabbing one of these different kinds of milk after standing there for about 10 minutes of trying to find the packaging that I was seeing in the flashback and hoping when I got home I would not get in trouble for picking the wrong milk. I got in trouble for taking so long but not for the wrong milk package. Even now with having flashbacks and DID its sometimes a challenge to go shopping. The packaging and labeling of today does not match what was on the market 6 months to a year ago let alone what types of foods, packaging and labeling that was on the market when I was a kid. I can be standing in a store looking for cherios with a picture of Bullwinkle and Rocky on it or one with a Kuckla, fran and Ollie cardboard record on it and they no longer exist. I can go in a store and knowing I need milk or mayo or cherios and the flashback of bordens milk (paper cardboardish packaging with Elsie the cow on it) or helmans mayo or cherios with Bullwinkle and Rocky on it or one with a Kuckla Fran and Ollie cardboard record on it will start playing in my head and This side of the country there is no Elsie the cow or bordens brand and milk here is sold mainly in plasic jugs, Hemans west of the Rockies is called Best foods and the lableing is different from east of the country to west of the country let alone the present vs the past memorys replaying in my head, Cherios no longer puts cartoon characters and puppets on their boxes let alone cardboard 78 and 45 speed records are no longer being made, in fact no record albums are now being made for we now have the wonderful world of digital CD's.

Besides the labeling the store memories in my head are not the store memories in the present for example when I was growing up we had a Montgumery Wards store, Mike Submarines, A&W Rootbeer stands, Grand Union, here in the present Montgumery wards is out of business as is the A&W rootbeer stands (Now instead of A&W at a stand and in glass ware, A&W Rootbeer comes in cans in the local grocery store, and Mike Submarine is gone, in its place is Subbway Subs. instead of individual stores we now have malls with many stores, Most of which did not exhist when I was a child and the malls are complete with a food court,

Because of this every time I go shopping the stores seem changed from the last time I went anyway so the stores upgrading and so on does not bother me because the present day stores are always changed from what I remember anyway The crowdedness sometimes gets to me. But not changes redecorating and so on.

One thing that helps me alot is that because I have been using the same stores for years the workers in the stores are familiar with me and some and I have developed friendships. those that I am friends and very close to nkow I have DID and that sometimes I get triggered by thingsin the stores. the triggers for me can be something as simple as trying to buy deodorant and suddenly be experiencing smell of one of my abusers deodorant, seeing someone who looks in even avague way that reminds me of one of my abusers, or the isle has suddenly become very crowded.

Anyway before going to the store I make sure I have my walkman and relaxation music and one of the relaxation visualizations that my therapist and I recorded in a therapy sesson. I also take actual product labels of things I need when I can so that I am not looking for the wrong product or label.

When I get to the store the first thing I do is touch bass with my friends. Many of them live in different towns and have different work shedules so we have taken to spending time together by eating lunches and dinners together during their lunch and dinner breaks instead of trying to coordinate days off and who is going to travel to which town to meet up with each other and whether or not there is a bus route there and so on.

Not only do my friends and I have a chance to talk, but this also lets me know where I can find them. Alot of times just seeing a familiar face will help ground me back in reality. They also know that I am in the store and may need their help if I am suddenly acting on past memories or experiencing a flashback that conflicts with todays packaging and labeling.

I know that all I have to do it put on my headphones go into the restroom for a few minutes and or and locate one of my friends and they will help me find what I need.