I always take a spiral notebook with the "groceries" I am looking for written on the first page. On the next page, out of view, before I go to the store, I write the depts I have to check. When I'm at the store, after I visit one of the depts, I walk away and just turn the page and write down the name and/or description of the associate and anything else needed, in my own shorthand. (For ex: long black hair in ponytail = LBlkH PT). It's worked for me for several years. It's so normal to see, especially older shoppers like me, customers with a notebook crossing out what they've bought, and adding up the totals, on a sheet of paper. I've not yet been outed.