unmentionables

what is it exactly about having to buy only tampons at the store that makes most women cringe? sure you can go in and buy a pack of gum and green beans along with the pink box....but why does it seem to make you feel like a little school girl?
i try to ensure that i get a female cashier with no adolescent bag boys around.
but, it never fails.
you either drop the box and kick it down the main aisle, full of people - and see no less than 2 people you know somehow. or....the barcode doesn't work......or the bag boy appears out of nowhere to help bag.
this is what's weird.....you feel like any male that sees the item in your hand, down the checkout belt, or zipping down the packed aisle looks at you differently??? no, yes??? it's like an unspoken, "i feel your pain sister" between women, but an unspoken "ick" from men?? am i off here?
tonight, as i'm away on a work thing, i have to buy just this one item. and i'm not in the mood to buy 3 other things, so i get just that. i go to the self check out, thinking this would eliminate the whole mess. well, the guy before me (who observed my purchase) messed up the scanner. then, i was trying to fix the machine, and i accidentally called for help 2 times - making things blink and beep all around me, calling yet more attention. the first guy walked up, as i was saying out loud, "no - i didn't want to call help over" and started chuckling.
then, 2 more men lined up behind the first one. next, it would not take the cash i was giving it.....and my purchase just sat on the belt, not moving - things still blinking and buzzing.
so, for all that, i should have just gone to the adolescent checkout boy to begin with and gotten the whole thing over.
it's not like you're buying anything that crazy, but can i get an "amen" on the weirdness? i'd love to hear about guys who don't even think about it, or guys who make this purchase all the time for sister, loved one, significant other? or women who think i'm crazy and to get over it??