Yeah, People Are On Edge And Rude

win231

win231

SF VIP
Location
CA
Well, I just got home after my walk & some shopping. After a 15-minute wait in line at the market, I was next to go in with a group of 5 people.
I saw a guy who didn't look like he could stand very long. He looked around my age (67) but he probably had a medical condition that made standing & walking difficult. He was looking for an employee to ask if he could be put in the front of the line. I told him, "If it's hard for you to stand in line, just get in front of me." He said "Thank you" 5 times. I immediately got "Pfffft's" & "Oh $hit's," & "Now we have to wait longer" from other people as well as dirty looks (which I promptly returned). These people are brain dead. How much delay would ONE person walking in front of me cause? 3 seconds?
Yeah...I've said it before, this situation brings out the stupid in people. And nasty.
 

I suspect a lot of people in the cities are experiencing more and more frustration during this pandemic. Unemployment, limits on shopping, lack of any form of entertainment, etc., etc., and being trapped in a house or small apartment has to be taking a toll on a lot of people's minds.

Out here in the boondocks, everything is still pretty normal. The stores aren't being mobbed, and the people are putting up with any minor inconveniences quite well....in fact, I've seen an increase in people being kinder to each other.
 
win231 said:
Well, I just got home after my walk & some shopping. After a 15-minute wait in line at the market, I was next to go in with a group of 5 people.
I saw a guy who didn't look like he could stand very long. He looked around my age (67) but he probably had a medical condition that made standing & walking difficult. He was looking for an employee to ask if he could be put in the front of the line. I told him, "If it's hard for you to stand in line, just get in front of me." He said "Thank you" 5 times. I immediately got "Pfffft's" & "Oh $hit's," & "Now we have to wait longer" from other people as well as dirty looks (which I promptly returned). These people are brain dead. How much delay would ONE person walking in front of me cause? 3 seconds?
Yeah...I've said it before, this situation brings out the stupid in people. And nasty.
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Perhaps you should have exchanged places with him, and gone to the back of the line. Other people are tired and don't like waiting, either.
 
C'est Moi said:
Perhaps you should have exchanged places with him, and gone to the back of the line. Other people are tired and don't like waiting, either.
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Silly as it might seem, the idea of going to the back of the queue occurs to me sometimes. One reason is the person behind seems in a hurry and keeps shuffling up behind you as soon as you move, (what's there to be in a hurry about right now?). I did get rightly offended and hot under the collar when a man without any health conditions tried to barge right in and talk to the store owner just as I was about to pay. Steam was emitting from my ears as he received a piece of my mind, but made no impression I'm sure, as his time is "obviously" more important than mine! :rolleyes:.
 
grahamg said:
Silly as it might seem, the idea of going to the back of the queue occurs to me sometimes. One reason is the person behind seems in a hurry and keeps shuffling up behind you as soon as you move, (what's there to be in a hurry about right now?). I did get rightly offended and hot under the collar when a man without any health conditions tried to barge right in and talk to the store owner just as I was about to pay. Steam was emitting from my ears as he received a piece of my mind, but made no impression I'm sure, as his time is "obviously" more important than mine! :rolleyes:.
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I have to say that sometimes there is a need to feel hurried in the queue... For example.. standing outside first for maybe up to 20 minutes to get around the store, the stress of people not adopting social measuring distances around you while you shop, then waiting for up to 30 or 40 minutes in the queue with your shopping which may contain frozen items which are thawing and can't be re-frozen, and you can't leave the queue to replace them with fresh ...it's stressful, and people rightly don't want to have to wait longer than they're already having to ( and not to mention other people may not feel their best medically either) .....although in the OP's case I think he did the right thing by allowing someone who was disabled to go first..
 
Except for the occasional few who will NOT abide by the rules of the store (standing too close etc.,) and not wearing a mask, I haven't encountered rudeness or edginess at all...at least not directed at me.

It may be that I only go out during senior hours, when there a far fewer people in the grocery store, and they're all under a similar risk as me, so they're more inclined to be patient, even if they are on edge. I know I am!
 
I haven't been out in public in months, but would always let people with a few items ahead of me go first if I have a cart-full of stuff. Holly does have a good point though regarding having your frozen goods thawing while waiting in lines. Perhaps they should have separate lines for people with melt-down issues over frozen products!
 
Ronni said:
Except for the occasional few who will NOT abide by the rules of the store (standing too close etc.,) and not wearing a mask, I haven't encountered rudeness or edginess at all...at least not directed at me.

It may be that I only go out during senior hours, when there a far fewer people in the grocery store, and they're all under a similar risk as me, so they're more inclined to be patient, even if they are on edge. I know I am!
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I don't usually do "instore"shopping but when I do go I make an effort to go early in the morning, at the beginning of the Senior hour. At that time there are very few customers (and staff) in the store. So far I have found everyone to be respectful of store guidelines regarding physical distancing. I notice too that all the other senior shoppers have also come prepared with a list so as to limit the amount of time they spend in the store.
 
Pappy said:
Like em in Ohio, We haven’t been in a store for weeks. I shutter to think how people are acting now. Our Publix, which we went to 3-4 times week, is no doubt pretty foreign to us now. We will wait a little longer before getting our feet wet again.
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That's a thought - When I do go back, what will things look like? Perhaps aisles will be wider - that would be a good thing. But, will the stores all be rearranged, adding to my already existent problem with finding things? Will shelves be higher to accommodate things moved to widen aisles? I already had issues as I am vertically challenged (i.e. short.) One thing is certain - I will be entering a whole new world. What an adventure I have instore!
 
Em in Ohio said:
That's a thought - When I do go back, what will things look like? Perhaps aisles will be wider - that would be a good thing. But, will the stores all be rearranged, adding to my already existent problem with finding things? Will shelves be higher to accommodate things moved to widen aisles? I already had issues as I am vertically challenged (i.e. short.) One thing is certain - I will be entering a whole new world. What an adventure I have instore!
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I doubt they'll widen aisles it would mean removing shelving and carrying less stock.

Currently for those who haven 't been in supermarkets for a long time..at least here at our supermarkets.. the shopping can be quite stressful due to lack of space caused by them blocking off aisles so everyone has to go around in one direction with arrows pointing one way... no turning back if you've forgotten something.. and side gaps in the aisles are blocked off so everyone has to walk the full length of each aisle before going into the next one..

Further to that there's one queue..and one queue only for the Checkouts, so everyone stands at spaced out markers (but some ignore these)...and the single queue, can snake around for 3 or 4 long aisles.. . Once at the front of the queue there's a shelf-filler, directing people to the next available Checkout, where again you're expected to position your trolley in a certain way, and stand within a certain small marked out box on the floor , to pack your items.... all really unnecessarily stressful after standing in line for up to 40 minutes.. baring in mind you may also be wearing a mask where you find it difficult to breathe or it mists up your glasses and then paying only by contactless .. ...all of you who are able to stay away from supermarkets, you're doing the best for your health including any anxieties..

Often when I leave a supermarket after going through all of the aforesaid palaver.. and see the huge queue outside waiting to go in, I want to shout to them and tell them to forget it.. :p
 
hollydolly said:
I doubt they'll widen aisles it would mean removing shelving and carrying less stock.

Currently for those who haven 't been in supermarkets for a long time..at least here at our supermarkets.. the shopping can be quite stressful due to lack of space caused by them blocking off aisles so everyone has to go around in one direction with arrows pointing one way... no turning back if you've forgotten something.. and side gaps in the aisles are blocked off so everyone has to walk the full length of each aisle before going into the next one..

Further to that there's one queue..and one queue only for the Checkouts, so everyone stands at spaced out markers (but some ignore these)...and the single queue, can snake around for 3 or 4 long aisles.. . Once at the front of the queue there's a shelf-filler, directing people to the next available Checkout, where again you're expected to position your trolley in a certain way, and stand within a certain small marked out box on the floor , to pack your items.... all really unnecessarily stressful after standing in line for up to 40 minutes.. baring in mind you may also be wearing a mask where you find it difficult to breathe or it mists up your glasses and then paying only by contactless .. ...all of you who are able to stay away from supermarkets, you're doing the best for your health including any anxieties..

Often when I leave a supermarket after going through all of the aforesaid palaver.. and see the huge queue outside waiting to go in, I want to shout to them and tell them to forget it.. :p
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Thank goodness that others are making the occasional shopping run for me - As patient as I can be, there are limits!
 
hollydolly said:
I doubt they'll widen aisles it would mean removing shelving and carrying less stock.

Currently for those who haven 't been in supermarkets for a long time..at least here at our supermarkets.. the shopping can be quite stressful due to lack of space caused by them blocking off aisles so everyone has to go around in one direction with arrows pointing one way... no turning back if you've forgotten something.. and side gaps in the aisles are blocked off so everyone has to walk the full length of each aisle before going into the next one..

Further to that there's one queue..and one queue only for the Checkouts, so everyone stands at spaced out markers (but some ignore these)...and the single queue, can snake around for 3 or 4 long aisles.. . Once at the front of the queue there's a shelf-filler, directing people to the next available Checkout, where again you're expected to position your trolley in a certain way, and stand within a certain small marked out box on the floor , to pack your items.... all really unnecessarily stressful after standing in line for up to 40 minutes.. baring in mind you may also be wearing a mask where you find it difficult to breathe or it mists up your glasses and then paying only by contactless .. ...all of you who are able to stay away from supermarkets, you're doing the best for your health including any anxieties..

Often when I leave a supermarket after going through all of the aforesaid palaver.. and see the huge queue outside waiting to go in, I want to shout to them and tell them to forget it.. :p
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That's interesting. There are no one-way aisles where I've shopped, and I've asked several friends who shop in different parts of town, in different stores. Nope. None anywhere. I wonder if that's just a British thing, or if Americans in other parts of the country from where I am (Tennessee) have similar restrictions when they shop.

There are markers for where to stand waiting for checkout, but interestingly, ALL the checkouts are open plus self-checkout as well, which is very different from the way it used to be. Usually only one or two registers were open and most folks were at the self check.
 
Em in Ohio said:
Thank goodness that others are making the occasional shopping run for me - As patient as I can be, there are limits!
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precisely...and I am a very impatient person...so this has tested my patience to the max. I hav e to keep myself in check in the supermarket or I'd be steaming mad at the antics of some people and the downright rudeness..
 
@Ronni....the first 3 weeks here only Self checkouts were open...then once they were able to install screens for the checkout staff, they opened all the tills... however they are still not permitting people to queue at each checkout as we usually would, instead everyone has to stand in one queue... remember I'm talking about my local supermarkets here in my nearest large town, there's like;y to be a differences even in different town here in the UK as wel... but this particular chain of supermarkets have set this up the way I've explained.

My daughter who lives in Spain, where the lockdown was and still is much more severe than ours, where they have to have permission to leave the house for work, or one trip to the nearest stores, or chemist or doctor only or they're stopped by the police at the end of their roads, and fined on the spot ... says that all of their supermarkets are absolutely fine...no queuing outside at all..all checkouts have individual queues as usual.. just with the markers in place..
 
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win231 said:
Well, I just got home after my walk & some shopping. After a 15-minute wait in line at the market, I was next to go in with a group of 5 people.
I saw a guy who didn't look like he could stand very long. He looked around my age (67) but he probably had a medical condition that made standing & walking difficult. He was looking for an employee to ask if he could be put in the front of the line. I told him, "If it's hard for you to stand in line, just get in front of me." He said "Thank you" 5 times. I immediately got "Pfffft's" & "Oh $hit's," & "Now we have to wait longer" from other people as well as dirty looks (which I promptly returned). These people are brain dead. How much delay would ONE person walking in front of me cause? 3 seconds?
Yeah...I've said it before, this situation brings out the stupid in people. And nasty.
Click to expand...
Nobody likes when people cut into the line that they've been standing and waiting in. It was nice that you let him go in front of you, but as someone already suggested, that should have followed with you moving to the end of the line, so the same number of people were in front of those behind you. In my opinion, that would have been the considerate thing to do for all concerned. The folks behind you were not rude, if that guy really had trouble standing, perhaps he should have been using a sit down motorized cart in the store.

Honestly, I just started going out again for some needed shopping, been to Costco, Sam's Club and Kroger supermarket....today I'm going to Walmart. I have been pleasantly surprised at how nice and considerate everyone has been. I haven't witnessed anyone being rude or nasty to others, everybody seems to understand the different rules and are very patient and courteous.
 

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