Supermarket Brawl Over Too Many Items In Express Lane

There have been times when I had more than the 10 items and the cashier told me to come check out in her lane. I'd say I had too many items and she'd say it didn't matter. The 10 item lane is arbitrary, not a LAW, not set in stone. It's only a way to efficiently process customers with fewer items when the lanes are full of customers.
The same is true with the handicapped restroom stalls. If there aren't any handicapped people in the vicinity and the other stalls are in use, it is okay to use that one. In other words, it isn't mandatory for you to be handicapped to use it.
The handicapped parking spaces are another matter. They are for people who have problems getting into and out of the establishment. This should include people who have a temporary disability, such as a broken leg, or women who are heavily pregnant. You can get a ticket for parking in these spots without a special tag or hang tag. Unfortunately the handicapped parking spot police are few and far between.
 
It won't be long before we are all holed up at home behind the security system and the cameras waiting for a drone to drop our groceries down the chimney.

Jeff Bezos gonna save us all!

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rgp said:
While I want to agree with you, and do to a point. Do we just ignore those that constantly game the system ? Do we not need rules , to maintain a peaceful society?

As this demonstrates , people [as a whole] are not always going to be considerate on their own.

I mean the "express" line is intended for smaller orders, to assist those that are "in a hurry" and need just a few things. Shouldn't that rule/order be maintained?
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I agree that we need rules, but I also feel that it is stupid to get into a physical brawl over stuff like this. We've already got road rage; do we really need express line rage?
 
hollydolly said:
We have a funny situation here in the UK..

In the supermarkets they are only permitted to sell 2 packs of Generic meds at a time per customer. ..so 2 packs of aspirin ( usually a pack of 16) , 2 packs of sickness meds etc..in one transaction

However.., there's no law to say how many transactions a person can have ..so we're forced by law to have the ridiculous situ sometimes where a shopper will place 2 packs of aspirin on the belt.. put the separators bar on and put another 2 packs on, add the separator and add another 2 packs.. and so on potentially ad infinitum...

The law says we can only buy 2 packs in one transaction.. but we can buy them in as many transactions as we need.. sooo stupid!!

I jusr buy all my meds in Spain when I'm out there they have no such law, and I can buy painkillers etc, in large amounts ( no small packs of 16) in one transaction!!
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Our supermarkets only have two separators available. Some cashiers have none so it can't go on infinitit
 
rgp said:
While I want to agree with you, and do to a point. Do we just ignore those that constantly game the system ? Do we not need rules , to maintain a peaceful society?

As this demonstrates , people [as a whole] are not always going to be considerate on their own.

I mean the "express" line is intended for smaller orders, to assist those that are "in a hurry" and need just a few things. Shouldn't that rule/order be maintained?
Click to expand...
We have this express lines here in the UK and they are just that and most customets respect it but thats in my semi rural town and not in a metropolis. The strict criteria where this incident occurred is rather OTT and wonder if this is statuatory in supermarkets in other countries and Europe
 
Maybe a sidetrack from the OP but we went to Canada in 1980 for five weeks and one huge outlet we visited with our rellies there was rows of check out points and one at the end saying CASH ONLY. There was no one waiting to be served and we asked my Bro in law why and he said that no one pays cash and use their cards. This was new to us Brits back then and we didn't realise how the credit card was so widely used. England must have been waking up to the new ethos of cash credit and debit cards back then but maybe we were out of touch.

When we went to France on a duty free back in the 80's we were in a giant hypertmarket in Boulogne and we started to queue in an orderly fashion as Brits do and a couple of foreigners pushed us out of the way to be served and we were disgusted and some verbals ensued.

We were told when we got home that queueing is not the norm on the continent and its a free for all. How uncivilised is that, then? 😟😲
 
CrackerJack said:
Maybe a sidetrack from the OP but we went to Canada in 1980 for five weeks and one huge outlet we visited with our rellies there was rows of check out points and one at the end saying CASH ONLY. There was no one waiting to be served and we asked my Bro in law why and he said that no one pays cash and use their cards. This was new to us Brits back then and we didn't realise how the credit card was so widely used. England must have been waking up to the new ethos of cash credit and debit cards back then but maybe we were out of touch.

When we went to France on a duty free back in the 80's we were in a giant hypertmarket in Boulogne and we started to queue in an orderly fashion as Brits do and a couple of foreigners pushed us out of the way to be served and we were disgusted and some verbals ensued.

We were told when we got home that queueing is not the norm on the continent and its a free for all. How uncivilised is that, then? 😟😲
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I always heard that France was pushy.
 
It's just groceries for crying out loud! This is a symptom of a much deeper and more widespread problem IMO. People have become so violent over the least little thing. Their stress levels are through the ceiling, so they club someone over having too many items in the express lane. Because they can't strike out at what/who is really troubling them in their lives? Just my point of view for what it's worth.
 
chic said:
It's just groceries for crying out loud! This is a symptom of a much deeper and more widespread problem IMO. People have become so violent over the least little thing. Their stress levels are through the ceiling, so they club someone over having too many items in the express lane. Because they can't strike out at what/who is really troubling them in their lives? Just my point of view for what it's worth.
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I feel sometimes like you do, that people are going crazy. But, I think it's because with internet more news is available to us and faster and we're aware of things we didn't find out about when news were more local or when radio and tv and newspapers only carried important happenings. I doubt a paper or radio on the east coast would write about a supermarket brawl on the west coast, unless there were killings. At least, I hope I'm right and the human race is not self-imploding. ☹
 
According to our local news, there was an altercation yesterday in one of the checkout lines in a local Wal-Mart on Friday.

I just find it astonishing that our society seems to be deteriorating to the point where some of us have lost all sense of civility and decent (let alone polite) behavior in public. I mean, really, physical fighting over a place in a checkout line? Or over too many items in an express line? The whole world is starting to look like an episode of the Jerry Springer Show.
 
When I would go to Walmart I was buying for 3 people. My mother (groceries for us all), my sister (specific things she needed or wanted), and myself (my personal things). At first I would go to a regular check out and tell people who came up behind me that I had 3 different orders and that it would take some time. Usually while I was checking out I would get all kinds of snide remarks from those who didn't think it would take long or who didn't believe me or for whatever reason chose to just stay in that lane.

Then I started going to the self-check outs (the ones that don't have conveyors. Then I'd have the 'register police' swarming around thinking I'd fail to scan and pay for something because I had so many things to check. Then I started going to the self-check outs that had conveyor belts. I'd actually have a clerk come over and help me by ringing up the merchandise as I placed it on the conveyor. That line moved much quicker so those were the type of check-outs that I preferred.

But none of them were the check-outs limited to certain number of items.

Now that it's just Daddy and me and Daddy can't be left alone, I order the things I need on-line and Daddy and I ride to the store, an employee brings the items to the car and loads them. So much easier!
 
Seriously?!! People are just going off the rails these days. Link wouldn't open for me. Guess N.J.com recognizes my computer and my 10 free articles a month are used up or they don't like my VPN.
 
Well....... I'm one of the those stupid, thoughtless idiots, who put up a stink at the "Express" checkout. When I lived in NYC, I lived in a Jewish neighborhood. On Fridays, they had to finish their grocery shopping before sundown. So the store was always packed with long lines about 5-6. PM Everybody trying to get home before sundown. I had four items , and was standing, about 20th, in a long, long, long line for the express. The line stretched way down the aisle.This woman pushed her cart into the line right before the checkout saying, "You don't mind, do you?" She had about a good $300-400 cart full of food. I got angry. I complained to the clerk about this being the "EXPRESS" lane, she didn't say anything. It angered me so much that I opened the bag on my bread and dumped it on the floor. I did the same with my ground meat. And the potato salad. I took the 2 liter bottle of soda ,(This was the big glass ones at the time.), and dive bombed the pile on the floor. The bottle exploded. and I walked out of the store. Now, after all this time, do you think I've mellowed, grown up, and would do things differently ? HELL, NO!!!!!!!
 
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Well....... I'm one of the those stupid, thoughtless idiots, who put up a stink at the "Express" checkout. Again , it's just before sundown, on a Friday. This guy nudged me out of line at the deli counter. It irritated me, but I held my temper. I got to the Express lane. It was a huge line, which stretched way down the aisle. After a half hour of standing, I got to the checkout. As I was putting my 4 items down ( Yup, the same 4 from above.) This arm reached around me, and started putting groceries in front of mine. I grabbed them, and heaved them as far as I could down the aisle. It was the guy from the deli. He had cut in line and in front of me. He said, "Oh were you here first?". Then he went to go find his groceries. Strangely, the grocery store had a clerk follow me around whenever I went in the store.???
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Well....... I'm one of the those stupid, thoughtless idiots, who put up a stink at the "Express" checkout. When I lived in NYC, I lived in a Jewish neighborhood. On Fridays, they had to finish their grocery shopping before sundown. So the store was always packed with long lines about 5-6. PM Everybody trying to get home before sundown. I had four items , and was standing, about 20th, in a long, long, long line for the express. The line stretched way down the aisle.This woman pushed her cart into the line right before the checkout saying, "You don't mind, do you?" She had about a good $300-400 cart full of food. I got angry. I complained to the clerk about this being the "EXPRESS" lane, she didn't say anything. It angered me so much that I opened the bag on my bread and dumped it on the floor. I did the same with my ground meat. And the potato salad. I took the 2 liter bottle of soda ,(This was the big glass ones at the time.), and dive bombed the pile on the floor. The bottle exploded. and I walked out of the store. Now, after all this time, do you think I've mellowed, grown up, and would do things differently ? HELL, NO!!!!!!!
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LOL. (I'm just a normal Jew,) but it's only the wacko Orthodox who have to finish their shopping before sundown.....along with turning off the pilot on their stoves, no tearing paper (bathroom tissue), no driving, phone, computer etc. & only eating "blessed" food. I never realized how that can affect other shoppers.
 
win231 said:
LOL - years ago, I saw a funny cartoon:
A cashier is standing at her station, under a sign that says, "Express Lane - 10 Items Only." She's holding a shotgun with smoke coming out of the barrel. There are three bloody bodies laying on the floor.
The caption reads: "All right. Anybody else got more than 10 items?"
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I love your cartoon!!!!
I will put up with stupid, rude people to a point; will pick my battles. I've only once turned to a 35-ish old woman and asked WTF are you doing?!?! While I was being checked out she was throwing her reusable shopping bags OVER my head to bag boy. I let her toss the 1st one without discourse, but the 2nd bag toss caused me to pull out the verbal nunchucks! Very cathartic exchange.... that night I wrote "Dear diary, I could have shot her, but didn't. YEA ME!"
 


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