Who had bad supermarket etiquette?

[AnneNonimous]

Another supermarket till thread.

So the situation was: I arrived at a till for baskets only. A woman was putting her stuff onto the conveyor belt and there was another basket with shopping in on the floor a little way away from her. I wondered if for some reason she had two baskets but after she'd emptied her one she put one of the divider thingies behind her shopping. So I put my basket on the conveyor belt ready to unpack my shopping.

A woman then came over and said 'I just went to get something I was behind that lady' (the lady in front of the lady infront of me). Lady in front of me says 'oh well she didn't say anything' and I say 'no she didn't' and begin putting my shopping on conveyor belt.

The lady sucks her teeth at me and goes to find somewhere else to pay.

WIBU or was she?

[AnneNonimous]

And I realise this is a total non event

[MardyBra]

She is absolutely in the wrong. If it's a basket only you can't reserve a space. It's for high speed transactions.

It's acceptable to nip off to get an item when processing a trolley load, as long as you don't hold anyone up.

[NotYoMomma]

I don't know :s

a bit of a doormat so probably would have apologised, let her in and then been annoyed with myself all day

Not helpful response to the non event

[Eskino]

She was and she knew she was otherwise she would have defended her basket leaving action and not just done the teeth sucking mardy and gone off.

[MrsBertMacklin]

She was in the wrong and knew it.

[alienbanana]

She was. Even if you have held a space in the queue with your basket/trolley then if you're not back before the next person in the queue, they go in front. It's the rules.

[HoHoHoNoYouDont]

It's the rules

I love that!

They should display a laminated copy of the Mumsnet Supermarket Etiquette rules.

[pictish]

She's a chancer.

It is an utter pain in the arse to make it to the checkout and realise you have forgotten something vital....but etiquette dictates that ot's tough titty. You lose your place in the queue.

Harsh...but fair.

[Goldmandra]

I think I would have left it a short time before starting to put my shopping on the belt in case the basket owner was back before the person in front had finished their transaction.

If they didn't appear and it was clear that the cashier would be sitting doing nothing I would have gone ahead and started putting my shopping on the belt. It then would have become my turn because I sure as hell wouldn't be taking it off again.

[MardyBra]

alienbanana for Home Secretary. Such an emminently reasonable MNer.

[raisah]

I had a guy who stood by the side of me & then said he was there before me and barged in.

[SgtTJCalhoun]

Technically you cannot reserve a space with a basket.

However I would think someone who didn't let you, a bit of a Po Face Misery Guts.

I would have let her in. It's nice to be nice .

[LRDtheFeministDragon]

She was in the wrong, however, in my local M&S this is apparently acceptable so long as you have told the bloke on the till, who will then say in a shocked voice 'excuse me, there is a lady coming back for that basket!'

And they haven't had choux buns for weeks now.

Come the revolution, they will be first against the wall.

[AaDB]

You can't save a place with a basket.

I'd love to live in a country where you can save a place with your shoes, It would take queuing up to a whole new level.

[MrsBertMacklin]

I'm waiting for the day that someone quotes Eddie Izzard in these situations:

"But... I left my aura there!"

[LRDtheFeministDragon]

I love that.

[Lweji]

Do you have to ask? :o

I don't care if it's a basket or a trolley.
If you haven't put anything on the conveyor belt and are not around when it's my turn, tough.

If you have stuff on the conveyor belt and the shopper in front has left, then tough too.

The cheek of some people!

[MrsOakenshield]

golly, you're a harsh lot! I would assume if there was a basket there that someone had just realised they'd forgotten something and nipped off to get it, so I would choose whether or not to wait or go to a different till. It's a basket, not 3 trolleyloads, you might be held up by, ooh, 5 minutes?

[MardyBra]

But MrsOakenshield, if you're in a basket lane, then by definition then you're not going to get held up for more than "ooh, 5 mintues" when you get back and someone has taken their rightful place in the queue.

[LRDtheFeministDragon]

Yeah, but it's kinda rude to assume everyone else's time is less important than your own, isn't it?

Where I regularly shop, you get half an hour's free parking and after that you get a ticket, so I think it's pretty rude to make people wait. Maybe less so if you're in a less busy situation.

[MrsOakenshield]

ah, missed that about the basket lane. And I'm just visualising my local supermarket where you can park for 2 hours free. OP doesn't mention that - if that's the case then fair enough. But if it isn't, I think a smile and a 'no problem, you go ahead' wouldn't have been too much to ask, would it? The situation wasn't clear. Sounds like all 3 people made assumptions. Not the end of the world.

[alienbanana]

Holy fuck, MardyBra - notbody has ever called me reasonable before!

[alienbanana]

I'm waiting for the day that someone quotes Eddie Izzard in these situations:

"But... I left my aura there!"

[alienbanana]

What if it was a queue of murderers?

[WearsMinkAllDayAndFoxAllNight]

What if it was a queue of murderers?

Funny you should say that. There was a terrible incident round my way a couple of years ago.

There's a notorious local crim that everyone knows just by his first name, Artie. One time he tried to rob a supermarket till. The cashier tried to fight him off, but he strangled her. The supervisor intervened but Artie strangled her as well. Then he rifled the till.

The police were there quickly and arrested him. When they searched him they found he'd only got away with £1.

Next day in the local paper it said...

"ARTIE CHOKES TWO FOR A POUND AT LIDL"

I'll get my coat.