To have moved this lady's empty trolley - she obviously thought I was

[slartybartfast]

shopping in Asda earlier

women in her late 60s had her trolley blocking salads, I moved it slightly, leant over and got my watercress.

She was then muttering at a packet of ready salad. I thought she was reading it out loud, then wondered if she wanted help reading the ingrediants. I said "are you talkign to me"
She said "you could have said excuse me", before I moved her trolley.

It's only a Trolley was my retort.

It does annoy me,
I must admit I occasionally do say excuse me when I move people's trolleys out of the way but do find it unreasonable that people get so protective of their trolleys, when they are standing in the way of the food!

• DH said if i was a man I would be in permanent fights in pubs with my attitude!

Why is your free time more important than someone elses though?

PIES

i just leave it away from the aisles so people can still get to items, like most of the population

It's not, it's just a matter of playing dodge'ems with your trolleys. Takes a couple of seconds to realise you're in someone's way and skip neatly out of it, apologising and exchanging pleasantries, if that person has asked nicely (or vice versa).

I'm not even commenting on the rights or wrongs of moving someone's trolley - I am just that we are classing late 60's as an 'old biddy'!

My DM had just turned 70 when she died - and certainly was never old enough to be an 'old biddy' .

If it was obvious whose trolley it was, as seems to be the case, I would have smiled and said "excuse me please" or "may I get by please?" or something equally polite. Because it costs me nothing, and maybe I am the only person to smile at them that day. And because I work from home and unless I talk to people when I am out - I can go a whole day only speaking to DH. Which would be very sad for me.

I am 36.

"I've also been guilty of having my trolley in the way whilst chatting. Just apologise, make a joke of it, and everyone's happy."

And it all becomes clear.

No, I would say "sorry, can't stop and chat, have to get the shopping done, give me a call and we'll catch up later"

See, easy.

(please shoot me if I EVER say that shopping is a 'social occasion' - I have no life NOW, but even I'm not that bad that supermarket shopping is considered a social event)

I do too, Liberty - usually at the end of the aisle there's a "blank" spot protected by little bollards. I usually park up there, out of everyone's way. Not everyone thinks the same way, though, it's not the end of the world if someone's in your way for a minute or two.

"Even though for us, it is actually a social occasion"

And clearer still...

SantasLittleMonkeyButler - quite! This point was raised much earlier upthread, but it's been lost a bit in the "trolley in the way" debate. Why is an older person in your way an "old biddy". Why is it relevant that the person in your way may be in his/her 60s and therefore more of a nuisance? People of all ages can be in the way and inconsiderate of others.

An older person is referred to as an "old biddy", a young person may be referred to as a "hooligan" or "hoody" or somesuch. What is a mid-20s,30s,40s annoying person referred to? Is there a deprecating name for them nowadays? I would really love to know, as I may start using it

Wanker.

Covers all ages/genders nicely.

The other day, I was pushing a very unwieldy trolley and was in the central aisle, some idiot couple abandoned their trolley length ways in front of me and buggered off to find something in another aisle.

I pushed their trolley 2 aisles away

And clearer still...

And your point is . . . . . . . . ?

Slithy - now that is perfectly acceptable!

Just that I was wondering what type of person you'd have to be to have the time to piously move along if someone refused to move out of your way.

The type of person that blocks the aisles chatting/treats the salad area as a W.I conference room, apparently. :)

Usualsuspect - that has happened to me before now, several years ago. An elderly gentleman wandered off with my trolley, I caught up with him, he was very embarrassed but we parted with laughter. We though we'd organised the miscreant items, but I got home and found I had a couple of items I hadn't chosen, felt sad that the chap had missed out on his treats (it was only a couple of small bags of nuts and things) but it meant he would have had to go out again to buy them. (I had paid for the rogue stuff, BTW, he'd just put them in my trolley in error)

Just that I was wondering what type of person you'd have to be to have the time to piously move along if someone refused to move out of your way.

Nothing "pious" about it (I'm not religious, so piousness or sanctimony would not even occur to me)

If I had politely asked if someone could possibly move and they point-blank refused, then I would feel perfectly justified in barging them out of the way. I feel this is not the subject being debated at the mo, though!

"If I had politely asked if someone could possibly move and they point-blank refused, then I would feel perfectly justified in barging them out of the way. I feel this is not the subject being debated at the mo, though!"

Oh.

Because that's what I did and you said I am aggressive and rude.

Usual - yes, I often "park up" so I'm not in anyone's way, gather bits and bobs in my arms, then forget where I'm parked. And I've walked off with other people's trolleys too. It seems quite a common occurrence, some supermarkets occasionally put out a msg on the loudspeaker to ask shoppers if they've got the right trolley

This is clearly meant for all us "old biddies"

Marmalade Your comment was "She evil-eyed me and moved her trolley a third of an inch and returned to looking at the Pot Noodles or whatever sub-human sustenance she was planning on buying to keep her great looks up"

I was commenting more at that point on you judging that lady on what she was perusing, rather than moving her trolley away. It seemed rather trite that you thought less of her because she was looking at Pot Noodles, or similar "to keep her great looks up" (your words). Rather unnecessary, just because she was in your way for a couple of minutes. If she was in your way and you had asked politely for her to move and she didn't, then fine that you moved the trolley. Why was it necessary to comment on her looks or what she was thinking of buying?