Checkout fuss

[veritata]

I was approaching the checkouts at the supermarkets today, and saw one with two people - one, a man, was loading his trolley having paid, and there was a woman standing there who I assumed was with him. I joined that queue and started getting my stuff out when the woman said "Excuse me, I'm first". I was confused and said "Come on, you haven't got a trolley", whereupon she gestured to a lad who had come up behind me with a trolley and said "There it is". I said "Yes, and it's behind me". She got into a huff and stropped off muttering "Don't panic, it's only a queue" to which I just answered "Precisely". I was perfectly calm throughout - if anything, I was just confused - and in fact was about to move myself rather than get into a stupid stand-off.

WIBU? Has reserving your place in checkout queues become a thing that no-one's told me about?

[KatoPotato]

WRT new till opening, surely it makes sense that those at the back of the queue move to the new till? Surely those further up are effectively 'trapped' and if you have a trolley its not easy to 'reverse' past people?

[KatoPotato]

surely surely surely must be my word of the day!

[Gruntfuttock]

Madcatgirl that's insane behaviour! What on earth were they thinking?

[dustarr73]

A new till opening is different,its everyone for themselves.I dont class that as queue jumping.

[AntiDistinctlyMinty]

A few weeks ago I'd unloaded my trolley and the couple behind me started unloading their shopping. About half way through theirs, as mine was getting right to the end of the conveyor, he went 'oh crap, we forgot milk', reached over and took the milk out of my shopping!

He got really shirty when I challenged him on it - apparently as a young woman (with a 2 year old and an 11 month old in tow) I should have let him have my shopping because it would be much easier for me to get some more.

Lucky for me the checkout lady said she wouldn't be serving him until he returned my shopping. He sent his poor wife (who looked mortified!) off to get the milk and spent the next few minutes chuntering about how young people don't know how to respect their elders any more

[Goldengirl1979]

YANBU in the supermarket queue as one has so many items it's a big inconvenience

I think queuing for gigs etc is fine as one more person won't take that much longer (they only have to scan one more ticket) and the marginal inconvenience of letting one more person through is balanced when you have to do it for a mate / vice versa.

Theme parks somewhere in the middle as you may not get to go with your friend if you let another person queue jump to be with theirs

(Omg this is like an ethics lesson)

[KatoPotato]

OMG Anti! That's the ultimate conveyor belt crime!

[Clutterbugsmum]

I've only had this happen once.

I was unpacking my shopping on to the belt when a lady behind me started putting her on. I asked her what she was doing as I hadn't finished unloading
my trolley. She replied that she was in a hurry. I repeated I hadn't finished, and as I was in front of her she would be late for whatever as I needed to finish empting my trolley so could she move her stuff. She gave me about an inch, so I kept pushing her stuff back every time I had space to my shopping on. She kept huffing. Then when I went to pack as I couldn't pack and load the the belt at the same time she stood so close to me kept catching her with my elbow. Which she complained about the cashier told her to move back then. Once I finished packing up my shopping and went to pay be card she would not move back so I could put my pin number in without her seeing. I lost my temper and said her you have two choices you either stand back the other side of the till so I could put my pin number in or she could pay for it as I was not doing it until she moved. She got really huffy because she was 'going to be late for a very Important meeting.' So I repeated my suggestion and she finally moved back. I paid for my shopping and told that I have never taken so long to pay for my shopping before (or since must have been around 30mins) and it was all her selfish doing because she was 'in a hurry' and if she had been polite we all could have been on our way 20 mins ago. Then the cashier swapped and both the one coming off the till and the one taking over took time when logging off and logging on.

[feelingmellow]

I agree with gruntfuttock and others. I was queing behind a full trolley, nobody in sight and an empty conveyor belt, so waiteed for bit and then put my shopping into the conveyor belt, Just as it start up for checking out, the woman who owned the full trolley came storming up to me shouting that she was in front of me. I just replied, 'well you're not now'. I very rarely reserve my place in the queue to go back and fetch something I've forgotten and if I ever do I always ask the person behind me if they mind. It's only polite.

[Goldengirl1979]

Oh I have a good queue story- at the station going to London on the train and picking up my reserved tickets. Only two machines and one not working.

It was being really annoying with my card (used that machine before and it does do this to people) and took a couple of goes to register. Heard huffing and puffing behind me and there's a tall bloke glaring at me. The ticket is taking a while to drop so whilst it does so, I ask him is there a problem? He then rants on that "there's a queue" (really, sir, I hadn't noticed) and I was taking ages and he had a train to catch (and I.... er.. ????)

I calmly said the machine was malfunctioning and that maybe he should be a little less rude.... Then this woman behind me chimes in as well and says "or get here earlier" which was the icing on the cake.

As I walked off he sarkily muttered "Well done" which I decided to take as admitting defeat.

Heart was going nineteen to the dozen tho.

[mumwhite]

I hate que jumpers. I work in a shop at weekends, to fit around kids etc. And the number of people who think its ok to dump
Their stuff and expect it to be rung through whilst they carry on shopping! Grrr It causes huge ques behind them and is really annoying. Everyone is in such a rush these days, often too bothered to even wait for their change!!

[PTFswife]

I think my reaction to the queue jumpers would entirely depend on how charitable my mood was that day. There is something about shopping queues that seem to make most people become completely irrational. Me included.

But if I can share a happy queue story - which perhaps will change the way you feel next time you're in a queue - last weekend I was buying a pair of crappy shoes in New Look. I never go in New Look. Apparently the rest of the world wanted to pay for things at the same. There were only two check out girls on. Everyone in the queue was hurrumphing and moaning and complaining. No-one tried to push in but it wouldn't have taken much for an all out brawl to kick off had someone tried.

Anyway, I finally got to the front of the queue and expected the girl to say: 'Sorry for the wait.' She didn't. I could feel my blood pressure rise further, but said nothing. She then looked at me. Her face was really white and she looked dead on her feet. She asked me if I had done anything fun that day. I replied. Small talk. She then said: 'God I am just so tired, I feel like I have hit a wall.' and she really did look exhausted. I asked her how long she still had to work. She said till 7pm. It was 4pm and she'd been working since 10 without a break. I said to her: ' You need to eat.' She said: 'I know,' with a sad little smile.

Ipaid, left, went to the shop next door, bought her a chocolate bar, walked back to her till getting all sorts of evil looks from the other shoppers and gave her the chocolate saying: for when you get a chance to eat.

I didn't wait to hear her reply or see the looks I got from the other shoppers. But I left with a spring in my step instead of feeling annoyed at the wait.

So take heart. Next time someone tries to but in, turn it on them and say: Go for it. Would you like me to help you unpack? Their flabber will be gasted.

[hilzilla]

this is a French housewives habit creeping in over here - they park their trolley in the queue, then go off and do their shopping, returning to drop bits and pieces in as their trolley slowly glides up to the top of the queue. they get very cross if you push their trolley back up the queue, as I did once. the next time it happened I took the trolley away completely and left it in an aisle for her to find; I was paid up and out the door while she was still dashing around looking for her shopping.

[baconsandwich]

unreal housewife sounds like George Clooney in Up In The Air carefully selecting his airport security queue - v wise

[baconsandwich]

And you sound lovely PTSWife

[bealos]

I have to say I've let people queue jump in the past at the supermarket.

I wouldn't say it would be my default position but there's some people you just don't want to argue with - or basically, there's no point, as they clearly believe that are absolutely right (and probably have mental health issues).

A bit of karma, I hope - what goes around, comes around. I wasn't in so much of a rush I needed to argue with someone who believed they were in front of me.

[bealos]

(however, I'd draw the line at someone with a full trolley pushing in front of me!!)

[bealos]

@hilzilla - in France this Summer, I couldn't believe how few tills were open! Such long queues every time I went to a supermarket!

[SantasLittleMonkeyButler]

Blimey OP, YANBU!

It's not Dale's Supermarket Sweep! It's not normal practice for one person to stand by the till whilst the other rushes around filling a trolley .

Heavens above.

[withaspongeandarustyspanner]

I have put stuff on a conveyor belt before (when I've seen a gap, not realising that the person in front hadn't put their stuff on. I felt awful, but it was unintentional.

In our local supermarket (a Waitrose) we get selected to go to the new till opening - then no one can argue. If I realise I have forgotten something, I either tell the people next in the queue what I'm doing and if I'm close to being served, I invite them to go ahead of me if the chance arises before I'm back. Because I think that's fair. If there's no one after me, I usually tell the cashier what I'm doing though they're happy to send someone for whatever you've forgotten, anyway. It kind of depends where I am in the queue. It is funny how there are so many unwritten rules for queuing in this country.

We live in a small town with many pensioners (sorry EvansOvalPiesYumYum, though you sound rather young in outlook to be considered in the same bracket, even if you are approaching that age) who can be a bit of a nightmare at times, in all sorts of ways - spreading trolleys out in the aisles so you can't get through and then tutting at you if you so much as touch their trolleys. But it's OK - I take my trusty 3yo who either charms the pants off them or blows raspberries at them (much to my horror). The thing is, you never can tell which way it'll go.

[MyLifeIsFictional]

FindoGask*

This may well sound a bit po-faced, but I was with you right up until the point where you started bragging about your partner physically intimidating a stranger. There are ways to deal with conflict that don't involve intimations of violence

HUH??? WTAF?? Where did you get that from?

He didn't intimate violence. I merely said that she probably hadn't clocked that the tall, well built guy in front of me was with me. What did you want him to do - chop his fucking legs off at the knee so he wasn't taller than her??

Don't understand how you thought it was bragging either. I merely said what happened.

She was the one attempting to intimidate me if you had been able to read past your supposed indignation.

[EternalOptimist77]

I was at a bank once and there was 1 other person filling in a bank slip. I walked up to the teller only to hear filth followed by "queue f'ing jumper". I was so surprised as I was the only other person in the "queue". Her ladyship expected me to wait until she had filled in her slip... WTF??

[AngelsWithSilverWings]

I got accused of queue jumping in a very busy card shop one Christmas by a really nasty man. I had queued for a good 5 minutes just like everyone else but the queue turned a corner just before you reached the checkout.

I was about third in line to be served when I noticed a lady with a double buggy trying to make her way out of the shop but having trouble because the queue of people was in her way.

I stepped out of the queue temporarily to let her out and then stepped back in. I then received a whole load of abuse from the man who had been queuing further back but who had obviously been around the corner when I originally stepped out to let the lady go by. He was so rude and aggressive to me that I put my shopping down and left the shop in tears.He just wouldn't believe that I had not just pushed in and no one stood up for me even when I tried to explain.