etiquette at the self-service till...

[mollypollly]

OK ladies, I know this is petty but bear with me...

I've just come back from waitrose where I bought a few bits and bobs at the self check-out (about 3 bags worth, plus a couple of bigger items I couldn't bag-up).

So once I'd paid I then started to load the stuff up onto/underneath the pushchair (I was not taking my time over this - in fact I was desperate to get out as DD was due a feed so I was on borrowed time). It's also worth noting that there wasn't really a queue (about 2 people queuing for 4 tills)

But before I could even lift the first bag off, the woman who was next in the queue came charging over, plonked her basket down and started trying to scan her stuff through - then huffed and puffed that a couple of my bits were still in the way.

AIBU to think she could have given me one minute just to sort myself out without getting in my way, slowing me down and stressing me out?! I know this is super petty but it really annoyed me...

I sympathise a little OP, but one of the biggest (and pettiest) bains of my life are people (usually women, usually of a certain age), who faff-around at a checkout, holding everybody up

Babycham Why did you find it necessary to turn this into the usual "women-of-a-certain-age" bashing?

OP - that lady was very rude, and should have waited until you had finished.
Agree as well with someone who said above that you can't release your items from the "receiving end" of the till on some self-serve checkouts, as The Voice tells you to put it back.

Babycham if you managed yourself (the only person you can manage) to actually be relaxed and patient you'd have a much nicer day.

YANBU

BUT
To cure the problem, start to use self scan as you go round : no waiting at the tills ever again

Just remember Babycham to the person behind you, you're seen as feckless and indolent too.

I on the other hand am as spritely as a mountain goat as I nimbly scan and pack with 0.7 seconds. The rest of you could learn from me.

I'm surprised this has never happened to me. I usually take my own bag but I can't put it in the bagging area because it's too heavy - it's only canvas but it triggers the alert.

So I scan, pay and then pack. And I like to take my time because otherwise I might leave my change behind for the lucky person gagging for my checkout.

I've never noticed anyone being pushy. Probably because the staff politely but firmly make everyone wait to be called and will only do it when the checkout is clear and they've checked you haven't left anything behind.

Also remember Babysham that you will be a lady of a certain age, one dayunless you're a man

Patience is a virtue.

OP that woman was very rude to you.

YANBU, I would of said to her "excuse me but I'm not finished yet" and then moved at the pace of a snail
Some people are so rude

It isn't a question of "too much" at our local Tesco either .... as the self service tills have great long platforms adjacent on which it is perfectly possible to place at least 6 standard carrier bags. Therefore, people regularly go through with trollies if it's faster to do so than queuing at a manned till.

That woman was very rude OP - it doesn't sound as if you were faffing about or doing anything to justify the huffing and puffing. Might be different if you were letting your children "play shops" at the till - which is a particular bugbear and very selfish because they're inevitably slow at scanning .... or if you'd sent your OH off to fetch a load of stuff you'd just remembered you needed ... then, I could understand her annoyance but you really did nothing wrong.

Also remember Babysham that you will be a lady of a certain age, one day

Unless she makes that remark in the earshot of a lady of a certain age, who has a certain temperament to go with it.

Fluffy I often get this at the cigarette counter (people way too close for comfort). I did once say "Woah - Not so close! I at least expect dinner before you try to get inside my knickers"... he backed off.

She was rude. End of.

You should have told her to bloody well wait.

Where we are, self-service checkouts are definitely not just for baskets or small shops. They positively encourage everyone to use them - there is plenty of space to load several bags worth on the 'thing that weighs items' after they've been scanned.

Rude. No other word for it. Why are people so bloody rude, impatient and aggressive everywhere you go nowadays? I'd have said, "Will you please wait? I haven't completely finished."
Some folk (and not necessarily just older ones) may not be able to 'hurry up'. They may be feeling a bit below par, or have some awful problem on their mind, or be in pain. You just don't know.

True Limited

There was a couple in front of me a few days ago at the self service till. Oh they were so in love. He'd scan the aubergine, she's put it in the bag. They'd have a teeny tiny kiss. Oh it was just beautiful.

I wanted to hammer them both to death with a leek.

Babycham is right.
There is a certain type of shopper.. and I'm sorry to say it, but it is usually the older ones, who pfaff around for ages and then when it's time to pay, look all surprised and spend ages digging round in their bag for their purse, then they have to use the exact change, then they remember coupons, then they might decide to pack something.
Or you'll get someone who, when asked ''would you like some help with your packing''? take it to mean '' would you like me to pack ALL of it for you, while you stand there and do nothing?''

i have no patience either

This is why I LOVE online shopping.

Thanks so much for all the replies ladies, I wish I'd had the guts to say something now!

Oh, and I'm also knocking on the door of being a lady of a certain age, so not bashing them

but they DO pfaff around a lot

Haha Ginny, that really is the limit...I would've gladly joined you with a butternut squash Bleugh.

I often get this at the cigarette counter (people way too close for comfort). I did once say "Woah - Not so close! I at least expect dinner before you try to get inside my knickers"

hellsandwich My Sainsbury's allows only people buying fags and lottery tickets to use the cigarette till.

It used to be 10 items or fewer but I guess the rage provoked in people desperate for nicotine and scratchcards behind people delaying their fix with regular groceries was too stressful to police.

I was once roundly abused for having a bunch of celery in my basket.

'Fucking celery. Are you having a laugh? Fuck off with your healthy eating.'

I'm not joking. I could have probably taken her because she was wheezing, but the ferocity was very intimidating.

'Rude. No other word for it. Why are people so bloody rude, impatient and aggressive everywhere you go nowadays? I'd have said, "Will you please wait? I haven't completely finished." '

People are rude and impatient 'these days', because we live in a society that puts multiple, conflicting demands on so many people's time just to sustain a reasonable standard of living. Also, if you live in a city like London, you will find that twenty years of inward migration and under-investment have put infrastructure and services under unprecedented pressure, meaning there isn't enough to go round.

Consequently, we end up acting like starving vultures, fighting over the last scraps of a rotting corpse. Evolutionary, innit?

Oops I mean squoosh! Although I do also sympathise with you Ginny

Speaking as a lady of a certain age and as someone who mans the self-service checkout - trust me, some ladies of a certain age can take a leisurely pace, but NOBODY beats the multi-generational scanning-as-a-spectator-sport group (minimum four members).

There is a certain type of shopper.. and I'm sorry to say it, but it is usually the older ones, who pfaff around for ages and then when it's time to pay, look all surprised and spend ages digging round in their bag for their purse, then they have to use the exact change, then they remember coupons, then they might decide to pack something.

Oh, you've queued behind me, then.

There is a certain type of shopper.. and I'm sorry to say it, but it is usually the older ones, who pfaff around for ages and then when it's time to pay, look all surprised and spend ages digging round in their bag for their purse, then they have to use the exact change, then they remember coupons, then they might decide to pack something.

Oh, you've queued behind me, then.

Probably, limited,
but I never say anything, I'm the picture of politeness.
I just think it.

I was brought up proper me