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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

I know IABU but still...supermarket etiquette!

16 replies

Penhacked · 05/09/2017 18:14

It has been a loooong school holiday. I mean three months type long (not UK).

Picture the scene:

You are stood at the end of a supermarket till about to be served, with a screaming toddler in your arms and a five year old who is trying to sneak whistling chuppa chups into the trolley. Other children are screaming all around. It is a tiny supermarket and only two tills are open. It is the end of the day, people are finishing work, they are getting a bit peckish, it is home time for everyone. We all want to be out of that hell hole.

A woman appears from nowhere and shows you and everyone behind you in the long queue her two items. She stands aggresively between you and the person in front (your items already loaded onto the conveyor) and 'asks' if she can pass. Do you:
a) give an exasperated sigh but say yes
b) of course let her pass, what is an extra five minutes of your life while she is dropping change and you hold said screaming toddler who is now trying to open the rogue chuppa chups? Peace and love.
c) lose your shit, and remind her that other people in the world exist and maybe the screaming child would also like to get home.
d) none of the above. I am already smugly at home with a slow cooker full of nutritious food for my perfect family.

Guess who I was Grin She then proceeded to try and bond with dd who is precariously balanced in the bagging area with a lolly while I try to cram shopping into the bag at high speed. Because what really helps with a queue jumper is having them get in your way while you are loading your shopping too. So in reality they gave also saved zero time because they are stood talking to you. Angry

OP posts:
peachgreen · 05/09/2017 18:32

Oh man, she was BU to ask! And I say that as someone who always lets people with only a few items go ahead. But it would drive me mad if they asked - so rude!

Ttbb · 05/09/2017 18:42

Say nope and ignore.

AlpacaLipsNow · 05/09/2017 18:43

C every time. I can be very blunt in supermarkets.

olympicsrock · 05/09/2017 18:49

C without a doubt

morningtoncrescent62 · 05/09/2017 18:54

I think you were d. But you missed out the bit about your cheerfully obedient 5-year-old already being in his freshly-washed pyjamas ready for story and bed.

dustarr73 · 05/09/2017 18:55

C i let people go all the time but when you have tired kids and people just assume.No,just no.

Pigface1 · 05/09/2017 18:57

if you'd been the only person waiting and you had a full trolley of stuff and she had only two items, I don't think it would have been out of order for her to ask to go in front. But the fact that there was a long queue of people behind you makes it really rude.

Having said that it doesn't sound like the most sensible time for you to pick to go and do a big shop in a tiny supermarket with a five year old and a toddler in tow - for your own sanity more than anything else.

AlternativeTentacle · 05/09/2017 18:58

ON LINE SHOPPING.

WhooooAmI24601 · 05/09/2017 19:04

In our nearest supermarket we always get lots of commuters (the train station is on the opposite side of the road) and they're always just "could I just squeeze in front of you with my lunch" or "you don't mind, do you?". Once when DS2 was tiny I'd loaded everything on the conveyor and was staring into space when a youngish chap walked up and asked if he could sneak in. DS2 (who at the time had reflux, though we knew nothing about it other than he was sometimes sick to the point of it hitting the walls with force after feeding) projectile vomited over the man to the point where I genuinely thought the chap might drown. It was totally out of nowhere; reflux sick is mad because often DS2 wouldn't even move; he'd passively lie there as a fountain erupted from him. I don't even know what the man did; all I remember is the old couple behind me howling with laughter for the next twenty minutes and DS2 smiling and gurgling away to himself as I tried not to die of shame.

The man probably never asks any more.

Mamabear4180 · 05/09/2017 19:05

Ugh I hate supermarkets and shop online. She was really rude especially if your baby was crying! Shock I try not to let pressure get to me so I'd be the one pretending to be calm and smiling when I'm crying inside.

Silverthorn · 05/09/2017 19:08

Pmsl at Whooo

Penhacked · 05/09/2017 19:46

Whooo you made my night! I felt like telling her to stick the chuppa chups where the sun don't shine.

I also live in a place where online shopping hasn't been invented yet or any kind of modern convenience for that matter I am framing a begging letter to Ocado but I rather think this place is not priority. Does have nice fruit and veg shops on the plus side!

OP posts:
BringMeTea · 05/09/2017 19:54

I would always let someone with 2 items go ahead unless I had fewer than 6 (arbitrary number plucked from thin air) items myself. You did a nice thing.

blackteasplease · 05/09/2017 20:00

In wouldnt have let her past in those circumstances and can't believe she asked having seen what you were coping with!

Penhacked · 05/09/2017 20:03

I must say it was hard to empathise with her plight when she did such a fantastic job of ignoring mine.

OP posts:
Wowzel · 05/09/2017 20:52

Definitely C.... We all hate waiting at the supermarket.

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