To be so frustrated at the supermarket

[MinnieAnonyMouse]

I'm just so fed up. We've been observing lockdown really carefully but going to the supermarket just makes me despair.

DH is a nurse but I work from home so to try and keep delivery slots for those who really need them I go and shop once a week. There are so many people either trying to cheat the system or just ignoring it completely. A shop assistant was periodically shouting that only one person could come in per trolley / household but so many couples / families were there. These people then stood separately, got two trollies and walked round together. I completely understand about single parents etc. but there was a family behind me with both parents and three kids. Why on earth would you drag your kids round? There was also a woman who had apparently arranged to meet a friend or family member - they got out of their cars and queued up together for a good old natter. No thought to distance.

Likewise, the shop has put a one way system in place with arrows but the vast majority seemed to ignore totally, wander where they want and if you were where they wanted to be, no matter, just lean across you rather than wait.

I'm worried about DH given his work and this total lack of thought just makes me so cross.

I know IABU for being angry about something I can do nothing about but AIBU to hope that people would have more bloody sense

In defence of the couples, maybe they were maximising the amount they could carry home?

Then one person queues up and shops, the other waits outside to meet them as they leave to carry the shopping home.

I work in a supermarket in a retail park and ot is very common for couples to arrive together, one comes into the supermarket and the other goes to the other shops to get the few bits we dont sell and then meets the supermarket shopper to walk/catch the bus home

I was just in the (small) coop and there were loads of kids - ones old enough to wait outside. Barfing around, wiping snotty noses with their hands. Grim. Some people’s kids did wait outside but there was loads in there just bathing around.
Worse, the street outside is littered with plastic fucking gloves. Apparently people can be arsed to worry about their own skins and wear gloves and then just chuck them out the car window!

I do think the one way system is an error. Six people to my left none to my right, I’ll go right but no I’m not allowed.

That was meant to say barging not barfing or bathing 😂

We have arrows on the floor in our small 'local' supermarket. Unfortunately, due to the layout and configuration of aisles, if you follow the arrows you either meet other people coming at you from the opposite direction or end up going round in circles.

Tesco was awful the other day. An orderly queue outside but as soon as I got in it was complete chaos. Too many people in there and every time I tried to keep my distance someone came into the space.

Shopping is properly horrible at the moment. People are astonishingly thoughtless. You have my sympathies, OP.

@ChandlerIsTheBestFriend

I just knew someone would come up with that one, I tried it the first week and could only manage two lots of shopping.
Trying to keep things separate is not easy but hey ho I'm doing my best.

Our stores are drastically reducing when they are open (think 9-3 weekdays, 9-12 Saturday, shut Sunday's) which is causing major issues because so many people need to go in. Deliveries here aren't an option (very rural) so it's horrendous.

Ans as long as staff are ignoring the rules AND complaining about people going shopping others won't be obeying them no matter how much they limit the numbers in shops.

I was forced to go to two shops today, in the first the people in front were just browsing taking ages buying treats and ignored the signs to queue, I'd struggled round to queue in the right place and found three people had decided to ignore the sign and pushed, literally, in front of me - to be fair they got told off and told to leave.

The second place staff were standing around gossiping in a small group judging what people were "putting their lives" at risk for. I managed to finally get some milk and toilet roll and a member of staff delibrately started stacking shelves in front of me (small shop two aisles and could see I was leaving) and said I'd no choice but to squeeze past which meant brushing past them as it's a very small shop certainly no 2m possible. I did it because I was too scared of him to say anything (my MH issues are barely disguised now without support) and there was a bloke behind me so I couldn't go back. The bloke behind also told him to move, which he did (nothing said) despite it meaning brushing past me AGAIN and when I had a panic attack he had a go at me for being pathetic.

I can't cope with going out anyway, it's really hard for me, but worse with staff who won't move yet stand around (literally) blaming customers for putting them at risk.

I've also noticed people in masks are completely ignoring social distancing, totally irresponsible - the other day getting medication I had someone in one literally lean over me and when I said something tapped their mask and told me to get over myself.

I'm high risk but on my own. It's not difficult to follow simple signs ffs.

YANBU.

I work in a big supermarket and most people are trying their hardest but some are just utter selfish cunts. I was called a fucking slag yesterday for pointing out the one way system to a lady.

Absolutely loads of couples and two parent families coming in. I feel like standing in front of the queue and telling them it’s not Alton fucking Towers.

It’s exhausting.

Maybe it’s because I’m in Ireland, and in a relatively small village where I’ve done all my shopping bar yesterday when I went to the town 5km away, but here everyone seems to be obeying the social distancing directive, and shoppers do seem to be sole shoppers only. It must be dreadful to be living and working in situations where people seem to be blatantly flouting the directives, especially considering the volume of deaths in the UK as a result of Covid-19. I remember being absolutely furious and giving out to my husband about William and Catherine’s visit here, where he went around blithely shaking hands with people and joking about Coronavirus. We had actually stopped exchanging the sign of peace at mass weeks before, in addition to a lot of other measures introduces by the various dioceses and there was also a lot of talk amongst people about hand washing and use of hand sanitizers. Perhaps it’s the fact that it’s been on the agenda for so long here that most people seem to be complying with the social distancing directives.

Customers do put shop staff at risk. Same as every other keyworkers job who deal with the public. We cant stay at home and have to work. Customers need to obey the rules and so should staff and shops need to close aisles off if working in them but they dont so you cant ignore each other it's difficult and last thing I want to do is bring back cv19 to my family. We dont get paid for staying at home we dont have that luxury

@dentydown the 13 year old could do the shopping. Sounds like the best option

I went into my local Co-op yesterday and it was horrendous. They’d let far too many people in and the aisles are very narrow. Rather than clear all of the promo baskets away from the front of the shop where there’s plenty of room and create a queue in front of the checkouts there, they’d set the queue up along one of the aisles and it messed up the flow around the store and also meant that you were having to walk through the queue to get to the other aisles.

Maybe it's because I'm in Ireland

Maybe Ireland have particularly lax social distancing rules if you are all lying around parks in the sun and are utterly shocked when you find out that's not allowed in the UK

Couples don't both need to go inside the supermarket in order to maximise what they can carry home.

I would hate a one way system around the whole shop. What if you forgot something or were, say, heading for the flour which comes after the cakes then find no flour to bake a birthday cake. Are you meant to go back outside and rejoin the queue before coming back in for a cake? Or do you pick up the cake just in case and then deposit it next to the flour when you find some in stock, or deposit your unnecessary eggs, sugar and butter if the flour isn’t in stock?

I feel your pain. Went to M&S yesterday where an elderly couple stood in front of the bread having a long debate about the type they would buy and checking every sell by date. No one else could get near. After 5 minutes I asked if I could grab some bread and they told me to: wait a minute, they were there first. I went and got the rest of my shopping and they were still standing there, now checking things off their list. I eventually had to get a member of staff to ask them to move, which they reluctantly did.

Re 13 year old doing shopping small problem how would he pay? they want people to pay by card??

I am so glad I live somewhere where the vast majority of people seem to be taking this seriously. Sensible good-humoured queuing, abiding by shop staff requests, being polite and kind to them and accepting shortages where necessary. During my very infrequent shopping trips I've not seen any poor behaviour at all to be honest.

Notexactly thats terrible. I wish you could ban a customer for saying that to you. Yesterday in small Tesco a woman plus teenage daughter barged through everyone and quite literally coughed in our faces. Oblivious. Maddening. Some are fine, respectful people etc. I've found the biggest one best as room to spread out. Go as rarely as possible, shop for others, get in and out quickly.

I used to enjoy a browse, but now if I have to go out I seem to find people (for some reason always men) not looking where they are going in the queue outside and walking right up close, so I have to put my hands up to get them to back off, there is tape on the ground. Except for Aldi who have no markers at all so no-one has a clue where the queue is meant to be. One member of staff finally came out to tell people where to stand which meant people were no longer in their place and had to start again. Except me because I walked off and shopped elsewhere only to get 2 men up my backside with their trolley.

People are just wandering about inside without a thought. Morrisons have their act together and have now only one queue for checkout and someone to tell you which till to go to, tape outside for people to ignore and fortunately allow 2 people in together as I wouldn't be able to go in otherwise, but it isn't busy.

Yeah, I have just been to the supermarket, and noticed about a third to half of the people in each aisle were going the wrong way (according to the signs) - and lots of family groups/couples with 2 trolleys etc.

Fortunately it was quiet, so it didn't make a huge amount of difference, but I did notice....

Hard for 13 year old to do shopping. It's not simply pick up some bread and milk. A whole week's menu for a family may need to be thought of, not all items may be in stock, and decisions on alternatives may need to be determined on the fly.

What's annoying is people / couples standing blocking the aisle dithering and debating what they want - usually cakes, sweets, crisps etc. They cause backlogs. Is it too much to ask they make at least the outline of a list before they go?