Re people loitering and dithering in shoos

[Carbosug]

With one way systems, social distancing, people queuing outside AIBU to wish people would make an effort to move as quickly as possible up and down the aisles.

Standing for ages deliberating between products, phoning your oh to check what brand of marmalade they prefer, or standing for ages checking a shopping list in a narrow aisle where people need to pass is inconsiderate.

These aren't normal times and most people have adjusted the way they shop accordingly.
But you still get the oblivious faffers and delayers.

The only time I've been a bit irked was in the small Co-op near us. Very narrow aisles, so cant walk past and the woman in front of me spent aaaaaages perusing the milk. It's just milk - no other products, and reduced to semi, full fat or almond/oat. Literally a small selection. No idea what was taking her so long!

British supermarkets sound like they have been set up as some sort of psychological experiment! One way systems with no going back? No overtaking ditherers? Shop staff barking instructions?

Is this typical of all supermarkets in the U.K. or is it just the ones in big cities?

She couldn’t walk past you because then she wouldn’t have been maintaining 2m distance. I’d have thought that was obvious.

Surely there is absolutely no risk from quickly walking past someone, even if the distance isn't quite 2 meters.

The risk of catching anything from walking past someone is absolutely minimal. So minimal as to be negligible. You can walk past people, as long as you do it quickly, move to a spot 2m away, and don't lick their face.

I went shopping yesterday - astounded at the number of couples joined at the hip who need to go together, necessitating that all their kids go in with them.

Also, given that shopping is a deliberate a activity, why so so few people take bags with them?

also, why did the cashier, having scanned my unwrapped aubergine without touching it, need to pick it up and move it about six inches closer to mw to take and pack it? i could have picked it up quite easily without her coviddy mitts all over it.

shopping rant over.

And this 2m thing, obviously it is sensible to keep a good distance from others as much as possible but it is not as if getting momentarily closer than 2m automatically results in infection. Equally always staying 3m away from others does not mean you are safe.

I agree with the OP (likely to be an unpopular opinion on here!).

Someone was on the phone blocking an aisle the other day asking if his wife wanted medium sliced or thick sliced white bread. Does it matter? Just grab a loaf and move on! I was also annoyed by a woman stood holding two boxes of washing powder- the same brand, just two different ‘scents’- whilst she decided between them.

I’m quite happy to move past people so that’s not an issue for me but it’s just that with a one in, one out policy, it just means everyone has to wait longer outside whilst you decide if you want your clothes to smell like ‘spring breeze’ or ‘summer blossom’

Though I’m a grumpy old mare who hated dithers and faffers even before all this started

I hate food shopping at the moment.
Realising that everyone else is hating it too makes me more tolerant.
Try it

To be clear - I'm not bothered about what I'm about to say in the slightest. I have to go out to the shop regardless, if I catch the virus doing my shopping then so be it. I don't see anyone else to pass it onto and I'm reasonably young and healthy so chances are, I will be okay.

BUT

The whole thing seems a bit pointless - made to queue outside the shop at a 2m distance for 40 mins, finally get into the shop and everyone is practically leaning on you to get what they need instead of waiting 3 seconds for me to scan the shelf for what I'm looking for, people ignoring the one way system and practically coming at you like an angry bull. What was the point of very Britishly queueing outside for ages when it seems like a free for all once you actually get into the store??

Maybe it's just where I am but nobody seems to care a smidge about 2m distancing 🤷‍♀️

YANBU. I haven’t been in a supermarket for weeks because I’m pregnant so DH goes once every 10-14 days. Aldi have a one way system which is good and they have implemented lines on the floor to follow so you keep your distance from others. He said everyone follows this and it works well. Morrisons, on the hand, have no such system in place and everyone loiters around.

even if the distance isn't quite 2 meters

have you noticed that because the US doesn't do metric, 'safe' is only six foot there?
Mind you, Trump had probably decided it's all fake news now, and cancelled Covid.

I am a responsible shopper, I only go once a week, on my own which is tricky negotiating that with my working DH and child. I don't like going out, I'm worried, but I have to go, as I shop for us AND other vulnerable people.

I have a BIG list as I am shopping for my very elderly grandad and my parents. They want things I have never bought before, I don't buy marmalade, I don't buy pork chops, but that's what they want.

If the only thing they have is me arriving once a week with their food shop I'm getting it as right as I can.

So if I have to stand in the aisle with my long confusing list, trying to figure out where English mustard is when I have never bought it, I apologise. I'm sorry I'm taking over an hour to do my shopping, It isn't my idea of fun.

I would rather be home safe with my family but people rely on me.

So I think people might not be faffing, but instead trying to figure out where all these products are and going back and forth, the aisles are only one way so it takes twice as long.

Might want to consider that.

There were not many of us Waitrose yesterday but a few people including one tall man in one of those very complex covid 19 type masks spent ages. I kept getting stuck and he was hovering by one counter. In the end I just held by breath and reached for the product.

Mind you our Waitrose is always full of very slow shoppers and I am usually one of the fastest at the best of times., I try to be kind to people as we get a lot of over 80s and even over 90s in the store at times although not at the moment.

I hear you. I did the weekly shop at Asda on Tuesday. I use scan and go for convenience as I can pack as I go and avoid checkout entirely.

Wanted to buy one of those "roast in the bag" chickens. Was being very good and sticking to the one way, maintaining distance. Woman in front of me also wanted a chicken. She stood in front of the fridge area for about five fucking minutes, looking at every chicken to decide which one to buy. THEY ARE ALL THE FUCKING SAME. All the same weight, same price, same everything. Ordinarily I would have reached round her saying excuse me and just taken what I wanted but I just had to stand there while she dithered.

It's not fucking hard. Make a list. Stick to list. Make decisions quickly and think of others who are waiting their turn.

OK. Fair enough. I will veain mind that some people are shopping for parents and elderly neighbours and buying products they're unfamiliar with.

But I will not excuse the husbands who can't decide for themselves what to do if the shop has run out of cornflakes and have to have a five minute phone consultation with their wife.

You can walk past people, as long as you do it quickly, move to a spot 2m away, and don't lick their face. 😂

I find not spending my life judging and huffing about every little thing others do makes me much happier.
Just get on with your own life.

But I will not excuse the husbands who can't decide for themselves what to do if the shop has run out of cornflakes and have to have a five minute phone consultation with their wife.

You should excuse them IMO. If they’re in your way, you can find a way to make that clear. If someone flat out refuses to move after you have, then that’s hard to excuse. Times are stressful, things are stressful for different people, and you need to cut your fellow humans some slack.

I can write a shopping list in the order of my supermarket aisles. But if I get halfway round and a vital ingredient is missing, I have to rapidly re-think and may need to double-back to an earlier aisle to pick up a different item instead. Thank goodness they don't prevent doubling-back at my local supermarkets ...

" I honestly don't understand why she couldn't just walk past me and the other shoppers."

In the shops I go to, you could not pass someone and be 2m away from them. I still do have to be less than 2m away to leave the shop.

So much faffing

I had to get some bedding and feed for our horses yesterday. The agi store are doing a one in-one out drive through thing. Everyone has to queue in their car in a field, a guy takes your order, radios it down to the store, they pick it and leave it on a pallet, then when it’s your turn you drive down, load your car, pay, leave. They also sell fence panels, compost, etc

I ended up sat at the front of the queue for an hour yesterday as the person in front was faffing about over trellis that he didn’t buy in the end anyway. The queue was all the way round the field and starting to back up to the road so staff were turning people away by the time he finally left.

I'm with you here OP, we're in week 5 & if these people can't get it right now then they never will. But these are probably the same people who usually get in the way, as soon as you enter the supermarket they are there. You manage to get past them, eventually, but somehow wherever you go they are fannying around & oblivious to everything else around them. Times have changed & shops don't always have what the 3+ people you are shopping for want, just grab an alternative unless it's for medical reasons. The only thing I worry about is being too close to some bastard that won't shift & will give me the virus.

In the shops I go to, you could not pass someone and be 2m away from them. I still do have to be less than 2m away to leave the shop

But nothing will happen if you get slightly closer than 2m. There's no risk at all in simply walking past someone.

It depends why people are dithering. Maybe for some they are trying to find a cost effective alternative when their choice has run out and can’t afford just to throw a more expensive brand in their trolley

our aldi has a OnePersonOneTrolley policy, I had dashed in with a basket and had to wend my way around the Howard and Hilda pair lurking with a trolley each, blocking the aisle by the bread, while they compared notes as to whether or not she had got the butter, and beans and had he picked up the right yogurts.
...he hadn't and had to go replace them.

FFS