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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

There are two kinds of people in life...

76 replies

SheSaidHummingbird · 22/05/2020 21:28

Those that abide by the one-way arrow systems in grocery stores, and those that don't. Which one are you?

Vote YABU if you are an arrow follower. You follow those arrows, no matter how inconvenient.

Vote YANBU if you think 'screw the damn arrows' and forge your own path round the store.

Feel free to comment and explain your choice. Undoubtedly, whichever side you are on is making you want to scream AIBU???

OP posts:

Sparklingbrook · 22/05/2020 21:29

I haven't been in a store with arrows on the floor but I guess I would follow them if I did.

bridgetreilly · 22/05/2020 21:31

Mostly I follow, but if an aisle is empty and I only need one thing near the end that I'm at, I'll duck in the wrong way. I don't go past people the wrong way.

Although, it is VERY frustrating at my Tesco because the arrows go the opposite way to the route of the online pickers. So you can't help but go past them in the aisles.

RedHelenB · 22/05/2020 21:32

If empty go my own way, otherwise go with the arrows.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 22/05/2020 21:32

I voted YANBU, because I follow the arrows when it's busy but if the aisle is empty I don't bother. My local Tesco express has them and if there's no one else there I'm not faffing around following arrows.

ClassicCola · 22/05/2020 21:33

The arrows don't make sense though.

SunshineDays2019 · 22/05/2020 21:36

Same as PPs, I generally follow the arrows but not when the aisles are empty. The small co-op near me is so quiet, it's fab! Your vote is too rigid, sorry!

mynameiscalypso · 22/05/2020 21:38

I try to follow the arrows but as nobody else in my local Tesco does and the staff seem to be restocking constantly, it doesn't seem to make a huge amount of difference.

Velvian · 22/05/2020 21:44

I'm a non arrow follower by accident. I didn't notice them in my Asda and then a friend complained about people not following the arrows.

Yellowwibble · 22/05/2020 21:44

Follow the arrows unless it's quiet then I will dart down an empty aisle. Lidls don't have arrows. It's like the wild west. People going any direction they like.

RedHelenB · 22/05/2020 21:47

@Velvian did you not have sobeibe at the door saying follow the arrows when you went in? Did you not wonder what those yellow arrow shaped things were on the floor!!??

shinynewapple2020 · 22/05/2020 21:49

There is a third type of person who tries to follow the arrows but keeps having to go back down the aisle as they've missed something or finds herself going the wrong way as all of a sudden the arrow pattern changes (two aisles next to each other both with an up arrow pattern in our local co-op, how does that work???)

Velvian · 22/05/2020 21:52

No and no. It's possible the arrows weren't there yet when I went, but I queued in the car park 2 metres apart before going in, so they probably were. I think I was focused on getting in and out as fast as possible. I think I was kettled down the first aisle and didn't turn back. I probably followed the rules inadvertently.

happytoday73 · 22/05/2020 21:55

I follow the arrows... I got stuck in the corner of a supermarket as it just went around in a square... People could join but not leave... 🤣
You think someone would check it actually worked!

PositiveLife · 22/05/2020 21:58

I'm going for YANBU but only because the only place that has them that I've been in is my local co-op and they don't make sense. You can only go down aisle 1, all the other aisles are up, so you'd have to do 5 full circles to see each aisle and join the queue.

Leflic · 22/05/2020 21:58

The arrows don’t work in my Tesco’s because you have to shop both sides the aisle at the same time. Which is pretty near impossible if someone is filling the shelves or choosing items on one of the sides.
To maintain distance you either have to wait on the other side or behind them and then other people have to wait or go past and then these inevitably people miss things because of the confusion working out what to do.
Lots more people now chose to see the arrows as guidance rather than an absolute.

RufustheLanglovingreindeer · 22/05/2020 21:59

In our local co op the queue doesnt balance...so you go up the fridge aisle and then if you want crisps you go down the crisp aisle but if you then want to go to the checkout you have to go back up the fridge aisle SKIP the crisp aisle and down the checkout aisle

I was stuck there for ages the other day...got myself quite confused and then left without the crisps

PeterPomegranate · 22/05/2020 22:00

I haven’t seen arrows in the shops I’ve been in. This might be why there are two groups - one that sees the arrows and one that doesn’t know they’re there!

VioletCharlotte · 22/05/2020 22:02

I go to Sainsburys because they don't have the one way system. When I've been in shops that have it, I do my best to follow it, but find it extremely annoying. I always forget things and need to pop back. Our Sainsburys is big with very wide aisles, so it works well without a one way system.

ILiveInSalemsLot · 22/05/2020 22:03

Well I’m both!
I follow the arrows when I do my main shop. I forgot something so went in at 9.30pm yesterday. It was fairly empty and I rushed through ignoring all the arrows.

MsAwesomeDragon · 22/05/2020 22:03

I'd follow them if I ever saw them. My local Morrison's hasn't got them so far. They do have spots you are supposed to stand on to queue for the fish/meat/deli counter etc. I don't tend to use those counters so don't stand on those spots.

YouTheCat · 22/05/2020 22:03

I thought this was going to be 'There are two types of people in the world: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data... '

I try and follow arrows where it makes sense and is safe.

oldtownroad · 22/05/2020 22:05

I'm a non arrow follower. It's pretty pointless following it if most people ignore it (which they do in my local shops anyway). I've also seen staff members walk the wrong way up the aisle and sometimes it would be more risky following the arrows than not as some people loiter in the aisles.

Pointless if you ask me.

Sunbird24 · 22/05/2020 22:05

There isn’t one of those in my local supermarket, but for some reason they’ve put one in at my workplace over the last couple of days despite us being at less than 20% manning levels. I guess in preparation for getting more people back in.
The problem is, down one part of the building the one way lane to get to the doors I need to use to get back to my bit of the building just stops, with a line across and everything, about 50yds from the door. If you ignore it and go out that door anyway, the one way system in the foyer looks like you can only go in that door and not out of it. There’s no other way to get from that wing of the building to the wing I work in, unless you go all round the outside and back in the main doors. They’ve even put ‘face this way’ stickers on the floor of the lifts, pointing at the back wall! None of it seems very well thought out at all...

MrsPerfect12 · 22/05/2020 22:05

I follow the arrows but I have walked down the wrong way by mistake. I will walk past people taking 10 mins to pick chicken. I'm not waiting. I just grab and go.

Positivevibesonlyplease · 22/05/2020 22:18

I really dislike people who don’t follow the arrows. They strike me as the sort of people who would also break lockdown rules. Please correct me if I’m wrong - as if you wouldn’t!

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