Was I AIBU to walk out of supermarket.

[Witchcraftandhokum]

I went to a supermarket which isn't my usual one today. There was a queue outside, but it moved pretty fast and was ably managed by staff who were also helpfully cleaning trollies. All well and good. However, inside was a different matter, it felt really busy and barely any of the customers (the majority of which were waring face masks) were adhering to the social distancing rules. I had a woman reach round me to get something and people were passing really close.

I got to the end with of an aisle which was blocked by 3 members of staff 2 of the large trollies they use to stack shelves. I couldn't safely pass so I turned around and tried to go up the next aisle which was empty and was loudly told off my a member of staff for not following the arrows, I tried to explain that I couldn't get up the other aisle but he just walked off. At that point I picked my shopping bags out of my trolley and walked out. Was I unreasonable.

Just sounds like a load of unnecessary drama TBH!

You should've at least taken the trolley to customer services and not just just left it dumped in the aisle for someone to find later when all the fresh and frozen stuff is spoilt. What a bloody waste of food!

And as for "it didn't cause me inconvenience " because the next shop didn't have a queue, you sound like a petulant child defending their actions. You had parked, got the trolley, started loading and then had to repeat the process, of course you added additional time and effort to your shopping.

If you wanted a unanimous YANBU, then you're going to be very disappointed!

@MMN123 I think OP is being totally drama! She was told off in a loud way is one of the things she flounced about! I don't believe that she couldn't have just asked them to move or explained what she was going the wrong way. The guy had walked off, she should've just continued to shop instead of going to another supermarket potentially infecting more people if she has the virus.

@MrsTerryPratchett

OP read this www.sciencealert.com/does-the-amount-of-covid-19-virus-you-are-exposed-to-determine-how-sick-you-ll-get

The more exposure you have, the more likely you are to a) get it b) have it badly c) pass it on.

So a brief pass by someone in a supermarket is much better than a 15 minute snog with a very sick person. The chances of getting it from a breath when passing is small. Cramped in a bus, higher.

If you read the article only a) is true for Covid-19, (from a logical point of view - still not confirmed the infectious dose.)

Rest are unknown as of yet. Where the article talks of higher exposure means a person will "have it badly" is for the 'flu.

There's been such a variety of severity cases even where exposure has been high and the person asymptomatic.

There's also cases where a person has been asymptomatic but has a high viral load (which is how many virus a person produces not the amount exposed to) so could pass the virus on more than a person with severe symptoms might. (That's ignoring the difference in how ambulant they are and exposed to more people obviously! A high viral load just mean shedding more virus so more infectious.)

@SpiritEssence in Asda the pay is normally just a few pence/hour higher than full adult minimum wage.

@Littlejayx

Tbh I think it’s super rude abandoning a trolly full of shopping for someone else to put back. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I fully agree. Supermarket staff are working in extremely difficult conditions through a global pandemic, being treated like shit by many customers and paid peanuts for the pleasure. Then you throw a tantrum and abandon your trolley because you would have to walk past them to get to a different aisle which means they then have to handle items you have picked up, for all they know you could have CV and who knows if they are even allowed to put them back on the shelves at the moment?

You should email the store with an apology.

YANBU OP I am seeing this more and more in supermarkets, a big deal about queuing 2m apart outside and free for all inside. Some shoppers are ultra careful and others couldn't care less making it a pretty fraught experience. Our local supermarket has groups of kids in 3s and 4s shopping as a pack for snacks to take to the park paying no attention to anyone else. For now I am avoiding these places and go early or later when it's less busy.

[quote GnomeDePlume]**@SpiritEssence in Asda the pay is normally just a few pence/hour higher than full adult minimum wage.[/quote]
My local Asda pays £9.67p/h. My friend works there.

Why are staff out with trollies during busy periods anyway? Lidl and Aldi are awful for this as they block the aisles a lot and the stores are packed enough as it is.

@BackInTime because the stock on the shelves are depleted? Who says it was a busy time? There are only so many people in the shop at one time, so presumably it's never that busy.

I would have done the same OP

Some Supermarket staff seem to be really showing what little shits they are and how much they get off on shouting and lording it over people. I've seen some terrible bullying behaviour.
And of course the chopping and changing of rules dependent on which staff member is there does my head in.
Went to my local Aldi a week ago. They never do the same thing twice. Got in store and it was quite busy. Some Muppet jumps on front on DH and I and starts going off on one asking are we shopping together, we must only have 1 trolley per household (the trollies are outside. We were in the store. It was quite clear only DH had a trolley). Then tells me I must walk at one side of the aisle, away from DH and the trolley and must not at any time walk with or behind him. I asked why to be told "that's the rule".
It made no sense whatsoever, in fact, it was harder to distance as the aisles in ours are really wide so I had to chuck stuff at DH so he could put it in the trolley. It also made keeping out the way of other shoppers using that side of the aisle impossible.
When we got round to the next aisle, DH said come back over here this is silly, and the nutty employee jumps out again bitching.
At the till he was driving people mad, everyone was queuing quite easily and respectfully but no, Mr Rules had to keep coming over shouting. I was very close to walking out or telling him to fuck off. Considering other staff were in the way and standing chatting.
There needs to form and consistent rules not chop and change. Some Supermarkets are on the ball but some are a nightmare!

There seems to be so many threads on this recently, I do hope you will report the staff member for shouting at you.

YABU.

The staff are putting themselves more in harm's way than you are. They have a job to do, and if they don't do it, there's no food on the shelves for anyone.

Thanks to your actions, a staff member now has to handle all of the food in the trolley (and possibly throw it away). They have no idea whether you were someone who follows social distancing rules, isolation etc, which adds to their stress levels.

What was wrong with just waiting for a minute until they finished, before moving on, or just taking it on the chin and continuing the shop?

If the shop had a one way system surely you had to follow this on your way out? Therefore you would have ended up at the till on your way out so could have paid for the 2 items in your trolley and returned your trolley to the correct place.
You probably caused more risk of infection then the staff members replenishing shelves. Imagine you touch the birthday card- front back and inside as you read the message inside. Picking up lemons and squeezing them to make sure they are ok and just leaving them. So a staff member has to put them back- doubling the hands on them. They then have to take the trolly you left to the correct place- not their job and putting them at more risk walking passed several customers/queues.
Next time if you can’t get passed politely ask if they could move the cages for you. It’s not possible to stay 2 meters apart in a supermarket aisle but it’s literally seconds. The chance of contracting the virus from that is absolutely minuscule. The chance of a staff member contracting the virus from you is now high thanks to you rudely leaving your items.

@LadyofTheManners calling staff little shits muppets, nutty etc makes you sound utterly mad and with a huge anger issue!

If you don't like the way it is in Aldi use the supermarkets that you feel have it sorted? What's the big deal?

Or let your DH shop alone, maybe your blood pressure won't raise so much then?

@LadyofTheManners perhaps you could consider following the strong requests of supermarkets for one individual from each household to shop? It’s people like you who insist on shopping in groups that result in the shops being so busy. Your tone is nasty, rude and thoroughly unpleasant. I would be interested to hear the story from the staff’s perspective.

@FixTheBone

Isn't it the shop owner/ manager who's mainly responsible for protecting its staff though rather than the customer?
If there aren't consistent rules for customers and clear instructions and direction for the staff, it can create chaos and everyone is at risk then.
In my local shop, for example, at one point they only allowed 4 customers in at a time but in the mornings they had about ten employees stocking shelves. They kept getting in the way of the customers and asking them what they were looking for, then passing it to them. There were also three managers in there yesterday morning standing around, huddled together in the middle of the shop discussing how to rearrange stuff to ensure the safety of the customers!

This all sounds very dramatic. To be honest I never go to the supermarket expecting to be 2m away from everyone at all times, it isn't possible some of the time.

The guy had already walked off, I would have just carried on doing my shopping no need for the dramatic flounce.

I don't think my bag of lemons and birthday card were in danger of perishing particularly quickly, especially since I left them. In the chilled aisle

The OP said this was all the shopping she had. Where has all the angst from posters about perishables and frozen food and a trolley full of shopping come from.

[quote understandmenow]@LadyofTheManners calling staff little shits muppets, nutty etc makes you sound utterly mad and with a huge anger issue!

If you don't like the way it is in Aldi use the supermarkets that you feel have it sorted? What's the big deal?

Or let your DH shop alone, maybe your blood pressure won't raise so much then?

[/quote]
Nice flex

Assume away about me.

He literally jumped at us. Not at 2m either. It created more annoyance than walking in a line. Others were saying the same.

[quote Rainycloudyday]@LadyofTheManners perhaps you could consider following the strong requests of supermarkets for one individual from each household to shop? It’s people like you who insist on shopping in groups that result in the shops being so busy. Your tone is nasty, rude and thoroughly unpleasant. I would be interested to hear the story from the staff’s perspective.[/quote]
Erm, if you hadn't noticed, we're barely in lockdown anymore, we can go out in groups. And nice assumption that I'm not shopping with DH for medical reasons.
Lots of couples shop together, we didn't previously but as things have thankfully calmed down (bar dementors like yourself) we have the last week or he forgets half of what he went for and I don't drive.

OP could you please send your staff to my supermarket as I’ve never heard any of them telling people off for not following the arrows.

I excitedly walked straight into Tesco yesterday, but came right out again as no way was I waiting in the queue to get served.

Then for the first time since COV there was no queue to gets into Iceland, but their aisles are barely 2M apart so with people wandering up & down they were far too close for my liking.

By the time I got to Sainsbury I’d had enough & just went for it, for once everyone got out of my way.

YANBU.

@SpiritEssence thank you, I didn't realise that, but it's good to hear.

Lots of couples shop together, we didn't previously but as things have thankfully calmed down (bar dementors like yourself) we have the last week or he forgets half of what he went for and I don't drive.

Try writing him a list, that way you could avoid the little shits, nutters and muppets! Or do online shopping?

Your DH sounds like quite a muppet on his own @LadyofTheManners ! I'd ditch him and get someone capable.

I agree that some people in supermarkets (usually in masks) don't seem to have a clue.

I was in a supermarket this week and decided I didn't want a couple of items in my trolley, but I kept them as I didn't want somebody to havd to then put those back, so I don't think YABU regarding the etiquette of some, but YABU leaving your entire trolley for somebody to sort.

And @LadyofTheManners you were not referring to one person who literally jumped at you, you were referring to many supermarket workers!

@understandmenow

Lots of couples shop together, we didn't previously but as things have thankfully calmed down (bar dementors like yourself) we have the last week or he forgets half of what he went for and I don't drive.

Try writing him a list, that way you could avoid the little shits, nutters and muppets! Or do online shopping?

Your DH sounds like quite a muppet on his own @LadyofTheManners ! I'd ditch him and get someone capable.

Erm, try getting a slot. Do you not think they should be left for the shielded or do you not give a shit as long as you can get your shop without going out?

Nice way to speak to a person about their DH btw, classy. Should I get ducks in a row and leave him eh? Because he walks round a Supermarket list or not and forgets half of it as he hates queues. And again, nice to assume their isn't a reason why he forgets stuff.