Saving place in shopping queue

[Suzyrtyyg]

Was in coop this morning and near front of queue a man came up stepped in front of me with a drink in hand and said I was saving my place . He then picked up a few pieces of shopping left on display and waited to be served . Is this a thing people do or a bit of cf .

I presume he was not in queue before and asked you to save his place? He just stepped in front and pretended you’d been saving his place?

Yes have had this happen to me, it is cheeky. It was a woman who did it to me and I called her out on it and refused to let her go before me. She lectured me about “this is how we do things here in this country” (I’m not white) I responded saying I wasn’t a foreigner but a citizen. She then threatened to rip my face off and tried to physically intimidate me. I was half hoping she would actually push or hit me because there’s cctv everywhere. But she ended up huffing and puffing and went to the back of the queue. Everyone else was silent as stones. Cowards.

So did you agree to save his place? Or he just stepped in and was lying? What did you say to him? I have had people ask me to do this which I don’t mind, I think it’s a bit cheeky but not the end of the world

Had he left a trolley of shopping with the checkout person? I've had a couple of occasions where they've started scanning and I've thought "aaargh I forgot the nappies" and the checkout person has said "don't worry pop and get them I'll wait"....

Eh? You're not 9 and in the school dinner queue, no this is not a thing! Different I suppose if there's two of you (of same family or group) and one is already in said queue with trolley/basket and free adult runs to get forgotten item etc while you remain in queue.

Also it sets you up to having the awks convo of "oh no, I can't let you go next I'm saving a place for "random bloke" "cue possible argument that really isn't your problem to deal with!

I'm a bit confused, did he go to the checkout first and then realise he'd forgotten to get something and quickly go and get it, because I most people have done that.

You can't "save your place" in the queue. Do your shopping, then join the back of the queue. End of. Only exception might be if you've already started loading your shopping onto the conveyor belt, realise you've missed an item and can quickly go and get it before it's your turn. Otherwise you have to leave the queue, get what you need and rejoin at the back.

I hadn’t seen him in queue , he just appeared ,he must of got a drink from back of shop and come back and didn’t want to rejoin queue.

Sometimes in our tiny co op I've left my basket (it's so small there are no trollies) in the queue when I've been at the end whilst I've grabbed a forgotten item. If someone is behind the basket I'll offer to let them go first, normally politely declined, sometimes if in a rush ahead they go. We're a polite lot in our village.

I was in M and S Foodhall and went to the till with my basket of shopping and began putting it on the conveyor. The woman in front of me said I could not because she was saving a place for her dd who then arrived with a huge trolley of shopping and shunted me aside. I looked at the woman on the till for support but she would not make eye contact with me.

I know I should have kicked up a fuss but I had no support from M and S staff who clearly believe it is in fact an acceptable thing to allow place marking in queues.

At the same store, a woman on a mobility scooter used to shout F Off to all the customers and no-one ever said anything. She asked my gs if he wanted to buy any drugs then became angry when he declined (politely)

At weekend a woman in the Tesco petrol queue was cross because she was shouted at. She had looked at the huge queue trailing back to the roundabout and traffic lights for petrol so drove in another way, got her food shop, then tried to join the petrol queue by pushing in rather than joining the queue on the road.

She said she had a right to do so because she had food shopped at Tesco and the others waiting had not. So this must be a thing as well fgs. Moral of the tale is that you can never assume others will behave politely and considerately just because you would.

Thinking about it when I was queuing once the man in front of me asked the woman in front of him if she could save the space for him, I remember thinking that was cheeky as you can’t save the space behind you! 😒

@Suzyrtyyg

Was in coop this morning and near front of queue a man came up stepped in front of me with a drink in hand and said I was saving my place . He then picked up a few pieces of shopping left on display and waited to be served . Is this a thing people do or a bit of cf .

Why would it be something that "people do"? Of course he was a cheeky fucker. Still, you didn't react at the time so there isn't much you can do now

So he just pushed in the queue?

So he just pushed in front of you, and you let him.... mug

It is not a thing and is most definitely rude. I think it all depends on how rough the area is though, in terms of saying something about it. I've had a number of people push in front of me at the local corner shop but live in a rough area. And it honestly wasn't worth the hassle and makes me feel particularly vulnerable as I live across the road so they would know where I live.

It sounds like.... he was in the queue, forgot his drink, left shopping on some shelf next to where he was queueing and went off to fetch forgotten item. In the meantime you joined queue. Man then returned said, what he said and picked up the items he had left there?

If so no big deal I suppose although not ideal, if just a few bits, I wouldn't kick up a fuss. If he had been carrying everything already and pushed in then that is not acceptable.

@Whammyyammy

So he just pushed in front of you, and you let him.... mug

Manners cost nothing. How rude

I was in ASDA, and the man at the till in front only had a few items. As I started to unload my trolley, he said he was saving a place for his wife, who then appeared behind me with a full trolley. I carried on and made her wait behind me. I was there first and she had no right to expect me to let her go in front of me.

I'm more annoyed when shop staff see a long queue at a checkout and then shift people at the back of that queue to the newly opened checkout instead of those who've been in the queue the longest.

tillytoodles1
Yes - well done. Have had that happen to me too.

He left his shopping there while he grabbed something else. Perfectly normal.