Slow clueless people holding up queues

[AuntyMargeAuntyFlora]

What is it with these people?

My latest experience was at a walk-in centre. Only two women ahead of me in the queue to book in. Goodness knows what they were doing, most of it seemed to be standing there looking at each other before saying a few quiet words to the receptionist who had to keep explaining the same things to them (that they had missed their appointment and needed to go immediately to another hospital if they wanted to see x department). Then they'd stare at each other again. Occasionally one would half-heartedly search in a bag or look at their phone. Absolutely no sense of urgency at all, and apparently oblivious (despite glancing in our direction several times) to the massive queue gradually building up behind them. By the time the queue had almost reached the door, another member of staff was called to come and help book everyone else in, and these two women were still slowly doing nothing.

I don't mind if someone has genuinely got a difficult query/situation that takes ages to unpick, or if they are perhaps elderly/overwhelmed/etc and these things take longer. But its usually these people who are first to apologise for holding up the queue or even suggest others go ahead!

What I'm talking about is the entitled people who don't seem to register that other people exist, and who ponder and confer at a snail's pace, oblivious to any sense of urgency of the queue building up. I can imagine someone coming in with a serious injury, and these two women glancing over periodically as the person bleeds everywhere and slowly collapses, as they carry on with their inane time wasting non-query...

What a nasty post! You’re in a medical setting - do you expect them to leave before understanding what to do and where to go? Maybe they had learning difficulties, maybe their English wasn’t great, maybe deaf, maybe just a bit thick. Guess what? Thick people deserve equal treatment to you. The post Chemotherapy brain for instance can process very slowly and things need repeating, processing is slow. That might be you one day, let’s hope the person behind has some compassion.

No we don't know, but tbh the couple who spent the 20+ minutes haggling in TK Maxx were definitely annoying regardless. Goodness knows how long they were there. I clocked them before I started queuing and they were still trying it as I left.

People who upon exiting a shop, stop and stand there right in the middle of the entrance to sort their bags out, as if no one else will want to exit or enter.

People who get pissed off at me when my brain and body aren't working superfast. I'm trying, oh my God I am trying, but if I can't go faster I won't.

Wouldn’t work. When I swim there’s always a slower than the slow lane swimmer regularly in the medium lane and occasionally in the fast lane. (One women used to laugh about how she was holding everyone up 🤦🏻‍♀️)

And as for the travelator you’ll still get someone who steps off it and then stops dead leaving the people behind not being able to get off it (unless we all start clambering over them).

I don’t push actually and don’t touch people. I’m the one saying excuse me politely 3+ times to people who choose to either ignore me, be annoyed that I dared interrupted their “riveting” conversation, even seen me coming and still chose to stand in the middle of a narrow pavement instead of moving to the side and seemed shocked I asked them to move instead of waiting for them to sort themselves out. I have also had someone claim deafness when I and everyone around in an extremely busy area saw them talking to their friend and they only turned around to shout at me because my son’s knees gently bumped them (he was in a pram) claiming I hit them. I pointed out that my son didn’t hit them and that I have been saying excuse me until it was loud enough that people were turning and looking at me and there was a queue of people behind me. Why anyone thinks it is appropriate or even acceptable to take a stroll in the middle of a busy pavement where people are rushing out of shops, standing around for buses, and trying to get to their bus stop, needs to have their head examined.

I have had the same with couples or people with prams who seem to not be able to walk a straight line when I’m pretty sure it’s one of the first things taught in primary. One at least says sorry while the other just glares at me.

My DH says I should be more rude and gruff with such people but I think it shouldn’t have to escalate to that.

Sometimes people may have a mental illness, a disability, have had a stroke, have dementia etc...

But some people are just rude selfish cunts.

Not everyone had an underlying reason for certain behaviour. And quite often you can tell if this is the case.

I tend to agree with that!

My supermarket has recently installed fridges with doors you have to open to get your goods. Regularly you have a person standing in the way, gazing at the items so you can’t reach across them because the trolley is in the way. When you excuse yourself they look at you as if you’ve insulted them. Or the person who gets the whole box of packs of ham and goes through them looking for longest sell by date or one they fancy while you are standing waiting.

Also when in a queue of traffic the person in front leaves a massive gap before catching up with the car in front, then flies through on red when they get to the traffic lights. 😤

Then wait, they have just as much right to be there. I often look at the produce weighing up the price differences before a choose. I also look for the longest shelf life so it can last longer and not be wasted. If someone asked me to move while I was doing this Id tell them wait their turn. I'm going to take my time checking prices and dates because I need to save money and reduce waste. Bloody have more patience and wait your turn, I'm not moving just because you are in a hurry

"Bloody have more patience and wait your turn, I'm not moving just because you are in a hurry"

Then you're a selfish, and exactly the type of person this thread is about. Why should the whole world have to wait for you? You might have all the time in the world but most people don't. What gives you the right to hold everyone else up?

Unfortunately the far removed HQ staff in their ivory towers don't pay any attention to what the staff on the ground tell them.

Although they don't pay any attention to their customers either.

They know best. You'd think they never had to do any shopping themselves!

Why don't I move? Because normally the person who asked me to move spends just as long then another person jumps in when they finish. So wait your turn.

And why should everybody move for the big important person in a hurry? Just wait your turn, you are no more important than anybody else

But it's not "the big important person in a hurry" expecting everyone else to move is it? It's the selfish entitled time waster expecting everyone else to wait.

The fact that it's only one escalator outside of London that comes to mind when you think about people standing on the right, walking on the left, suggests it is the exception that proves that it isn't the normal custom.

I don't need anything better for me, because I'm not getting frustrated at people. I'm not raising my cholesterol that way. You, on the other hand...

She didn't say it was the only one she could think of. She gave an example.

In the city I live in, far from London, people generally stand to the right on escalators. Occasionally on the left. Either way, almost everyone stands to one side so others can pass.

I don't mind people rooting through meat etc, looking for the best sell by date, it's common sense. I mean, you wouldn't just drop the first tomatoes on the pile into a bag, would you? Then get home to find that they're mostly mush and go,

"Well, at least I didn't hold someone up for a few seconds!"

But apart from that, selfish tossers who decide to stop in doorways to gaze into space / repack their shopping / play with their phone, instead of taking a few more steps so as not to block the door; and suicidal morons who stop at the bottoms of escalators... well, they can go and sit on a wet bench.

I have realised that my annoyance at these people is usually annoyance at myself for not leaving sufficient leeway in terms of time.

Inefficient, dithering people have the same right as the rest of us to take up space in life.

I have just Googled "How old is Mary Poppins?" and got this answer:

"...Mary Poppins: Female, Age: 20s" - so I don't see how references to a Mary Poppins handbag would be ageist.

I hate being in a queue where the queue moves forward and some numpty just stands there leaving a big gap for ages.

Oh god this is infuriating. Especially if it’s a cafeteria type cafe and you’re starving and desperate to get to the food area so you can see what’s on offer.

I always think there should be a fast track queue for tea drinkers in cafes. I hate waiting for the noisy coffee grinders when all I want is instant hot water on a tea bag!

Our own wants frequently collide with others' in legitimate circumstances. Like the coffee example. I go into a bakery for a loaf of bread or a pasty. Cash in hand, I want a straightforward, speedy transaction, but in front of me is a couple who are ordering different types of coffee with oat milk, regular milk, syrups, no caffeine, a sprinkle of fairy dust and could you put it in our own cups please. This always seems to take way longer than it should. Are they supposed to look at me waiting behind and get themselves a bottle of water from the fridge instead because I'm in a rush? To me their needs aren't significantly different from the person in the shop who wants the meat with the longest date on it. I have far more patience with the latter, but it seems awfully self-centred to accuse people of being selfish for making choices rather than humbly running in and grabbing the first available thing that approximately suits their needs. It's not really how it works.