To have moved her baby?

[EllyRoff]

In asda this morning. Woman has her head stuck in the reduced freezer grabbing everything she wants. She has parked her trolly - with baby in it - across the freezer so nobody else can get in it. I didn’t actually want to be in it but I did need the freezer next to it - which her trolly was also preventing from opening. I said “excuse me”. No response. I said it louder - no response. At this point an elderly woman came up behind her and tried to get in the freezer, around the trolly - no good - around the woman - woman positions herself in front of old woman. Old woman says “excuse me” - no response. She taps her on the shoulder - no response.

So - not willing to stand there like an absolute clown waiting for her to allow me access to the freezer I simply move her trolly gently out of the way. Suddenly she’s aware of the world around her and says “what are you doing??” I say “getting in to this freezer”. She says “you can’t just go moving someone’s baby!” (Hearing problems ruled out!!) I say “I tried to get your attention but you didn’t respond. Elderly woman then says “EXCUSE ME! I want to get in this freezer!” Woman blames ME for the delay saying I moved her baby 😂

WIBU to move the baby (inches!)

You pop into the shops to 'grab' something or things... very common turn of phrase.

Must be exhausting looking for completely invented subtext to be offended over.

I have no problem moving someone's trolley if I think they're deliberately blocking access. If I think they're accidentally blocking access, I'll ask first. I'll make every effort to ensure I'm heard. If I am ignored as OP is, I'll do whatever is necessary while ensuring the baby isn't moved away from its mum (just putting the trolley at a right angle to the freezers, rather than parallel to, would be fine. The baby wouldn't actually move).

I would never move someone’s baby but purely only to avoid the crazies looking for a yelling opportunity - which she obviously was given what she was doing.

However no, I don’t think YWBU. She was, the greedy weirdo.

Why shouldn’t she?

Oh, if it had been me, she would have been leaving the freezer in Asda to go to the freezer at the morgue!

I absolutely hate people who obstruct entire freezers or shelves in a supermarket with their trollies. It actually featured on a repeat of Room 101 last week. I'd have said to her that I had tried to get her attention several times and it didn't work. I don't think it's unreasonable unless she was deaf.

i Have a baby, there is no way I'd have my back turned to the trolley like that. 1 he could be stollen 2 he'd grab at something. Seriously though get what you want and move on or at least be aware you are inconveniencing people and let them at the food.

YANBU people do that all the time at the clearance section at the Morrisons near me, park their trolleys to make sure no one else can get anything until they are done. Like yours it’s in the dairy section and trying to get a block of butter is impossible! I just move trolleys too because otherwise you’d be there forever but they always give me a dirty look until they realise I don’t want the clearance section.

Honestly the unreasonable person is the woman who didn't respond to TWO people trying to get her attention.

Wow - and people say I over react 😆

How is walking away to return shortly later being a doormat? It's called being patient. It's a virtue so severely lacking in today's society.

Believe it or not, confrontation is not needed when someone else is simply doing their shopping. I actually agree it's rude for her to ignore, if that's what's she was doing, but if it really worth agro? The yoghurt could wait a few minutes while OP picked up some other items instead. OP didn't need to grab that yoghurt right that second.

Why are we so obsessed with other people 'blocking' our way, as if we have some divine right to get what we want before they're actually finished getting what they want? Where else was she meant to park her trolley? That's not 'blocking everyone', that's simply someone doing their shopping.

You moved the trolley and didn't touch her baby, not unreasonable at all.

If she didn't want someone to do it then she shouldn't have ignored two people including a tap on the shoulder. Incredibly rude.

haha I'm a slightly rabid, menopausal Glaswegian with the patience level of a banana. I've no time for bullshittery of this kind. She's lucky she got you. lol

Really?????? That’s all you have to say?

How do you know the OP wasn't in a hurry?

How do you know the woman with the baby didn't have literally all day to do her shopping?

It's basic courtesy in the supermarket, or any other public place, to ensure that you are not taking up too much of a space and blocking other people's access or keeping them waiting unnecessarily while you take your sweet time. Behaving otherwise is acting as though everyone else's time is less valuable than your own.

If someone moved my trolley by about a metre because it was blocking a fridge they wanted to look in, I would smile and apologise for blocking them, and that would be the end of it.

So interesting. I assumed she meant the woman was trying to gatekeep the reduced items so she got first pick. You jumped to there being something to potentially judge relating to them.

Love it 😂 I’m taking you shopping with me next time 🤣

Thanks to this thread I have visions of this baby rolling away at high speed to the bakery section.
Yanbu OP. She's a bit mental.

I have actually agreed that it was rude of the woman to ignore. I just really don't think it's worth all this drama. Personally I would have walked away. Not everyone likes confrontation. That doesn't make one a 'doormat', that simply makes one a person who'd rather not get into an unnecessary argument with a stranger at the supermarket.

Again we're back to her blocking with her trolley, so again I ask where was her trolley meant to go while she was shopping? I love how everyone just assumes, based on the original post, that this woman was 'blocking' for ages. That's an assumption, based on the limited information we have from OP. It may have been 20 seconds for all we know. Some people really are that impatient! Clearly many on here have magical powers to not block freezers with their trolley when reaching for items in the freezer next to it. Someone doing their own shopping is not blocking people! They are simply shopping.

If we want to talk about really annoying blocking behaviour in the supermarket, how about staff who leave big crates in front of shelves, blocking their own customers from accessing the items on those shelves while they are nowhere in sight to move them? Now that is annoying. People carrying out their own shopping momentarily blocking a freezer with their trolley, not so much. I have been known to passively aggressively move the crates to one side to get what I need, tutting as I do. I'd never dream of moving another customers trolley who is clearly shopping themselves though, just so I can get to what I want a nanosecond quicker.

OP wanted opinions and, as with most things on here, they were clearly going to get a range of opinions. I guess some of us are just more patient and understanding than others.

I don't think the interaction the OP describes, with two people making several attempts to get the woman's attention, is likely to have taken place in 20 seconds.

She could have put her trolley in the place the OP moved it to. She could have put it so it was only blocking one fridge and not two. Or she could have reacted and moved it herself on any one of the multiple occasions the OP and the other customer tried to get her attention. If she chose not to do any of those things, she doesn't get to have a tantrum when someone takes matters into their own hands and moves her trolley out of the way.

It’s not really about why the trolley was there though? Isn’t it about her ignoring everyone politely asking her to move it a little?

Again, I agree the woman didn't need to overreact. But I see an overreaction on both sides here.

Without the OP's confirmation of time scale, we can only speculate on how long this woman was there but, having witnessed many impatient entitled people in action in supermarkets over the years, I'm sticking with my theory that she was unlikely there for that long in reality. OP hoped to quickly jump in so she could grab her yoghurt and move on, she didn't get the reaction she was hoping for (likely because the woman assumed she wanted to jump in the same freezer, and she hadn't finished getting what she wanted yet and understandably didn't want to lose out on a bargain by letting someone else go ahead of her, so chose to ignore), and it created unnecessary conflict.

A whole drama over nothing imo.

No, she's not. She's judging someone for being greedy and selfishly trying to prevent others from having equal access to bargains.

And I've agreed that was indeed rude!

The 'blocking' whilst doing her own shopping, not so much. I'm with you on it not being about the trolley but so many on here keep coming back to how apparently rude it was that she was blocking the other freezer with her trolley. I'm defending her on that, as I'm unsure what else she was meant to do with her trolley. I do see the rudeness in her ignoring people, and have acknowledged that several times.

I agree. The reduced section in our local Tesco at the time when they are just adding all the marked down stuff is a right bunfight, and some people will basically try and stop anyone else getting a look in until they have had a thorough rummage through and take everything they want, which can take 5-10 mins. I'm always pretty patient when someone is just a bit dithery in front of me, and might ask politely if they mind if I just grab the thing I need, but someone actively trying to block anyone else shopping in that section really pisses me off!