to think that supermarket etiquette works like this

[franklymydear]

in a busy supermarket like Sainsburys on a saturday, you finish shopping and join a horribly long queue.

Suddenly you remember something which happens to be in the next aisle along, so you leave your trolley in the queue and dash to get said item.

When you come back you expect your trolley to be in the same place and not to have been moved to the side and an old bloke with a basket in front of you starting to unload his basket.

Shopping etiquette says you wait your turn right even if the owner of the trolley in front is not there for a couple of minutes.

FMD - this has certainly made me & DH chuckle. He thinks you are very very unreasonable - he said for all anyone else knows, you could have gone to the toilet for a and be gone 20 mins, nicking a paper off the stand to read whilst you are in there!!

Catski - I pay when I have finished because some checkout people start throwing putting other peoples stuff through before I have moved mine.

FGS he arrived at the checkout to see an abandoned trolley, moved it aside and unloaded his basket. He didn't scoot the trolley to the other end of the checkouts with a huge push and call you a cheeky fecker for booking your place in the queue with your trolley. He wasn't being rude, you were with your pointed "oh".

Get over it. "Shopping etiquette" says you hope to still have your place but you can't expect it.

God I hate supermarket check-outs. Was in a queue the other day and discovered the woman in front was reserving the place behind for her friend who arrived with full basket which she proceeded to unload in front of me. I must have been in a VERY good mood that day.

And dont get me started on:-

Peope who cant count and go to the ten items only ckeck-out with a trolley load.

People who pay for one item with a bloody debit card GRRRRRRRRR!

Here they don´t put the next person´s stuff through until you have taken all yours off.

i am in awe of all you people who shop online do you ever forget anything and still have to go in to a supermarket?

diddl - I think that happens everywhere otherwise two peoples stuff would get mixed up at the packing stage.

I think Sainsburys must have a 'make inane small talk with the customer' policy for their check out staff.

I'm a friendly sort, happy to say 'hello' and comment on what a nice/shit day it is...but let's leave it at that, I don't want to be answering questions about what I'm up to later in the day, what i'm going to be making with the pastry and what perfume that is I'm wearing.

Yes, so why does it matter if you pay part way through or at the end?

squishabelle - I can pay for shopping much quicker with a card than cash - stick it in, four numbers + enter, whip it out - no fiddling around with coins.

nancy they probably do.

I know in waitrose they have to say hello and smile and say thank you and goodbye after the transaction.

Is that worth paying £££ for though?

(yes )

It depends whether there's two packing areas or not. If there are, and you don't pay until you finish your packing, then the other packing area remains empty and unused because the cashier can't start processing the next customer's stuff until you've paid and it all becomes a bit of a bottleneck.

I'm actually starting to take this thread seriously now which means it's time for me to leave. I think we should all be issued with cold flannels for the forehead on arrival at any supermarket.

Nancy66 would you prefer if they said things like ooh time of the month is it? or oh my dad is really bothered with piles too or that toilet paper is really scratchy isnt it? etc etc

Rusty - maybe you can but why do I always get stuck behind the ones who:-

Want to buy something for only 50p and want to use card

Cant find card

Stick it in the slot every other way but the right way

Cant remember their number and have to rake in purse for the kittle bit of paper with the number on

Type the number in wrong so it rejects

Then have to repeat process

Then dont remove card when it says to do so so they stand there till the cashier tells them to remove it or the thing bleeps till its timed out

I could go on

There shgould be a minimum limit of £10 for paying by card.

arf at catski - me too re taking it too seriously. Time to go and do some jam making me thinks....

You lot are mental - entertaining though...

I have banned myself from using self service check outs - it isn't worth the rage and increase in blood pressure.

"unexpected item in the bagging area"

it's become the new "mind the gap"

YANBU.

Someone did that to me when DS2 was 2 and wnet though a "suddenly running off to nowhere" phase, and I had to run after him.

For some reason I was ridiculously upset.

Yes, squishabelle - but those are the people who, if they were paying by cash would root around in their purse for the exact coins, find they were 2p short, zip up the coin part & open the notes part, take out a twenty pound note, forget to take their change till the checkout operator has to remind them, then drop it on the floor, in the shopping bags and onto the conveyor belt, which promptly jams.....

Lol - online is the way to go!

Nancy66 I am so with you on the inane small talk.

DH and I had a really bad time last month and after dropping the children at my sisters we went to sainsbury's to buy lots of wine and comfort food with the purpose of getting pissed and drowning our sorrows fo a day or two.

The man kept on going on about are you having a party, ooh that'd be fun, what you celebrating, wish I was having one, lucky devils. We clearly weren't in the mood to chat and he wouldn't let it go - took every ounce of reserve not to bottle him with said wine!

catski I'm really intrigued as to where you live/which supermarket you use, because I vaguely recall that 2 area packing thing with a divider , from when I was a small child. I havent seen anything like that in years! I'm feeling quite nostalgic now....

Tinkerbelle and Nancy - I have particularly noticed that the inane small talk at Sainsbos has become much worse lately. Have the staff there had a 'talk' to or something? Dds friend works there - will have to ask.

The two packing divider thingy used to squash all your soft stuff when the next person whacked it across when you hadnt finished packing.

People who take up space in the checkout queue and then go wandering around like Tom Bloomin' Bombadil in search of forgotten items get On My Tits. I've absolutely no problem keeping someone's space in the queue when they suddenly realise they've forgotten to get bogroll. I do have ishoos with people who use the queue as a holding device while they agonise over organic string somewhere in the bowels of the supermarket.

Last week, someone had unpacked their entire trolley before farkin' off to philosophise over some yoghourt. To a man and woman, the queue went militant. Which is fairly unusual in Waitrose.

it would be ridiculous to lose your place in the queue for the sake of one item, I have done this before but only if i think I have time before my turn comes round, then you can't possibly be holding any one up. I would also let someone go in front of me if I had a huge trolley full and they only had a few items. It was a bit cheeky of the older man, but I do find tbh some older people do act as if they have a right to lesser manners because of their age.