The other day, while at the supermarket, I ran into some incredible disregard for other people. I went to go buy some softshell tortillas for dinner. That’s all, just 1 item. So I go to the “express” aisle. You know this aisle in just about any supermarket. It’s the aisle that says “10 items or less.” Obviously the lady that was in front of me didn’t realize that this was an express aisle. Although the sign is pretty big, and I’m thinking it’s quite universal, she went into this aisle with a shopping cart full of stuff. I know what you’re thinking:
“Yoshi, why did you go into that aisle if you knew she had all that stuff?”
Yes, yes, sometimes I have that crazy thing about wanting to know why people do stupid things like this. Either that, or I was just plain stupid that day. It could be a little of both.
Regardless, there I stood with my tortilla shells, my 1 item, thinking to myself, “Holy crap, this lady has a ton of shit for the express aisle.” And I wondered if the cashier was going to say something.
I saw her look at the bunch of groceries on the conveyer belt, look up at the express aisle sign, and then looked at me with my ONE item.
So halfway through the check-in, the girl finally says to the lady, “You know this is an express aisle, you’re not supposed to have more than 15 items.”
The lady immediately looks up at the sign that’s always been there, and says, “Oh my, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize this was an express aisle. If you would have told me when I got in, I would have gone to another aisle.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize that you had so much stuff!”
Let’s stop it right here. I thought about this. And I have to agree with the cashier. There’s no way she could have known that there was so much stuff in the lady’s cart from her vantage point. So what did the lady say?
“I’m sorry, I don’t usually come to this Safeway, I shop at another one. I’m just here because I had to pick up my son in the area.”
Oh you’re killing me lady. So now, not only did you have reckless disregard for other people, your son (who I finally noticed hanging out behind the cart) also did not have the brain to say, “hey mom, this is an express aisle.”
After the lady was gone, and all checked out the cashier felt so bad, and apologized for the wait. I told her no problem, and probably would have continued the conversation, but the guy behind me looked like he was in a serious rush, and I didn’t want him to wait any longer than I did for my ONE item.
- Excited
- Fascinated
- Amused
- Bored
- Sad
- Angry
I am so obnoxious I would of flat out told her to pack her cart back up and go to another lane. I would of helped her too. I accidently went in the express lane with a full cart and the cashier did let me know before I started unloading, which was nice.
I’m with Melanie. I’ve tapped people on the shoulders and told them to scram.
The other day I was buying 3 things but the express aisle was cash only, and I didn’t have any, and the people in front of me let me go first, which I thought was super awesome :D There is hope for the world!
Wow, inconsiderate and a liar. I seriously doubt she didn’t know it was an express lane.
I get irked at the people who do that at our self-checkout lanes (ours are 15 items or less) and then keep bugging the attendant because they’ve got tons of produce or stuff they can’t figure out how to scan. Grrrr. Marcus and I miscounted our items one day (we had 16) and we felt guilty for going throught the express lane.
How about those people with 50 cans of cat food (all different flavors) that they consider one item?
I did that once. It was at a walmart I didn’t normally frequent, and there were only TWO lanes open plus the express lane. We had a trolley full of crap, and there was a line a mile long behind us, and in both other lanes.
When I finally looked up and realized it was an express lane, I made my ex move out of the line and into one of the other two. Prior to that I kept getting really dirty looks from people and I didn’t know why until I realized we were in the wrong checkout aisle. : Aaand, even though we moved out of that line (and apologized to the guy directly behind me), the people STILL continued to give me dirty looks!
I’m glad I live in a foreign country because I swear by now I’d have gone off on more than one occasion at the people that shop in my local store.. but instead I just smile through gritted teeth because I can’t get into a bithcing fest.. simply because I’m not fluent in their language lol.
Mandy