The people in back of you glared not because they thought you cut the line, but because they are OLD and OLD PEOPLE think THEY are ENTITLED to cut the line in front of YOU and exhibit other just as rude behaviors, day in and day out. The bad manners of the elderly are truly appalling to me (and at 40, I ain't no spring chicken myself). My experience has been that people older than me are way more likely to be rude than people younger than me.

It's an endless source of frustration to me, so I seldom go. My wife doesn't seem to mind.
I have a hard time dealing with the most basic of infractions, blocking the aisle with the cart while perusing the shelves. There simply is no need to have your cart diagonal or sideways while leisurely searching for items.
This one boils my blood almost to the point of bashing carts. I've not done this and hope never to do so.

On the other hand, I'm a patient and fair man who would certainly let the second (next) in line go to the new line. They've earned this with time spent there. However I seldom see others practicing this nicety.

The Grocery store is as fraught with idiots as the highways are.

More and more often I find myself being ignored by cashiers chatting with their coworkers while they're checking me out, but worse than that, the other day I have had to wait for a cashier to finish texting someone before she started with my order. I was too stunned to complain.

I guess I'm inured to grocery store idiocy; what I find absolutely beyond comprehension is the completely moronic behavior people exhibit when getting on and off airplanes and dealing with their carry-on baggage. (But that's another topic for another time...)

I will often drive out of my way to go to the Quarry Rainbow, because it has a number of self-check-out lanes, which I love (being a control freak), even though I have to avert my eyes from the spectacle of fellow-shoppers enacting myriad varieties of FAIL in the adjacent lanes.

What gets me really hot under the collar is either the checkout person (who works there) is talking and chatting with the person bagging the groceries and not paying any attention whatsoever to what they are doing and then you get overcharged big time by this idiot who is suppose to be working.

Then, you get the customer who is so busy talking on her cell phone and paying no attention to the cashier whatsoever during the whole transaction. I have seen it so many times that I want to scream or pull that thing away from her and step on it. How rude!!! Can't you people wait until you get outside to talk?

Thanks for letting me rant. I now go to the store late at night on weekends hoping I can avoid some of this nonsense.

Thanks to ATM/debit cards this annoyance has been reduced, however, I got a taste of the 20th century the last time I was in a grocery store and it still astounds me:

Your behind the person with the 6-mule team order and only after the total has been calculated, they pull out their check book, take their time carefully filling out a check, put the amount in their check register, and then hand over the check. Add to this, the clerk will ask for ID which is then fished out.

I usually try not to get worked up about this, however, it usually happens when you have the least amount of time to spare.

I still kind of happens with debit cards when a person does not swipe their card until after the bill is totaled but, that is not as bad.

I get so tired of people (usually women) coming withing centimeters of hitting me with their carts! (Which is usually followed by a dirty look that says I should watch where I am going.) Nothing gets me more crabby.

Which is why my favorite time to go shopping is 6-8am on Saturday. There are very few people there, but you do have to weave your way around the pallets because that is apparently the time they restock the shelves in my local store. I'll take the pallets over the evil "cart-bumpers" any day.

(Maybe I shouldn't be telling people this... Now I'll have to find a NEW time to go shopping!!!)

I shop at a military commissary. Many years ago, these places were notorious for long lines on paydays & payday weekends. You could only go one way in the aisles, because they were pretty narrow - and there were big red arrows painted on the floors to remind us dumb clucks which way we ought to be headed. DAGGERS were glared at anyone who went against the...well, you get the idea.

Nowadays, most commissaries are newer, more spacious, prettier, with a better selection & more checkers & checkouts. The aisles are usually wide enough for 2 carts to pass...except the very newest carts are the size of dumpsters (I was going to say 'small cars' but the "family-sized" carts really ARE cars)! AND they've decided we're smart enough to go any direction we want to in the aisle.

You know all these people have driver's licenses, too.

My husband and I switch around between three different grocery stores, we have no regular time frame, and yet there are ALWAYS stockers EVERYWHERE in the store. I understand that the shelves need to be stocked...but they used to do that in the overnight hours, when the store wasn't busy. And the worst part is the attitude of the stockers. A couple of weeks ago I (very politely) said, "Excuse me," to a guy who was stocking paper towels, because he was in front of the brand I wanted. He sighed, rolled his eyes, and GLARED at me, as though he couldn't believe I would interrupt him in such a fashion. Someone needs to tell these folks that, as crummy as a job stocking grocery shelves may be, they have that job because the store has customers. And those customers don't really want to be there in the first place, and just want to get to the freakin' paper towels, already.

The store I shop at has solved the problem. Instead of standing at their cash register, and calling "next in line", they come over to the line you are in, grab the front cart and pull it over to the the newly opened checkstand and then turn on the checkstand light and announce they are open, as they begin scanning your groceries. It is a clean, nicely run, very friendly semi-local chain which has consistently won in reviews for best grocery store. And their attitude has an effect on the customers. I have never had a bad experience or met a rude customer. Not that they don't exist but it does seem to have a better atmosphere that lifts everyone to a more polite plane. The prices are higher but the discount options aren't worth the frustration. I will find a different way to the save the $20/week more I spend on groceries in order to have the more pleasant experience.

I rather like the "this is mine, that is yours" separators for the grocery conveyor belt. Too many people won't leave enough space between my stuff and theirs, so the cashier will have to be told "no...that belongs to the next person in line, please don't charge it to me".

Good fences make good neighbors, and most people thank me if I reach out of my way to get a separator to put after my stuff.

But I live in Texas, so maybe it's a Southern Courtesy thing:-)

Besides the already mentioned pet peeves at the grocery store are shoppers who suddenly decide that they don't want something they've been pushing around in their cart, so they just sit it on the nearest shelf and leave it. Similar to this are shoppers that just leave their carts out in the open in the parking lot when they leave, instead of pushing it to the nearby cart corral.

I struggled here to use the polite term for the young who run amok in the stores; 'in my day' this would not have been tolerated at all. Now they run and scream and HAVE THEIR OWN GROCERY CARTS! What idiot thought that this was a good idea? They meander around clogging up the aisles and running into things. I saw an adorable, tiny boy the other day who looked like he was barely able to stand - Mom was 20 feet away while he struggled to drive his cart. The produce department was innavigable until he lurched off toward another department.

Of course the parent is the problem. 'Now days', seems like there are two extreme varieties of parent, the overindulgent and the abusive, with nary a happy middle. Don't even get me started on the abusive ones -the type haranguing their kids in the loud fishwife voice because the kids are giggling and playing. The giggling may not have been very noticeable but my shopping is REALLY disturbed by this harpy screaming at them.

Okay, thanks for listening...

My pet peeve involves the self-checkout lines (specifically, the ones at the Towne Centre Drive Rainbow in Eagan). I hate it when people stand in the MIDDLE of the two lanes while waiting for one of the lines to become free. When people do this, no one can tell where the lines begin and end, and no one can get through the main aisle behind the checkout lines either. I've told more than one person to commit to a line and not stand in the middle, and one woman acted like she was about to hit me, except a checkout lane became free, and she decided to grab the checkout register instead of punch me out. Then, after that, even the clerks acted very rudely towards me. If they would do their jobs and tell people that they must commit to a line (just like we learned in preschool), then this problem wouldn't occur. I can't be the only one who thinks it's rude to just stand in the middle and not choose a line.

I guess the folks at the front of the line are more committed to the line than the people who just joined at the end of it.

I can go either way when I'm next and a new line is opening up. If the kid is getting antsy in the cart, I'll jump out there before anyone else gets any ideas (the trick is not to look back). But usually, I'm in no particular hurry and I just let someone else have it.

Sounds like ya'll haven't experienced the convenience of e-groceries. I definitely don't mind paying an extra $7 to have my groceries delivered to my home in order to avoid the headache.

As long as we're griping about grocery stores... If an express lane says "15 items or less" and you have 30-some-odd items in your cart, you need to pick a different lane!!!

I'm always tempted to ask if they are unable to read or unable to count (or both).

Not so much a problem in grocery stores, but has anyone noticed the trend to stand as far back from a line as possible? Banks are the worst ... I've seen people stand 6 or 8 feet back from the person being served ... but I've also noticed it at fast-food joints, concert ticket booths, coffee joints ... you name it. It gets to the point, sometimes, where I ask, "Are you in line?"

"Yes, I am." GLARE.

"Oh, sorry. I thought you might be looking for the COUNTY line, which is a couple of miles thataway."

Not so much a problem in grocery stores, but has anyone noticed the trend to stand as far back from a line as possible? Banks are the worst ...

I think that is due to the new privacy regulations (like HIPPA) and privacy problems (like identity theft). I can understand standing back in a bank, since people are dealing with sensitive information, but it doesn't make a lot of sense in other non-sensitive lines (like fast food places, coffee shops, etc).

I know people have the right to use coupons, but there should be a line just for them. I usually look to see if they are clutching a handful of coupons or worse yet, holding onto a wallet the size of a briefcase that is made specifically for coupons. But a lot of them (women) wait until the very end and whip out a coupon wallet and start going through them. If I haven't already unloaded my cart, I will sigh and go to another line. I also love when there are two people with their carts right next to each other looking at items on either side of the aisle. Hello....can we get through! There, I'm done venting (although I could go on a lot longer!) Thanks for letting me share!

Will the new site redesign include a change to the way the "Read More" links are handled? I want to read everything at once: top to bottom, left to right. There's nothing more frustrating than reading nine-tenths of a article, clicking "read more", finding my new place in the article, reading one more sentence, clicking "back" and then repeating all this for the next (previous?) article. Can we just have short/medium-length posts with a "click here for comments", and leave the "read more" links to the truly long posts?

There's been a couple times when I've been in grocery store or even a super target or something similar and there's been no one in line at the express lanes so the checker said we can come into their lane. Of course as soon as we start unloading our maybe 20 or so items along comes someone with 2 items giving us the evil eye. I wouldn't have gone into the line save for the checker inviting me in, but it has happened at least twice to me and you don't exactly want to take the time to explain it to the person behind you because it'll just take longer than the transaction anyways...

My grocery store peeve is the person with the shop 'til you drop cart full of food in the self checkout line that then proceeds to take about a half hour to check out because they don 't know how to put in their bananas in since they have no barcode (which is what the code 4011 is for on the sticker on every bunch) Or they have so many bags full of stuff they take them off to put into their cart and the weight sensitive counter freaks out and they have to call over the self checkout supervisor to get their machine cleared...

If its a guy thats standing back, I may have an explanation. It might have to do with our subconscious thinking the line is like the bathroom line at a sporting event where there's the unwritten rule of a 5' buffer zone between the first person in line and the guy at the urinal. (which kind of makes sense privacy wise) Anyways, I find myself doing that on occasion just out of habit.

The issue of line committment in self-scan lines is avoided in stores which establish (via stickers on the floor) a single queue to wait for a scanning station.

I use two stores, one in each style, on a regular basis and vastly prefer the single queue model; this remove the need to divine based on a complex function of age, basketload and apparent technocompetance and familiarity with the scanner's user interface, how long it's actually going to take each patron to complete their transaction.

Experienced users will know how to short-circuit long voice prompts, spoof the credit card signing window (if present) and whether paper bills must be presented in the exact orientation depicted (e.g. face up, top of George's head to the right).

Bonus points are awarded to understanding how the local antitheft detector (laser beams scanning items on the belt, a bagging shelf that weighs the order and detects changes as items are bagged) works.

The next time you place a spherical item (an apple?) on a moving-belt scanner and rather than moving with the belt it rolls in place, causing the scanning robot to decide you're pulling some kind of fast one and throw an electronic penalty flag fetching a human to verify your honesty, you'll understand the value of really knowing Robot's Rules of Order.

You'll also be annoyed by the knowledge that more "inventory shrinkage" occurs because of employee theft than because of customers trying to beat the self-scan station.

Advanced secret self-scan knowledge: If your item is too shiny, too round or too badly printed for its bar code to be read through the inevitable haze of grocery residue and hand salsa on the scanner window, often the UPC (Universal Product Code; the numbers represented by the bar code and printed under the mystic striped pattern) can often be manually entered using the same keyboard page that is used to enter the four-digit fruit numbers....excuse me, I mean "produce code".

I still think FDFN would be a nifty acronym, though...

My pet peeve is the "missing lane divider" -- sometimes I want to buy my own online, or buy a baguette, because some clerks are so clueless, and inevitably their the ones working at stores who've run out of the lane dividers advertising NBC's new Fall season (1997) and which stores can't possibly afford to buy plastic or wooden sticks without breaking the bank. Even if I leave the ritualistic 12-18" between orders, they don't stop if there's not a bar, even though they know there are no bars available.

The Consumerist (warning: Gawker) reveals that a Whole Foods in Manhattan has begun using "bank style" lines -- this works well for me at the big book stores and Fry's Electronics. It occurs that this not only solves the other-line-is-greener problem, but the m9issing lane divider issue as well.

One of my biggest pet peeves! This happens to me all the time. But I tend to have a lot of problems at the grocery store.

Here's just one of my experiences from last week:

The produce section. Some insane woman was standing so close to me in the organic lettuce aisle that she could have touched me inappropriately. I moved 2 inches. She moved 2 inches. All the while she isn't looking at the lettuce at all-just gawking at me. I moved another few inches. Again, she's right with me. I was close to having an anxiety attack. Personal space, please!

I finally got so freaked out that I just grabbed the first bag of whatever I could find and threw it in my cart. I also cursed and came close to knocking down a lovely garlic display.

Then there was the 9 foot Tony the Tiger watching the whole thing. I'm sure he was laughing at me under that giant tiger head.

One of my biggest pet peeves! This happens to me all the time. But I tend to have a lot of problems at the grocery store.

Here's just one of my experiences from last week:

The produce section. Some insane woman was standing so close to me in the organic lettuce aisle that she could have touched me inappropriately. I moved 2 inches. She moved 2 inches. All the while she isn't looking at the lettuce at all-just gawking at me. I moved another few inches. Again, she's right with me. I was close to having an anxiety attack. Personal space, please!

I finally got so freaked out that I just grabbed the first bag of whatever I could find and threw it in my cart. I also cursed and came close to knocking down a lovely garlic display.

Then there was the 9 foot Tony the Tiger watching the whole thing. I'm sure he was laughing at me under that giant tiger head.

Has anyone else noticed that if someone is blocking the asile and you actually use the words "excuse me" politely you get a nastier look than if you just barged by?
Also, I completely understand the necessity of parents needing to take the children along to the grocery store. However, when their child runs into me and I say excuse me, or I say excuse me because the child is sitting playing in the middle of the asile why am I the one getting glared at when I'm simply saying it so I can get by them or away from the child who is using me like a bumper car?
Funny how manners aren't in style anymore...

I always hate to complain about how anyone else does anything, because I'm probably eat-up with habits that really get on other peoples' nerves!

But the one thing that makes me sigh, is when the person whose items are being checked-out, waits until every last can and box has been scanned, totaled and bagged BEFORE they pull out their checkbook and start filling it out.

I'm not usually in a huge rush, but I at least consider that the person in line behind me might be.

Oh, and usually this is also the person who watches the price of every item as it's scanned and will invariably find at least one that is "priced wrong". So the manager is called over, someone is sent to find the display to confirm whether or not a sign is hanging in the vicinity quoting a different price than what was scanned. 99.9 percent of the time, it was a price for a different size or brand. And I don't begrudge anyone wanting to save a nickel, but some people are so obsessive about the price-watching. (I'm married to one... so I feel I can complain about HIM anyway. hehe)

~Fae
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-:¦:- Bling Blog -:¦:-

All of these shopping issues make me all the more happy to do my grocery shopping at 11:30 pm. None of the crowds, none of the annoyance!

Pet peeves that haven't already been mentioned:

1) baggers who lack the most basic understanding of how to pack bags so as not to crush things, rip bags, etc.

2) people who are at a line with no bagger, who stand and watch the clerk ring everything up without lifting a finger to bag their own items, so that the clerk has to do it after ringing everything up

3) people behind you in line who start eating the food in your cart

4) people in front of you in line who get offended when you sample the food in their cart

OK, those last two are fictitious.

I don't shop at traditional grocery stores for the simple reason that there are too many people out there still using checks. But as far as this story is concerned, "nice" is so not a part of real Minnesota attitudes that this episode doesn't surprise me.

I have the opposite problem with lines.. once, a woman wanted to unload her cart onto the belt, but to do so required me to go breathe down the neck of another customer, who was not finished paying yet. When I did not let her crowd the line, she started pushing me with her shopping cart.. yikes.

My other pet peeve is people who don't know how to pack their own groceries and mess up the every other conveyor belt system..

If an express lane says "15 items or less" I always wonder what school the writer attended. If one can count the items, correct usage is "15 items or fewer".

I don't expect to have a wonderful time at a grocery store. Illiteracy, however, grates everywhere.

I notice a lot of pent-up "aisle rage" going on here. Here's what I do when I get stressed out at the grocery store. Go to the cold beer section, grab one of those over-priced single beers, crack it open, and enjoy a cold one. I prefer those single imports or micro-brews, but sometimes you can't twist the cap off. So now I bring my own bottle opener when I go grocery shopping. Works for me!

I agree on the "read more" thing, btw.

On the topic of grocery stores, I am somewhat obsessive over the dividers; it may seem obvious to YOU that that space between orders is a dividing point, but as a cashier, you get used to people who seem to think it just as natural that that's exactly the space that you need to put between the cereal and the cheese, or something.

Something tells me ghost_repeater isn't buying groceries in MN....

I'm pretty sure you're being sarcastic there, with the beer comment. But this reminds me of the many people I've seen sampling food at the store. And not just a slice of beef at the deli. Some people, and their kids, actually open stuff while they're cruising around the store. I'm assuming they pay for it at the cashier, but it just seems kinda wrong, like buying underwear at Walmart and wearing it out of the store.

Nasty Idiots are everywhere and they all eat so you tend to run into them at the grocery store. Whenever, for whatever reason, I get glared at, I give them a big, scary grin. It freaks them out.
If they bump into me, I scream "OW!"
If their kid bumps into me, or even comes close, I squeal like Willie Wonka. Believe me, their parents clear them out of my aisle, pronto.
If they crowd me on the conveyor belt, I just grab their stuff and toss it (without a backward glance) over my shoulder, as though it got in with my stuff by accident.
I've found that when you act like a (non aggressive) crazy person, the public shies away from you. Plus, you're having so much fun the nastiness of others stops bothering you.

I've also found that the shoppers at Aldi are the nicest, calmest shoppers of all and on at least three different occassions people have let me, with my two items, go before their overstuffed carts. My theory is that the prices are so good that all the shoppers are in a happy, money saving fog.

Believe me, if you've ever taken six children (one a fussy toddler) to the store, you've done the open package thing. As long as you reclose the container before it goes on the conveyor, and don't mess up the barcode, it rings up fine. And haven't forgotten your debit card.

I grocery shop a whole lot, with and without kids, and haven't had many problems with other shoppers, although I'm the easy-to-please type. Meaning: If I get out with most of my list fulfilled, I'm happy. I don't do self-checkout unless it's only a few items and NO PRODUCE! :) Getting more confident with that, though.

Used to shop at 11:30 p.m. at the Super Wally, 'cause I could go after kids were snoozing. No longer an option, but sometimes I can go with just one or two. When I take all six, my biggest "peeve" if you can call it that, is getting stares and comments. Usually, the comments are harmless and good-natured, but occasionally they are rude. I must hear "My, you certainly have your hands full," every other aisle. Harmless, but repetitive. Smile and nod. :)

As for kids in the grocery store, I have developed a homemade curriculum, centered around the misadventures of a certain "Harvey," who is inconsiderate of other shoppers and a risk to his own life and limb. Every now and then I pull it out and review the rules. After today's shopping trip, it's become apparent the younger ones need another refresher. Sigh. I apologize by proxy to all those childless shoppers out there. I am oversensitive about my kids' noise and wiggliness (even though we have a hands-on-the-cart rule). Even if they are not especially loud, a large group like that can be distracting if they all talk at once. I'm forever shushing.

I notice many comments about bad child behavior contributing to a negative shopping experience. Here's a "back when I was a kid" thing. When we kids misbehaved at a grocery store, my parents would always threaten to have us go sit in the car ... and then when we didn't straighten up, they could follow through, along with a swat on the fanny! Not today though!

un-be-we-vo-bol
who knew?

Do that nowadays and you get CPS knocking on your door!

Sometimes the southern hospitality can go too far. At my favorite regional chain, based here in NC, the checkout people are trained to ask if you need any help getting your groceries to the car. I'm a big guy; I practically loom over these teen girls, but the checkout girl asked me, as she handed me my receipt, if I needed any help with my two (2) plastic bags. I asked for the oldest retiree they had working there.

Fortunately, they now generally seem to ask that question only if you really do have a lot of groceries/kids/age.

I had assumed that I was especially selected to be offered help getting my groceries to the car because I am often shopping with 4 kids aged 9 years to 10 months, with a cart stuffed far beyond its intended capacity. I always refuse the help, but also feel grateful each time it's offered. Actually, I think there was one time I accepted (probably I was nine months pregnant and it was raining and I had 200 lbs of groceries) and it was quite the luxury to have the help.

My grocery store peeves are all-of-the-above, but between trying to neither yell too much at the kids nor let them run wild, compare prices without letting my kids block the aisles, keep an eye on things as my groceries are rung up, (I once worked at a grocery store where the prices rang up wrong all the time,) and trying to be ready in plenty of time with my debit card and coupons, I'm sure I've committed all of the major grocery store faux-pas plenty of times.

My husband will open packages for the kids before we get to the checkout but I will not -- it just doesn't seem couth to me. I also have to remind the kids that they are only allowed to hang on the cart for a ride when they shop with Daddy, never with Mommy.

Oh dear, I just remembered a scene I caused a few weeks ago -- we were at the checkout and I had sent my 9-year-old back for one item we'd forgotten, when my 3-year-old decided to follow him. The 9-year old was already out of sight, and the 3-year old started running and didn't hear me calling her to come back, and then she too as out of sight. The only solution I could come up with was to ask the checker to watch the baby in the cart (I left my purse in the cart, too -- oops -- but then again, which is worse to leave, baby or purse?) while I chased down the 3-year-old. Fortunately there was only one person behind me in line, and even more fortunately, he appeared amused rather than annoyed. (Also I found out I can run pretty darn fast when I need to.)

If an express lane says "15 items or less" I always wonder what school the writer attended. If one can count the items, correct usage is "15 items or fewer".

Lighten up a bit, JohnS. I'm well aware of the proper grammar. You'll notice at almost every grocery store that they use "or fewer" on their signs. Because of that, I put it in quotation marks, which would indicated it's a direct quote.

In Manhattan versions of Whole Foods, they are eliminating this problem all together by instituting the bank style lines, where there is a single line, and the person in front takes the next available checkout line.

Not a bad idea, actually. This way, you get through the line much more efficiently rather than having to pick a line and hope for the best.

My bill came to $4.97 and I handed the cashier a 5 dollar bill. She banged on the cash register for a little while, but it did not cooperate. Then she went to the next cashier and asked to borrow her calculator. She ran the numbers and came up with the correct answer of $.03 change. Is it any wonder that McDonalds' have pictures of the food items on their cash registers? We're doomed.

What I really hate is when people on the left side of the grocery store aisle won't get out of my way when I'm running through the store.

I mean, what if I were buying medicine for my sick dog? Or what if my wife was really, really thirsty and some grocery-speed-limit enforcer was meandering in between me and the bottled water?

There ought to be a fine for people who walk at reasonable speeds in grocery stores.

Good for you, SusiQ2. If you have the fortitude to not only take six children to the grocery store, but make them all adhere to a "hands-on-the-cart" rule, then your kids are not the problem. I am one of those childless shoppers, and I certainly don't expect absolute silence and stillness from little ones; it's too much to ask. It's the people whose kids are running willy-nilly through the store, banging into other shoppers, screaming at the top of their lungs, throwing things from the shelves and knocking over displays, that I have a problem with.

Same old story these days in this society........ME FIRST!!!! Doesn't matter the circumstance....look around.......it's ME FIRST!! "Etiquette" as it were, has been thrown out the door.......right along with courtesy, manners, and self-respect and respect for others. WoW!

What drives me bats is when I'm behind somebody in a line who doesn't do anything to speed the checkout process along. In the cafeteria at work, the lunchtime line can often be five or six people deep. Inevitably, two or three of those people wait until after the cashier has rung them up to get their wallet out of their pants or purse. There's an element of almost-surprise every day. But, undoubtedly, these are the same folks who are shocked every morning/evening at the appearance of the sun in the sky and slam their brakes when there's a bit of sunglare. GAAAHHHH!!!!!!

I here you JohnS. It's "15 items or FEWER". Few people know when to use less. And if only instead of fewer oil, we had less cars.

As a Minnesota ex-pat living in DC, what really gets me is the way the checkout clerks bag groceries out here. They regularly put only a couple of items in each bag. I've literally gotten bags with one light item in them! And on top of that, they double bag everything! Such a waste. I learned from a friend who also moved below the mason-dixon line that you have to ask them to "bag heavy" and not double bag.

My advice for avoining the maniacs who frequent grocery stores: avoid peak hours at all costs. Early morning is the best! I used to go to the Cub Foods by Har Mar early on Sunday mornings. Just me and a few other calm early birds...heaven.

It's actually more efficient to queue up with one line rather than two. What if you're in the line where both people run into problems and take an unusually long time? Don't you wish you were in the other line then? Having only one queue solves the waiting problem.

When I was in the Air Force our commissary had a rope line, similar to some banks, in the front of the store. You just had to wait for the next available checkout lane, which would light up when ready. I always thought that was a great idea! The only downside is that it takes away valuable floor space that could be used for displays.

Yes, I hate aisle blockers, too.

Rule #1: When pushing your cart, keep to the right.

Rule #2: If the item that you are looking for is on the left, then park your cart on the left and look for your item. That way, at least one side of the aisle is open for traffic. If you leave your cart on the right while blocking the left lane with your body, you are just going to annoy the rest of the shoppers. This is not rocket science, people.

It's just that easy.

(There, I turned off the dang italics. I hate it when someone turns them on but doesn't turn them off!!)

I appreciate it when parents actually *do* something to make the kid stop screaming. Whether it's open a box of whatever to feed them, or taking them outside for a time-out. Nothing drives me more crazy than listening to a screaming kid and seeing the parents basically turn a deaf ear to it.

prozacwoman, the ones who must be 'on fire' are the ones I think must be parked in the handicap space. Got the placard for mum, but y'know, she left it in the car, and it's so far to walk that extra 50 feet. "I'll just be a minute!" Uh-huh.

Never could understand the impatience, myself - if they KNOW they're going somewhere with a waiting line almost all the time, & might get behind someone who's slow, why don't they just take advantage of a few moments to stand still (which is a luxury in my day!) & breathe.

The bar isn't used because of disgust of others' groceries. It's used to the cashier doesn't start ringing up the next customer on your bill.

These people believe in the concept of first come first serve as I do...She should have punched you!

Call us rude again and I will run you over with my walker!! No, seriously... I never hear any "Big Band" music THUMPIN through my neighborhood..
I never see "old People" throwing their trash out out the window. I NEVER see any old people put tin cans where their mufflers should be and run through town at 3am with all the stealth of an invading horde.

Its funny that standing too far back is your pet peeve because mine is when people stand too close to you while on line. I have had people standing so close that I feel them breathing on the back of my neck or they are touching my purse which is over my shoulder. I use my debit card for everything and I've had people so close they can see me enter my pin number. There just no reason for it. There is such a thing as personal space. I think everyone deserves elbow room. If I turn around or put my hand on my hip I should not be touching the person behind or next to me. Its similar to the people who tailgate and the people who stop about 20 feet from the light or the car in front of them. Its like they have some depth perception problem.

I'm in line,no actually I'm being rung up.A guy walks up and asks my checker "where is the tin-foil that's advertised?"She holds a discussion with him to the jist of oh,you couldn't find it? Then she goes to an unoccupied checkout stand to call the grocery dept.She then returns to finish checking me out.I told her that it wasn't acceptable by me,she apologized but also tried to offer excuses as to why I should be okay with that. I disagree.The guy could have asked someone in the grocery department,she could have told him to ask someone in the grocery department,he could have waited until between orders to ask(this after requesting the pardon of the next person in line)He could have gotten in line and waited his turn like the rest of us already had.Above all she certainly shouldn't have walked away from an order in progress!

I understand what you are saying but the cashier can not control that other customer walking over to her and asking her that question. Simply blowing him off, then she would have been rude to him. He put her in a no win situation with you but I think just a little more patience is needed. You then put her in a position of having to defend herself when you told her that was not acceptable to her. She apologized, let it go and move on, geez, life is too short.