I agree with many of you, but living, as I do, with elderly folk I have learned to be more patient. Many of us are slow, some of us are "losing" it, some of us have arthritis, etc.

The problem here has become the four-wheeled walkers. Used to be only a couple of residents had them, now it seems about half do. They take up so much space on our elevators. I try to be patient and helpful because I may end up that way too.

I realize this is not like the checkout at the grocery, but the feeling is the same.

Another thought for all of you. My neighbor has macular degeneration and if she doesn't put things in her wallet/purse just so, she will lose track of them. So remember that when you think someone is just slow.

When I write a check for a purchase I have it all filled out except for the amount. My identity in hand also. Now we pay with plastic. I also let my husband carry my cards. I use a walker if we are out shopping. So it is difficult to carry a purse. Or I have it in a pocket.

On the scale of annoying things, waiting while someone gets their act together to move on is pretty low.

The commissary at Wright Patterson AFB was rebuilt some years ago. There was one line for all registers and folks "peeled off' to whatever register was open. I thought it was a wonderful system--first come-first served. They did have two lanes for "express" shoppers with just a few items.

Seniorgal - that's how our grocery stores organize the lines at Christmas. One line-up and the staff guide people to the check-out that is next available. They also distribute the super big orders to the more experienced staff.

tibbrix - LOL, I guess I'm one of them and that's because when they open the new register the ones in front of me just stand there and look. I don't stand and look, I just go. I'm also good at as soon as it's my turn they change cashiers, so I have to wait til they set up and count everything.

AT our local Safeway, the customer unloads their cart, and then pushes the cart thru. And we have good baggers, too. So I unload my cart, usually a small number of things since I shop often, and the shopper ahead is still there. She (always a she, why?) is still at the card reader, putting her change or card away, rearranging her purse, and the checker has already started (or even finished!) ringing up my order. And I have my cart between me and the Roadblock. Very tempting to just ram her out of the way!

If you think about it, the half-minute lost at the grocery could have been regained three times over just by not reading complaints about them on GW. :-) Seriously, when the delays of under a minute begin to stress me out regularly, I recognize it is a "me problem" not a "them problem". Time to de-stress and reevaluate my time schedule.

------------------

Good grief! GW posted this thing twice while I was in mid-type. Slow down impatient GW! lol

I wonder how many people complaining have pain while they stand still?

I will step aside once my cart is packed and I'm just doing the purse rummage, but do remember that the stores often remind customers to check their receipts and change while they're still at checkout.

Gyr_falcon, of course it's a "me" problem. The discussion is for relieving the residual stress of common annoyances. Those aren't usually about the actual annoyance (having to wait) but how it impacts one's day, and while reading the thread might take the length of one or two shopper dawdles, it isn't nearly a lifetime full. Grousing about it lets out the frustration and makes it easier to laugh it off.

"Seniorgal - that's how our grocery stores organize the lines at Christmas. One line-up and the staff guide people to the check-out that is next available."

This is a regular occurrence on Sundays at one of the discount food stores....No-Frills. The lines are extended all around the perimeter and middle aisles with one or 2 employees motioning us to available tills. It's pretty mind-boggling how quickly and efficiently we get out though.

Sounds like a lot of annoyed people. I try not to sweat this kind of stuff. I guess I find it easier to do the older I get. When I shop with my Mother, who just turned 83, it is anything but quick at the checkout. She usually can't see well enough to sign the pad, puts her card away, fumbles around a bit--you get the idea. But she is always cheerful and never rude--I learned to be that way also from her.

Visiting with long lost friends, newly rediscovered, in the middle of the aisle, oblivious to anything else going on around them.

Baggers who don't know how to bag. Cold things go together in their own bag. Frozen things go together in their own bag. Produce goes together in its own bag. Bread products never go in with canned goods. The bagger who bags as it comes down the belt gets a message to the company from me. I worked in a grocery store for many years through high school and the first few years afterward. It's not hard to learn how to separate food items so that they "go together". I live in a summer/winter climate. I want to get the lettuce and bananas into the house first in the winter. I want the frozen pizza into the freezer first in summer. In winter the frozen pizza can wait until I have the lettuce and bananas into the house.

I have a huge soft spot for the elderly and disabled and assume many people do so in my mind that isn't even close to what people are referring to here. But there are lots of people who aren't seniors or disabled and seem to feel the world revolves around them and it's annoying.

I was at Lowe's the other day buying a couple of things from the garden center. When I got in line to check out I was the 4th person in line and behind a woman with several plants in her cart. It wasn't until she got to the register that she decided to change one plant out for something different and both she and the checker left. They were gone for several minutes and when they returned with her new selection, the checker stood there for several more minutes explaining to her how to properly care for it. Seriously???? There were already several people in line when they left and the line was growing but they were completely oblivious. To say folks were annoyed was an understatement. And to top it off, that was the only register open. There was another employee standing not 10 feet way at the exit who could have stepped in to call for more help but she just stood there watching it all with her mouth open. Even the most patient of people would be annoyed.

Sleeper, I too can forgive an elderly person who isn't as quick as s/he once was.

A woman was struggling to bag her groceries and she was holding up the line. We were on the opposite side and were walking out when I handed hubby my groceries and said I was going back to help her.

I asked if she would like some help and she was just thrilled. She was overwhelmed and was so grateful. She even had a walker and I walked out of the store with her to her car. She was someone's mother/grandmother in all probability and it broke my heart to see her struggling.

Several years ago DH and I did a car tour around the counties outside London, staying in self-catering cottages. I LOVE to go grocery shopping away from home to see different products and to people-watch.

The Tesco chain had checkers seated on swiveling stools. The customer unloaded her cart onto a conveyor belt that angled down toward the checker. The checker scanned the items and put them into bags. She placed each filled bag on the belt that continued to the end, where the customer picked them up and put them in the cart.

This was in contrast to the small town of Goudhurst, where you took your shopping basket in and out of various stores. You went separately to the baker, the butcher, the chemist, the greengrocer, etc. Talk about *time consuming*!

Jasdip, why didn't the checker call for someone to help that poor woman??? You were so good to go back to help her--thank you.

Hello, I am the OP and was amused to read I'm not the only one that gets irked at people the slow up the line. Obviously, it was not meant to hate on the elderly, in fact, as good people we should step in and help. I was referring to those that just seem to be oblivious to others around them and have zero time management skills.

But here is the kicker: I was at Harbor Freight yesterday and I held up the line b/c I was questioning the pricing on an item (price discrepancy was too great to let it go). They were understaffed and checker had to go verify. I apologized to person immediately behind me, but I could see people behind this person were pursing lips and tapping fingers, fantasizing about pushing me out of the way, lol. Short of it is, we ALL can be a PITA at one time or another. Will shut my mouth now.....I feel better after venting. Hope you do, too.

I usually try to avoid issues by going when the store is slow. 24 hour stores are great, go in the middle of the night but the problem then is zero to 1 cashier and self-checkouts aren't always available.

Bagging stuff poorly? Malwart is the worst. I tried grouping things to hint, tell them how to bag it but I've given up and now just grab a fistful of extra bags and rebag it while loading in the vehicle. Always double bagged and freezer/refrigerated together. Worst case, if I'm real stiff or sore I can unload the rest later.

The one that annoys me is when I'm putting my things on the belt and someone else starts putting theirs on it too! Do you think if you mix it in with my stuff I'll pay for it for you? I've just started taking their stuff and setting it on the floor and tell them to wait their turn. One guy blew a gasket over it and told me to keep my hands off his food and he was going to put it there anyway. So, no problem. I'm not one to be confrontational so I just told the cashier we're going to ring EACH ITEM SEPARATELY! She smiled and said OK. And each time I put it on the credit card and put the credit card back into my wallet and into my pocket, got the receipt and put it in my pocket. After about 3 items he took his stuff, moved to another line and I finished the transaction. The cashier whispered, "You made my day" and I apologized to her for making her life more difficult and she said it didn't, she likes something to do and will wait on anyone. "All pays the same!"

I was finding myself annoyed at the grocery store today. I let my son help me bag. I was quietly trying to re-bag the items without making a big deal about it but on the inside I was cringing everytime he put unlike items together. LOL

I haven't noticed that age makes any difference whether people are prepared to pay or not. I get behind them all.

And I'll bet you'll find most of these inconsiderate people in the exact change lane on toll roads digging around for change, then move to the left lane of travel where it's safer to talk on the cell phone. ( or should this be a separate thread ? :-)

I always try to have myself together as I'm getting checked out, not AFTER getting checked out.

Have bonus card at the ready. Return to wallet.

Pull out credit card. Swipe. Return to wallet.

Have coupons organized, if using.

Switch glasses to sunglass (almost always).

Bonus if I can get my keys in hand, but not necessary.

Move my ass out of the way for the next guy.

It drives me nuts when people pay by check and begin writing the check when they get the total!

That said, I always check myself if it's a senior citizen and I am so much better with keeping my impatience in check now that I have my phone at my fingertips. I can always occupy and distract myself by checking my email or a trashy gossip site!

My biggest pet peeve is when a checker opens up another register and calls for the next person in line, and the butt heads behind me make a bee line.

Um, next person in line means the NEXT PERSON IN LINE. Not you at the back of the line to get ahead of the people who have been waiting their turn!

I've gotten to the point that I will say loudly, "The next in line would be ME! Thank you."

So this weekend, my son and I were shopping sans cart, when we stopped to decide on the item we were buying. Someone else put their cart three or four feet from us in the aisle, and walked off. Another shopper cutting through our aisle came into it, walked right up to the cart and said "Excuse me". And I said, "It's not our cart?" and she, in very loud voice said, "Thanks for the help!" with much sarcasm.

Why was I required to move the cart? It wasn't mine. I wasn't near it. She could just as easily moved it as I could, actually easier, she was close to it. Oh well. People are strange!

mimi, you should live here. They won't call out. As the checker is opening their line, they'll take a shopper, who is already in line, with them. No doubt who is next!

rob333-the last time this happened, the checker pointed right at me and yet, the person behind me tried to cut ahead!

I told the rude jerk that she meant me, not her and got ahead.

Eh, sometimes I'm more assertive than others, but this really gets me steamed.

Whoa! So here, they don't even say, "Next in line". They literally take your cart with them to the lane. I wish you'd get better treatment.

I'd love it if they took my cart! People aren't usually considerate where I live.

The last time I had the opportunity as the next person in line, I deferred to the older lady behind me who was using one of the motorized carts and was having difficulty maneuvering. I told her to please go ahead of me - she got in line in front of me, never even looked at me or said thank you. Some days it doesn't pay to be nice...

If you're in the express lane, specifying up to 8 items, and qualify, if there's a person ahead of you with about a dozen (or more) items in her/his cart ...

... are you tempted to count the items as the miscreant takes them out of the cart to put them on the belt?

Sometimes I've given in to such temptation.

When the shopper has to go for some other item when the order is half rung through ... have you ever checked your watch, and on their return suggested that, as they'd taken a minute and ten seconds, and had left four people waiting in line, that after they'd finished their transaction, you thought that they should stand with their cart by the door for four minutes and forty seconds before leaving, to contemplate how their thoughtlessness had inconvenienced others, when they should have finished checking out and gone through again with the forgotten item?

I haven't, either.

ole joyfuelled.

I don't generally get peeved over stuff like this. Back in the days when I worked as a cashier, we were told to look people in the eye and talk to them. For some people, you were the only human they would come into contact with that day. I don't have a problem with people talking to the cashier. There are a lot of lonely people out there (not just senior citizens) who could use a kind word or a cheerful smile. Some general patience and politeness all around would be nice.

I find stores often aren't conducive to shopping. The aisles aren't wide enough. It's hard not to be in someone else's way. There is no place for the cart when you are looking for/at an item.

The other day when I was walking from the parking lot to the (discount) grocery, another man was walking near me, and I commented, "If you walk around out here for a while, your friends'll accuse you of being 'all wet'".

"My friends have been accusing me of that for years!", was his reply.

And we looked at one another and smiled.

Thought this thread could use a bit o' fun at the grocer's.

(Which reminds me of a grocery-store related story that I told here last fall about a tub of ears of corn and a lady who was pulling the husk on an ear to check the quality of kernels).

ole joyfuelled

One thing to consider in the express line - if it's empty, the cashiers will often wave over someone from a different line with a lot of items to check them out. That's happened to me several times. It never fails that someone comes up behind me with just a couple of items and starts giving me dirty looks for having too many!

chi83-same thing happens to me! I occasionally stop into a store that has only 1 register open in the morning, and yup, that's the 15 items or less lane.

I always try to hustle through before someone with a can of soda gets behind me!

Tighter aisles aside, when the shopping cart is placed 1/3 the way across the aisle and the cart-sized woman assumes the position 2/3 the way across while talking on the phone and looking at the shelf, the aisle is effectively blocked. I guess it would be too easy to just have your cart to the side with you.

Then there's the ones who leave their carts in the middle of the aisle or across it and they go wandering down the aisle. Occasionally into the next aisle. They sometimes find their cart reappear in the H&B section. (As long as there's no frozen/refrigerated items in there.

Around here they don't say the next in line, they say I can help someone here. I like how Target operates. They have a couple people go up to you and say checkout #__ is available. I guess I don't see it as the next person in checkout #1 should be the first person served on checkout #2 when it opens. I chalk it up to being in the wrong line all too often. And I don't mind waiting a reasonable time while they're checking people out. As long as they're not fumbling with checks, or fumbling with coupons or "I wanted the one that was on sale" and have to wait for them to get the other item. They should pay for what they have and buy the other item when they get it.

cart-sized woman--person might've been better, but why say it at all?

Almost every time I go shopping either I am blocked by someone, or I am in someone's way. I don't think I've ever experience anything other than, "oh sorry" when I've said excuse me. Either I live in an overly polite area or some of you live in areas with more rudeness. I find that in most situations people just aren't aware and if you say something with a polite tone the vast majority of people respond back politely as well. Sure not everyone does and sometimes people are just having a rotten day, but nine times out of 10 the people that are blocking you are just preoccupied.

Ditto to all of the above. I will say that I never get annoyed when an elderly person (I'm a senior myself) has a problem with the card / pin readers or has trouble with their hands handling money. We will all get there some day (hopefully). That being said, it's the able bodied who wait until their items are totaled, then open the purse, then get out their money,maybe even write a check at this point, then go through all bills and coins to get exact amt, then get their change if they didn't have exact amt, then have to put each bill in the wallets correct slot, then put the wallet in the correct spot in purse, then zipper purse, then put their groceries in cart because they were just standing there while being rung up. It really annoys me when this happens at the convenience stores where there is no room at the counter to put your stuff (no carts just carry your stuff) and 10 people are in line and the gallon of milk and bottle of soda are getting heavy.

Also cashiers in dept stores when asked a question by another employee stops with me even if the transaction is almost complete and takes care of the other employees questions, even calling another dept on the phone to get the answer. Sometimes just stopping to think about the answer. Just put my receipt in the bag and let me go.

Caitlin, I couldn't agree with you more about the cashiers stopping in the middle of a transaction to help someone else. I have actually gotten to the point where I will sarcastically say "Excuse me, can we finish this up first please?" It works every time.

It takes time, I live surrounded by retirees and they are elderly and some do still write cheques which take time and others are trying to plug with cards and pay for it but they still take time to put together and I do too, put my card back in wallet and whatever else to do and its hard to do in the air and so I like to do it with something underneath me. I don't carry a purse but shove it in my pocket and I like to make sure all is tucked inside wallet,etc. as I have lost cards and cash as they come out of my pocket. So, be patience people and let them do their thing. And its not just large purses, can be small ones too with lots of stuff in it and buried at the bottom what they want and looking for.
kathy

No worries Kathleen, read the comments, no one here is pointing their frustration toward seniors or people with disabilities. Somethings are just worth waiting for (seniors or the disabled) and others aren't; we just don't think a woman who is more involved with talking on her phone than paying for her groceries or the woman who changes her mind and runs back into the store is deserving of our patience.

I've never ever seen someone write a personal cheque in a retail store. Not once. I even worked in retail for several years. Only thing I can remember that was close was when it was Child tax benefit time (a government cheque) I do remember some people cashing those, but all that took was a signature on the back and comparing that to their id. I don't even know if you can still do that, that was about 20 years ago. We can't be that progressive here, it must not be allowed or something.

I never buy all the trashy magazines that always seem to be at the check-out counter like Enquirer and People but I think they are a hoot to just read the covers so if the line is slow, I do that. If it's really slow, I take one out and flip through it and chuckle at the Bat Boy sightings and the latest ridiculousness of the Kardashians. If it's super-slow, sometimes I'll get into a fun conversation with someone in line next to me about the latest Elvis sighting. Life's too short to not grab a laugh or two whenever you get a chance.

The few times I do start to get annoyed, I check my feelings and dump them. Getting irritated hurts me, not the one causing the feeling. I refuse to give someone else, especially someone I don't even know, that much power over my mood and my feelings.

I do the same thing funkycamper. It is amazing how many people join in.. Almost everyone. Your advice is super. I don't have to go to my Harris Teeter during rush hour. I tell people to go ahead of me . I remember when my time was so limited but now I let them know I 'm in no hurry and give the ones with hardly anything a break. Circle of life.

Like to unload my groceries/ purchases , then get my checkbook out and write the check out. My problem is the customer ahead of me that unloads their groceries then just stands there taking up room so I can't get unloaded and get my check written. I usually try to get it written though before going into the store to save time. Oh, and also don't like those two seater cars for kids that take up soooo much isle space!!

argh!!! Don't get me started on those car carts! I hate the person who had the bright idea to design those monstrosities!! I firmly believe that any store who decides to offer them to their customers should also be required to provide special lanes for them in the food isles.

Here's another one. I was picking up an Rx at Walgreen's today. There are two registers at the pharmacy and one line, behind a red line on the floor to prevent the line-up-ees from crowded the people at the counter and providing a reasonable privacy space. So the guy next in line stands 3 feet behind the red line and the guy behind him stays a good 4 or 5 feet away. So the 4 people behind me are snaked down the aisle and around the corner. This isn't crowding personal space, this is defining a personal space big enough for a whale.

I remember I was working retail on Black Friday (I still hate Thanksgiving weekend). Checkout lines were almost to the back of the store and people were starting to get nasty. I was the manager and helping out at the register, but I walked out from behind the counter, put my hands on my hips, and said loudly "Now just where the heck were all of you when I was standing around with nothin' to do this morning? Sheesh..."

Everybody in line cracked up :-)

Shushi, when people do this at the post office I'm sooo tempted (and probably will soon,) ask them to move up when the line goes out the door, as it often does. :)

Ever consider other reasons for the personal space beyond that they want to send your part of the line out the door?

I'm sensitive to some fragrances. Some scents don't cause any problems, and others instantly make my head pound and my sinuses congest. The longer I am exposed to the ones that trigger, the worse the discomfort gets. Even a brief exposure can result in the discomfort lingering for the rest of the day and make me extra sensitive to fragrances for a week. When it happens while stuck in a line, I have little recourse beyond taking a bit more personal space, breathing as infrequently as possible without passing out, and hoping fervently the line moves quickly. Even if waiting a few feet farther away from the service counter causes a hardship for you.