The Vent and Rant Thread

[Hemmi]

I can't shop at 6am, no stores are open that early. Well, maybe Walmart but I've never been there. After 10pm, I'm in bed. Sleeping.

I go later in the afternoon on Sundays usually and it's not too bad. I was a bit earlier today because I wanted to watch something on tv starting at 2pm. I guess everyone else wanted to get stuff for the football games today so it was quite busy. Luckily, I shop the same store every week so I know where everything is. And I've got no problem staring someone down if they're blocking the aisle, moving their cart out of my way, or just saying "excuse me" very loudly so they can figure out for themselves they're blocking the way.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

I think that's where DD's "Herds" start, the ones I see are invariably late gen 'Y' or 'M's, obviously single, usually of the same same sex, with abundant tattoo's and torn clothes, and they shop haphazardly - perambulating the same aisle several times because their social shopping list is alphabetically arranged.

@Cinisajoy - not all people own cars, so drive by pickup is not an option even if it were available - which it's not around here. But what is available from some of the smaller (owner-operated) stores is home delivery - I think its about $7. And, if you're a known customer (by sight) and you ask for help to get your groceries to your car, then the person at the checkout will rustle up a shelf stacker to wheel your trolley.

@Hitch - stuff moving irritates me too, much more than other customers. In our small stores where I'm known I complain at the checkout. If its not too busy they go and find it for me and tell me where it was - often sighing because it was in an odd place, e.g. tinned passion fruit (fresh were out of season) on the top shelf of the cookie shelves.

BR

I don't drive either. That is why when someone implies couples shouldn't shop together, they are being insensitive. I read that as because I don't see well enough to drive, I shouldn't be in their grocery store because two people take up too much room.

I have read that couples shouldn't shop together more than once here. It is offensive and judgemental.
Hitch mentioned SAHM should shop at not busy times. How does she know whether a woman is a SAHM or how many cars they have.
Again assuming a woman with more than one kid doesn't work.

Yes, unruly children should be controlled. As to these herds, I haven't seen that.
But then again our stores all have aisles that are 2.5 carts wide.
So we don't have the crowding. I think the ADA requires that stores are required to be two wheelchairs wide. "This may only apply to new stores and remodels."
All except one store has been remodeled in the last few years.

Here are a few tips: do not shop between 5pm to 730 if you can avoid it.
Do not shop on Fridays or Saturdays especially those that following the county paydays.
Sunday mornings are good.
Also try to avoid Wednesday, that is ad and social security day.
Tuesdays are actually best.
To Hemmi: excuse me works very well.

Oh I also would not recommend the afternoon before Super Bowl 52.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Quite.

Yeah, no. You're not getting it at all. I mean herd. Came together, shopped together, checked out together. One cart per herd. I know the difference between a herd and a busy store.

Oh I misunderstood you because of the parade float line.

I haven't done what you call herd shopping since I shared an apartment with 3 guys and we did the grocery shopping together.
I saw a group of people each with a basket following each other in step.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

It's not about not liking crowds. It's about not liking abnormal behavior. Four or more adults shopping together with one cart, clogging up already narrow aisles with their shopping party is abnormal behavior.

That would not be abnormal here. It is rarer to see a single person shopping.


We must live in two totally different worlds.

Here people shop together all the time.
Our stores nearly always have adult males shopping with one cart. Anywhere from 2 to 6. I can also tell you that they have jobs from the clothes they are wearing.
Not only do they take up more space because they are usually bigger guys, they also have a distinct odor in their clothes.
They are generally getting supplies to take to work with them because it may be days before they get back to town.

Oh that odor is the unrefined product that you use in your car and probably for heating your house.

I tend to forget what one person sees as strange may be perfectly normal to another.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

As to these herds, I haven't seen that.

I live in Sydney's Inner West, where a lot of young single people and older mainly post-war immigrants live - it's the latter that account for all the cafes in the first instance.

'Herd' is probably the wrong noun, 'band' or 'huddle' might be better. The bands of young women don't bother me nearly as much as the huddles of wannabee front row forward men (think linebackers). The women usually know what they want and where to find it, and by keeping their trolley at the back of the store (where there's usually more space), whilst they individually forage in the aisles they aren't around for long. It's the men who wander around aimlessly in groups that get up my nose; even without a trolley they block the aisles as they decide which tube of toothpaste they want.

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

To Hemmi: excuse me works very well.

As does as light 'ahem', a warm smile, and a 'thanks' when they move, usually after saying, 'ooh sorry' .

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Oh I also would not recommend the afternoon before Super Bowl 52.

Better to wait until the day its staged, when I guess the supermarkets are empty - in the USA at least, and maybe the UK.

BR

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

I guessed Katsunami was an X, Y or M, by the way he's always dumping on older people who get in his way at bus stops and supermarket aisles.

According to Wikipedia, Generation Y and M (millennials?) are the same. Generation X ran from 1961 to 1982, and Generation Y ran from 1980 to 2001.

I'm at either the super-late tail end of GenX, or one of the first Millennials ever born. Out of those two generations, I'm part of the one you favor the most.

And with regard to old people: I cut them more than enough slack, because I know I will be old one day too. (At least, I hope so, in reasonable health.) Also, I'm not the fastest person in the world because of my poor eyesight; compared to people in my age bracket, I can even be called slow.

So if these elderly people feel slow and in the way to me already, my peers must feel completely stuck, and constantly entertaining thoughts of chainsaws and steamrollers to get unstuck.

The difference between "me slow" and "old people slow" is this, which actually happened today:

I _know_ I am slow, especially when I need to read labels or price tags in unfamiliar stores. Because of that, I try to know what I want beforehand, and I try to go to familiar (grocery) stores, so I can just walk up to the rack, pick what I need (without having to try and read the labels and tags), and be off again. In short, I try to not be in the way.

The old people _don't_ seem to know that they are slow, and stand in front of the rack (where I need to be), reading the labels and price tags on all 18 different sorts of pepper. Should I pick Silvo, or Verstegen or the Plus house brand? Should I pick the one in the shaker, or the one in the grinder? Oh, each of those is available in White, Black, and Four Seasons. Those are 18 choices... Hm...

Then I ask:

"Excuse me, could you please move over a few steps so I can get some pepper?"

I pick the Plus Four Season pepper in the grinder, and said old person is looking at me with a very grumpy expression on his face. I don't even know if the irritation comes from me asking him to step aside, or because I made a choice in seconds instead of needing half a day.

[BetterRed]

@Katsunami - According to my WikiP the various 'generation' terms are inexact. Example: Baby Boomers birth years start in early-to-mid 1940s and end in early 1960s. And they overlap and intertwine - e.g. the Beat Generation, is entangled with the Silent and Baby Boomer generations

It seems your older population is as grumpy as the younger ones.

I doubt I'd even get a scowl if I asked smilingly, 'Could I get some pepper too?" More likely they'd say, 'Sorry, which one do you like.' And when I answered "Szechuan today." they might even hand it to me and say something like, 'Oh, I never tried that, do you think I'd like it?'. It was from such an exchange last year that I learnt from a lady even older than me, that ants don't like walking on talcum powder.

@Cinisajoy - the sort of men your talking about don't tend to live in Sydney's Inner West. Our mining/drilling sites are often very remote, the workers either live in company towns or they're on FIFO contracts working 7 days a weeks for 6 weeks and then two weeks off with their wives in their semi-rural McMansions. The sort guys I'm referring to might work in construction, but more likely they'll have several gig jobs such as bouncers, bodyguards, gym supervisors, security guards etc.

BR

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

According to Wikipedia, Generation Y and M (millennials?) are the same. Generation X ran from 1961 to 1982, and Generation Y ran from 1980 to 2001.

I'm at either the super-late tail end of GenX, or one of the first Millennials ever born. Out of those two generations, I'm part of the one you favor the most.

And with regard to old people: I cut them more than enough slack, because I know I will be old one day too. (At least, I hope so, in reasonable health.) Also, I'm not the fastest person in the world because of my poor eyesight; compared to people in my age bracket, I can even be called slow.

So if these elderly people feel slow and in the way to me already, my peers must feel completely stuck, and constantly entertaining thoughts of chainsaws and steamrollers to get unstuck.

The difference between "me slow" and "old people slow" is this, which actually happened today:

I _know_ I am slow, especially when I need to read labels or price tags in unfamiliar stores. Because of that, I try to know what I want beforehand, and I try to go to familiar (grocery) stores, so I can just walk up to the rack, pick what I need (without having to try and read the labels and tags), and be off again. In short, I try to not be in the way.

The old people _don't_ seem to know that they are slow, and stand in front of the rack (where I need to be), reading the labels and price tags on all 18 different sorts of pepper. Should I pick Silvo, or Verstegen or the Plus house brand? Should I pick the one in the shaker, or the one in the grinder? Oh, each of those is available in White, Black, and Four Seasons. Those are 18 choices... Hm...

Then I ask:

"Excuse me, could you please move over a few steps so I can get some pepper?"

I pick the Plus Four Season pepper in the grinder, and said old person is looking at me with a very grumpy expression on his face. I don't even know if the irritation comes from me asking him to step aside, or because I made a choice in seconds instead of needing half a day.

The irritated look was at your attitude.
You should not have said "could you move a few steps". To an older person that may have implied he might not be able to move. (Sorry one of my elders was a stickler with the use of the words could and can.) Next time, try would you please move over a bit. (Manners were also expected. ) Of course, you might also cause a heart attack.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

@Katsunami - According to my WikiP the various 'generation' terms are inexact. Example: Baby Boomers birth years start in early-to-mid 1940s and end in early 1960s. And they overlap and intertwine - e.g. the Beat Generation, is entangled with the Silent and Baby Boomer generations

It seems your older population is as grumpy as the younger ones.

I doubt I'd even get a scowl if I asked smilingly, 'Could I get some pepper too?" More likely they'd say, 'Sorry, which one do you like.' And when I answered "Szechuan today." they might even hand it to me and say something like, 'Oh, I never tried that, do you think I'd like it?'. It was from such an exchange last year that I learnt from a lady even older than me, that ants don't like walking on talcum powder.

@Cinisajoy - the sort of men your talking about don't tend to live in Sydney's Inner West. Our mining/drilling sites are often very remote, the workers either live in company towns or they're on FIFO contracts working 7 days a weeks for 6 weeks and then two weeks off with their wives in their semi-rural McMansions. The sort guys I'm referring to might work in construction, but more likely they'll have several gig jobs such as bouncers, bodyguards, gym supervisors, security guards etc.

BR

Please google map or Google Earth, the Permian Basin. Your remote made me giggle because I understand.
Here it is possible to have a 100 mile drive to work every day. Of course, it is also possible for the rig to practically be in your backyard.
Some companies did build housing for many of their employees.
No choice as we didn't have the facilities to house all the workers. Many brought their families.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

The irritated look was at your attitude.
You should not have said "could you move a few steps".

There isn't an English translation for the Dutch phrase. The one I used is an almost literal translation.

[BetterRed]

@Katsunami - don't ask them to move, it's the last thing an elderly person with ambulatory problems (hip replacement, neuropathy, diabetes, stroke etc) wants to hear from a spry kid barely out of school.

And adopting a friendly facial expression and tone of voice will make the platitudinous 'pleases' and 'thank yous' unnecessary.

BR

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

It's not about not liking crowds. It's about not liking abnormal behavior. Four or more adults shopping together with one cart, clogging up already narrow aisles with their shopping party is abnormal behavior.

That must be right up there with "adulting," eh? I don't get it.


Hitch

[WT Sharpe]

One Christmas while shopping I came across what could only be a family reunion blocking one of the stores aisles. Rather than get angry, I simply faked a coughing spasm as I went to pass. You'd be amazed at how fast people move out of your way when they fear you may be the male incarnation of Typhoid Mary.

[issybird]

I can't help thinking three things:

• That saying, "Would you mind if I reached past you for a moment ?" or some such variation, putting the onus on the speaker and not the other person, would get better results.
• That compassion for all types of infirmity is always a good thing.
• That applying negative characteristics to any demographic group is always unfortunate unless there's direct causality. There are always exceptions; groups rarely act in lockstep and those outside the group can exhibit the same characteristic.

[4691mls]

The person looking slowly at all items may need to check for something important to their health, such as an allergen or high sodium. I occasionally do this. Also, sometimes I know what I want but am having a hard time spotting it amid all the similar products. Therefore, I try to be patient with others in the same situation. If I can see what I want and someone is standing there slowly reading all the ingredients, usually just a simple "excuse me, do you mind if I grab one of these" works.