Pet Peeves: Aka Things That Make You Go "Gah!"

ari333 · February 10, 2017

1 hour ago, Popples said:

So this is what it would have been like if Facebook was around for my first birthday. My mother told me how she and all the other adults kept trying to get me to stick my hand in the cake, and when I finally did, I cried because my hand was dirty. There is also a photo of her trying to put a party hat on my head, but I kept putting up my hands to stop her. Every time she tells this story, she calls me an "evil baby", but in the other photos when I'm just being myself I look pretty happy.

Awwww.... forcing kids to be who they're not stinks. When I was a kid I knew there'd be screaming and crying (my parents) on Christmas so one year I pretended that it wasn't Christmas to try to stop the screaming and crying. This happened on every holiday that I can recall and every vacation. Other times seemed pretty normal-ish, at times.

My brother was very loud and outgoing and he'd open a present and jump and scream with delight. I was shy and quiet (and scared about the screaming and crying that I knew was coming) and I was urged to react like him. I always smiled and said thank you, I love it etc, but I didn't jump and scream loudly enough with delight .

Addthis. On Thanksgiving and Christmas we weren't allowed to eat all day until dinner bc we were supposed to be starving for the holiday dinner "So you'll enjoy it." We were probably hypoglycemic by that hour. We were little kids, irritable and miserable and hungry and usually fighting and crying by dinner.

Edited February 10, 2017 by ari333

TattleTeeny · February 10, 2017

Quote

plus I do mean vinaigrettes, sometimes even two to choose from. No cooking needed, fun, and always successful, what more to ask :)

In my junior high cooking class, my friend and I were kind of bad at everything and thus always left to partner up with each other for assignments (fine with us). For the last-day-of-class lunch, everyone had to make a dish and somehow the rest of 'em made sure that our assignment was salad. So, even though we knew we sucked at making food, we were all pissy about our classmates' lack of confidence in us. In a passive-aggressive frenzy, we furiously blended up a salad dressing out of everything edible in the refrigerator and cabinets.

A pet-related pet peeve: I need a stainless steel slow-feeder dish for my cat (it's a ring-shaped bowl with a raised middle, sort of like a bundt cake pan, so the pet is slowed down by having to eat around the "moat") but all I can find are dog-sized ones, and even the smallest of those is about 7 inches in diameter, and not likely to make much of a difference to a cat that currently eats from a little bowl with a diameter not much wider than the slow-feeder's "moat." COME ON, MAN!

Edited February 10, 2017 by TattleTeeny

DeLurker · February 10, 2017

Why does it have to be stainless steel?

TattleTeeny · February 10, 2017

Ceramic and plastic tend to scratch over time and hang onto bacteria whereas stainless steel is better at not doing that. Better for the cats who are prone to chin acne and other stuff (plus, their mom is a Dropper, so ceramic is definitely a no-go).

ETA: Hmmm, maybe there are mini stainless steel bundt cake pans!

Edited February 10, 2017 by TattleTeeny
EUREKA...I hope!

Bastet · February 10, 2017

5 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

Ceramic and plastic tend to scratch over time and hang onto bacteria

Yep. Oftentimes, people who have cats with chin acne see it clear up when they switch to stainless steel bowls, because the plastic ones were harboring bacteria.

Can you find a mini bundt cake pan you could use as a slow-feeder bowl?

TattleTeeny · February 10, 2017

Hahahahhahahaaaa--great minds, Bastet!

ETA: DRAT! The mini bundt pans seem to be either in a muffin-tin format of six, or a size that is smaller than a real cake but bigger than the cat's dinner!

Edited February 10, 2017 by TattleTeeny
I wanted to say "drat"!

Lisin · February 10, 2017

55 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

A pet-related pet peeve: I need a stainless steel slow-feeder dish for my cat (it's a ring-shaped bowl with a raised middle, sort of like a bundt cake pan, so the pet is slowed down by having to eat around the "moat") but all I can find are dog-sized ones, and even the smallest of those is about 7 inches in diameter, and not likely to make much of a difference to a cat that currently eats from a little bowl with a diameter not much wider than the slow-feeder's "moat." COME ON, MAN!

We use one of these for our dog... I'm not sure if the "small" would be small enough, but it may work.

TattleTeeny · February 10, 2017

I'm thinking about something like that. I feed my cats out of the smallest, plainest round ones--like seriously no frills--and they don't have much room (haha, I don't want to completely prevent him from eating). However, maybe that thing would work if I get a more oblong stainless steel bowl...

I shall find a way to slow that beast down!

(Here he is showing his belly next to his brother, who is better paced at eating.)

Edited February 10, 2017 by TattleTeeny

bubbls · February 10, 2017

What a couple of adorable rotten eggs!!!

TattleTeeny · February 10, 2017

Thank you, and I agree on both counts.

riley702 · February 11, 2017

TattleTeeny - how about putting an empty, clean, 3 ounce can of cat food upside down in the food bowl and he'll have to nudge the can back and forth to get to the kibble?

TattleTeeny · February 11, 2017

Quote

TattleTeeny - how about putting an empty, clean, 3 ounce can of cat food upside down in the food bowl and he'll have to nudge the can back and forth to get to the kibble?

I guess I could, when I use the little ones...

Haha, I just pictured his little face looking up at me like, "WTF is this?"

bilgistic · February 11, 2017

6 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

I'm thinking about something like that. I feed my cats out of the smallest, plainest round ones--like seriously no frills--and they don't have much room (haha, I don't want to completely prevent him from eating). However, maybe that thing would work if I get a more oblong stainless steel bowl...

I shall find a way to slow that beast down!

(Here he is showing his belly next to his brother, who is better paced at eating.)

I LOVE THEM!

TattleTeeny · February 11, 2017

Just got home to find a kitchen cabinet broken into and a chewed-up bag of treats on our bedroom floor! And they're looking at me with sweet little faces! Monsters!

Edited February 11, 2017 by TattleTeeny

DeLurker · February 11, 2017

@TattleTeeny - they are adorable and I wouldn't be able to stay mad at them for more then 5 seconds!

TattleTeeny · February 11, 2017

I can't even say "you bad boys" convincingly to them.

3pwood · February 11, 2017

And it doesn't count if you giggle in the process, or even if you smile while saying it.

TattleTeeny · February 12, 2017

What about picking them up and hugging and kissing them while I say it?

StatisticalOutlier · February 12, 2017

On 2/7/2017 at 1:58 PM, Maizie131 said:

Major pet peeve -- having to take off my shoes when going through security at airport!! I'm headed south for a few weeks and want to wear a pair of real cute flats on the plane. However, I absolutely refuse to go barefoot when going through screening. YUCK! So I've found the thinnest pair of ankle socks in my drawer, but of course, they're gonna stretch out my flats, so I've gotta balance on one foot putting them on right before. I know the second I'm done being scanned I can take 'em off, but what a g.d. hassle!!! Really? 65 y.o. small blonde lady flying with her 3 grandchildren under the age of 12. ARGHHHHH!

I've played the middle-aged white lady card in my day, but it does bother me because if you can assume good things about someone based on her appearance, you can assume bad things about someone based on appearance, too.

Can you take an old pair of socks and just wear those, without any shoes, as you approach security? Then take the socks off on the other side and throw them away, and put on your cute shoes.

On 2/8/2017 at 8:26 PM, Bastet said:

This takes me to an overall peeve: when people take something that is a general guideline -- e.g. 98.6 as a normal temperature, XX-XX as a lab's range of normal for various values in blood tests, pooping once a day as "regular" -- and turn it into a bright-line rule, not allowing for the fact individuals can be a little above or below with that being a perfectly healthy norm for them, and thus the important part is looking for changes as compared to their norm, not deviations from the average/standard.

Same goes for drinking water.

On 2/10/2017 at 7:40 AM, Moose135 said:

I hate that! And what usually happens, I'm coming up to pass them, and one guy will pull out, cutting me off so I have to jump on the brakes to keep from running into him, because he can't wait the 3.2 seconds it will take for me to pass.

I agree.

And on the other side...I drive a huge motorhome towing a car, and on freeways, I used to move over to let people merge, mainly because they don't look up until the end of the merging lane and suddenly see this behemoth right at their side. A behemoth that can't stop and shouldn't swerve. So if there wasn't anybody around, I'd move over to be a nice guy.

I quit doing it because invariably, I'd get over in the left lane, and the merger would merge on his schedule without regard to getting out of the way, and before the merger gets ahead of me so I can get back into the right lane, cars have caught up to us from behind, and everybody starts diving into the right lane to pass because that goddamn RV sitting in the left lane, but then that goddamn RV can't get back into the right lane because of everybody passing on the right.

So, sorry, merging cars. I don't move over any more, and I don't want to wreck, but if push comes to shove, I'm going to win.

StatisticalOutlier · February 13, 2017

Today's pet peeve: People who "save" tables at counter-service restaurants. I was at Jersey Mike's and there was a pretty long line, and those places are always as slow as molasses. A threesome came in, and two of them got in line while the other sat at an empty table, and sat, and sat. I timed it--16 minutes of hogging that table before her friends showed up with their food.

As it turns out, enough of the people were getting their food to go that the tables never completely filled up, so it didn't cause a problem. But that fact also indicates that it wasn't necessary for her to save that table in the first place.

Hey, I get it. I'm as nervous as the next person about a table opening up for me when I get my order, but I just deal with it, figuring the natural flow will take care of it, and if it doesn't, then I'll figure something out. Disrupting the natural flow is not acceptable.

zxy556575 · February 14, 2017

1 hour ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Disrupting the natural flow is not acceptable.

I want that on a hat. ;)

ari333 · February 14, 2017

10 minutes ago, Lord Donia said:

I want that on a hat. ;)

And a pillow!

zxy556575 · February 14, 2017

Happy insincere, forced romance day!

ari333 · February 14, 2017

21 minutes ago, Lord Donia said:

Happy insincere, forced romance day!

Lovin' it!

Bastet · February 14, 2017

I heard one of the local news anchors last night refer to "Valentine's Eve." Stop it.

Moose135 · February 14, 2017

It's the day before the big chocolate sales!

BookWoman56 · February 14, 2017

22 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Today's pet peeve: People who "save" tables at counter-service restaurants. I was at Jersey Mike's and there was a pretty long line, and those places are always as slow as molasses. A threesome came in, and two of them got in line while the other sat at an empty table, and sat, and sat. I timed it--16 minutes of hogging that table before her friends showed up with their food.

As it turns out, enough of the people were getting their food to go that the tables never completely filled up, so it didn't cause a problem. But that fact also indicates that it wasn't necessary for her to save that table in the first place.

Hey, I get it. I'm as nervous as the next person about a table opening up for me when I get my order, but I just deal with it, figuring the natural flow will take care of it, and if it doesn't, then I'll figure something out. Disrupting the natural flow is not acceptable.

Add to that peeve the people who save a place in line at the grocery checkout aisle. The other night I got in line behind a woman who had no items, and I assumed she just wanted a pack of cigarettes. I chose that aisle after scanning the other aisles for both number of people in line and quantity of items in their carts. We were both in line behind someone with a cart that had been full. As the cashier was dealing with the first person in line, the woman in front of me waves at someone who then pulls into the line ahead of me with a full cart. She's apparently been standing there for a good 10 minutes just saving a space in line for this other person. WTF? I don't have a problem with people being in line, realizing they forgot one item, and sending one person to sprint to get the forgotten item and get back in time to check out. But to stand in line with not one single item for purchase so that when your designated shopper actually finishes shopping, he or she doesn't have to get into a line like the rest of us? That seriously pissed me off. The "natural flow" of grocery store checkout aisles is that the person who finishes shopping first gets checked out first. It shouldn't be that the person who finished shopping 10 minutes later than you gets checked out in the same checkout aisle before you do.

Quof · February 14, 2017

BookWoman, tell me you spoke up. I certainly would have, and had they not been sufficiently contrite to allow me to go ahead of them, they would have found my cart accidentally inching ahead to hit their ankles. Several times.

BookWoman56 · February 15, 2017

@Quof sorry to disappoint, but I live in an open-carry state where essentially anyone can carry a gun in public places, up to and including universities. The guy that she waved into line ahead of me was already loud and angry about something, and while I could not positively determine if he had a gun, he had something that looked the right shape for a handgun. Maybe I was being paranoid, but I didn't want to take the risk. I did, however, mention it to a store assistant manager. Obviously there wasn't anything the assistant manager could do about it after the fact, but she apologized. They are not supposed to call out customers on behavior like that, but if they see something similar occur, they will open up a new checkout aisle for the person who got stuck behind the asshat, so the customer who should have gotten checked out first doesn't have to wait.

AgentRXS · February 15, 2017

Quote

Add to that peeve the people who save a place in line at the grocery checkout aisle.

I will add that it peeves me whenever someone saves a spot for a whole group of people in any long line. One person? Ok....but several? Its not fair. Too many times have I been on my lunch break at Chipotle or Starbucks and only had 2 people in front of me.....and then walks in 4-5 people who join the person in front of me and that is now 4-5 meals/drinks that have to be made in front of mine. And no one is courteous enough to let me go ahead since its just me, and I was waiting just as long as the person in front.

Once late at night, I walked into an almost empty Starbucks. The guy in front of me clearly worked at a hospital and was apparently picking up Starbucks coffee for his whole dept. He had a list of about 20 drinks. I'm just ordering my one measly drink. The barista made made me wait almost 20 minutes until she finally finished making all his orders before she started on my coffee. No one else came in behind me during that time. I asked her why it was necessary to make me wait instead of quickly making my drink in between one of his and getting me out of there or calling another associate to make my drink as to not inconvenience me. She said if I want it badly enough, I can wait and she works on one order at a time. I think its highly inconsiderate to assume I had 20 minutes to wait around in an otherwise non-busy store when my drink would have taken her (or another barista) 2 minutes tops to finish making.

Quof · February 15, 2017

Sorry, Agent, that barrista (that stupid title is a pet peeve) was right. The customer in front of you was entitled to order anything he wanted, and he was there before you. It would have been polite for the customer to say "you go ahead, I'm going to be a while", but the barrista doesn't get to do that.

Quote

but I live in an open-carry state where essentially anyone can carry a gun in public places, up to and including universities. The guy that she waved into line ahead of me was already loud and angry about something, and while I could not positively determine if he had a gun, he had something that looked the right shape for a handgun

Sigh. God bless America?

JTMacc99 · February 15, 2017

4 hours ago, Quof said:

It would have been polite for the customer to say "you go ahead, I'm going to be a while", but the barrista doesn't get to do that.

I'm thinking the same thing. I would feel ridiculously guilty if I saw a single person waiting while I tied up the shop for 20 minutes.

AgentRXS · February 15, 2017

I guess it bugged because I also worked at Starbucks at one point, and would never do that to a customer. I would have called an associate to quickly make the single person's drink if I knew I was working on a large order.

JTMacc99 · February 15, 2017

2 minutes ago, AgentRXS said:

I would have called an associate to quickly make the single person's drink if I knew I was working on a large order.

For sure. When I worked a behind the counter job even as a kid, I had the ability to figure out that my customer was going to create a log jam and to ask for help in some way to move along the line from anyone else who might have been available.

Moose135 · February 15, 2017

1 hour ago, JTMacc99 said:

I'm thinking the same thing. I would feel ridiculously guilty if I saw a single person waiting while I tied up the shop for 20 minutes.

When I moved down to Charlotte, I stopped at a place - Target, WalMart, whatever - for stuff for my new place. I had a wagon-full and turned around to see a woman with one small item. I said, "Please, go ahead of me, but if you turn out to be the one millionth customer and win a big prize, we're splitting it!"

ari333 · February 15, 2017

49 minutes ago, Moose135 said:

When I moved down to Charlotte, I stopped at a place - Target, WalMart, whatever - for stuff for my new place. I had a wagon-full and turned around to see a woman with one small item. I said, "Please, go ahead of me, but if you turn out to be the one millionth customer and win a big prize, we're splitting it!"

Hee. You're cute.

I was in Kroger the other day and some chick almost knocked me down to get ahead of me for the checkout. I had one item (needed coffee). She had a cart full. Alrighty then.

ABay · February 15, 2017

The behavior of other customers is why I grocery shop at 7 a.m. on Sunday. At least then I only have to navigate around the people stocking the shelves and the guy with the floor cleaner.

Bastet · February 15, 2017

Going back to holding places in line, a couple of years ago, two friends and I were going to attend a screening. It was one of those deals where you had to have a (free) ticket, but only the first 400 ticket holders would actually get in. One friend and I arranged to leave early in order to secure a place in line, but the other friend (her fiancé) couldn't, so she wanted to save a space for him. I said there was no way in hell I was holding a place in line for him -- we were probably around 350th in line, so if 50 people among those ahead of us let "it's just one person" come join them, we are no longer getting in, and I will be pissed. I'm not going to do that to people behind me. He agreed, and was rather appalled she'd made the suggestion in the first place, so he just skipped it. (And the people ahead of us who tried to pull that crap were soundly informed by the people behind them that it wasn't happening, so we got in.)

Re. the coffee order, you have to be an asshole to know you have a giant order and there's someone stuck behind you and not ask, "Are you just ordering one drink?" and then, upon confirming that, invite that person to go ahead of you. But the barista also should have called someone else up to help with the big order or take the single order, or, if no one else was available, ask the customer with the giant order, "Do you mind if I pause for a moment to make her drink so she can be on her way?" Situational awareness, people.

rcc · February 15, 2017

I would have said to go ahead of me for your one cup of coffee. Same at the grocery store if someone, especially an elderly person, with a couple of items to go ahead of me. Unfortunately, some people are in such a hurry that they just can't be considerate.

ari333 · February 15, 2017

39 minutes ago, ABay said:

The behavior of other customers is why I grocery shop at 7 a.m. on Sunday. At least then I only have to navigate around the people stocking the shelves and the guy with the floor cleaner.

"guy with the floor cleaner" made me giggle snort. :-) I needed that. Laughter is so good.

ari333 · February 15, 2017

24 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Going back to holding places in line, a couple of years ago, two friends and I were going to attend a screening. It was one of those deals where you had to have a (free) ticket, but only the first 400 ticket holders would actually get in. One friend and I arranged to leave early in order to secure a place in line, but the other friend (her fiancé) couldn't, so she wanted to save a space for him. I said there was no way in hell I was holding a place in line for him -- we were probably around 350th in line, so if 50 people among those ahead of us let "it's just one person" come join them, we are no longer getting in, and I will be pissed. I'm not going to do that to people behind me. He agreed, and was rather appalled she'd made the suggestion in the first place, so he just skipped it. (And the people ahead of us who tried to pull that crap were soundly informed by the people behind them that it wasn't happening, so we got in.)

Re. the coffee order, you have to be an asshole to know you have a giant order and there's someone stuck behind you and not ask, "Are you just ordering one drink?" and then, upon confirming that, invite that person to go ahead of you. But the barista also should have called someone else up to help with the big order or take the single order, or, if no one else was available, ask the customer with the giant order, "Do you mind if I pause for a moment to make her drink so she can be on her way?" Situational awareness, people.

Agreed. I already went on a previous rant about owning my restaurant. Some orders were HUGE and not only that -- the orders needed to be LABELED (per the customer's request) "no onion for (name here)" It was usually a big lunch deal for an attorney group or realtors or whatnot and we were glad to do it ,of course. But if someone else was behind that person with the huge order I'd take that person's order so they could be on their way. It was healthy Arabic food, but we called it "Greek" and "Mediterranean" bc those words went over better with people. "Arabic" scared people. Yep.

IDK if I should add that I'm a pastey white Irish, Swedish chick. :-) But I loved me some Arabic food.

ari333 · February 15, 2017

My ex is an Arabic Muslim. He was good to me til he flipped and had some kind of mid life crisis, cheated blah blah, you know the story. But while it was good (many years) it was good. I guess this could be characterized as a "peeve", but when I went to meet his family (in the 90's) they paid for the whole trip. It was so much fun and amazing. Best vacation ever. I told my parents I'd call them on return to the US. I was so happy. I called to say we're in NY and will be back to Alabama in a few hours. All my mother said was, "So do you have RAG on your head?" Not "towel" not "burka"--- RAG. and. no, I didn't bc it was my choice, but damn . Rain on the parade one time. Welcome home. She actually seemed sad that I had a wonderful time there. So yeah, I'd call that a peeve. But I'll take further rants to the family thread. Sheesh

StatisticalOutlier · February 15, 2017

21 hours ago, BookWoman56 said:

I don't have a problem with people being in line, realizing they forgot one item, and sending one person to sprint to get the forgotten item and get back in time to check out.

But the getting back in time to check out is the key. If they can get back with the item before the order is finished, fine. (Although it gives me, the next one in line, anxiety.) But if they can't get back in time, they have no right to hold up the process.

I think if somebody's buying cigarettes, they should have to stand in line with a pole and a flag with "cigarettes" at the top so I don't get fooled by an otherwise small group of purchases.

And just to show how peevish I am about lines, it drives me INSANE when I'm at a place with a feeder line and one register open. The people in line invariably wait until the person in front of them is all finished and buttoned up and has completely cleared the area before even heading toward the register. I can see waiting if there is more than one register, especially some place like the post office, where who knows what they do after the customer walks away so is that register really open? But if you're just ordering food, and there's only one register, be efficient!

On Mythbusters, they did a segment on whether it's faster for everybody to stand in individual lines or to have one feeder line, and it didn't make that much difference but only because people were so fucking slow walking to the register when called.

Are any of you near a Fry's computer store (not grocery store, like in Arizona). They have probably 30 (maybe more?) registers, all along an uninterrupted counter. #1 is at the far right and #30 is at the far left, and the line feeds in at about #10, and to get out you have to walk past #30. So the other night, they have some registers open within about 5 or so of where the line feeds in, one about 10 down to the left, and #30 at the far left end. Sometimes they have a wrangler where the line feed to the registers, but not this time, so it was up to the customer to notice a register is open, and that's done with a little green light. Or you assume that's what that light means--nobody tells you.

I was about 5 back in line, and saw #30's light go on and some people leave it, but of course nobody else noticed, and it was so far away I didn't want to send somebody down there incorrectly. But when other closer registers opened, including the one that wasn't right there, I did tell people in front of me to get a move on. And when I got to the front of the line, that #30 still had the green light on, so I walked/ran down there. Interrupted the guy texting so he could ring me up. (What was he thinking? There's a line but nobody's at my register--I think I'll play on my phone). And, actually, didn't interrupt him--he finished it while we stood there, before he started ringing us up. When we were done, I yelled way down back toward this line, "This one is open!" and a lady started sauntering that way. We had our receipt inspected at the exit and were out the door before she even reached that register.

WHY did they have that register open instead of one closer to where the people actually are????? And of course, Why didn't the guy at #30 do something other than turn on that little light? But we know the answer to that one.

God, I hate Fry's.

15 hours ago, BookWoman56 said:

@Quof sorry to disappoint, but I live in an open-carry state where essentially anyone can carry a gun in public places, up to and including universities. The guy that she waved into line ahead of me was already loud and angry about something, and while I could not positively determine if he had a gun, he had something that looked the right shape for a handgun. Maybe I was being paranoid, but I didn't want to take the risk.

I had that happen at a dollar store once--some lady held a place in line while others shopped. She was there so long that she was letting people go ahead of her. It was the first time I'd encountered it. I couldn't believe it and said, out loud, "I give up," and left.

But now that I know it can happen, I'll be better prepared next time. I think there's something to be said for being old and cranky and having no one who depends on you. It would never have occurred to me that he would have a gun, even in Texas, but I'm not sure it would matter. Seriously. If some asshole wants to shoot me for standing up for people who follow society's rules on grocery store lines, so be it. I'll be a hero, and there are much more ignominious ways to die.

The only thing better than taking a senseless bullet in that ridiculous situation would be having it start such a shitload of crossfire by other people exercising their second amendment rights that even the NRA couldn't justify it. It would be my gift to the country.

ari333 · February 15, 2017

It kind of sucks when I'm in line for quite a while and then another register opens and the people way behind me rush over to check out. Shouldn't the next person in line be first at the new register? Am I an ass?

Bastet · February 15, 2017

When getting ready to open a new register, the clerks at my local market will invite the next couple of people in the nearby lines directly. And if someone at the end of a line tries to dart over in front, they put a stop to it, but that usually doesn't happen -- by directly addressing the "I'm opening up register X" announcement to the people entitled to line up for it first, it sets the stage for people to respect the natural order.

JTMacc99 · February 15, 2017

1 hour ago, forumfish said:

I get annoyed when a cashier opens a new line and announces "I'll take the next person in line" and someone at the end of my long line dashes over there, beating out people who had been waiting in front. Only once have I seen the cashier tell the rude person to wait.

Oh, me too. Very annoyed.

My ShopRite has the person running the front (the keeper of "the key") escort people in other lines over personally to newly opened registers. They actually do a pretty good job of keeping the lines manageable all the time. Every once in a while you can tell that they had multiple people call out sick and/or just really odd timing of a bunch of customers all at once. But to be completely honest, the fact that I don't dread waiting on the lines there is a BIG selling point when I compare it to other options.

BookWoman56 · February 16, 2017

5 hours ago, Bastet said:

When getting ready to open a new register, the clerks at my local market will invite the next couple of people in the nearby lines directly. And if someone at the end of a line tries to dart over in front, they put a stop to it, but that usually doesn't happen -- by directly addressing the "I'm opening up register X" announcement to the people entitled to line up for it first, it sets the stage for people to respect the natural order.

My grocery store does more or less the same thing. They have a couple of people who are usually at a combo help desk/checkout aisle traffic cop stand, and normally they will come over and wave the people who are in line over to the new line. They are also good about opening up new registers if there are more than 3-4 people in line at one. That's part of what surprised me with the situation a few days ago; normally they would have spotted something like the asshat essentially jumping line and have offered me a faster checkout, even if it meant checking me out themselves. That situation just happened to occur when they were dealing with something else. Their push to open new registers if more than 3-4 people are in line at one is part of how they distinguish themselves from WalMart, which in my experience is a total crap shoot as to whether you end up in a line of a couple of people or a line of a dozen, each of whom is buying merchandise with no tags and wants to pay with plastic that does not work.

@Quof I am also old and cranky but do have people depending on me, so I'm not yet ready to risk a bullet over who gets to check out first. I have to say, as I have gotten older and crankier, it is often only the fact that I have dependents that keeps me from going off on people in public who do that sort of shit. Once my nest is empty, though, I may well give in to temptation.

bilgistic · February 16, 2017

Apparently you didn't have the air rights to what was on or above the tray.

zxy556575 · February 16, 2017

34 minutes ago, forumfish said:

The old man in my house swings his arms as he walks, paying no attention to anything in his path. I was in the kitchen, getting my sister her medication and I heard a crash. My glass, which was sitting on the tray next to my chair, hit the floor and shattered.

Does he have problems with his proprioception? I twice knocked over her pet's water and food dishes at my sister's house. Twice! I truly thought I was walking around them. And she has laminate floors so had to madly wipe everything up, pretending she wasn't pissed. "Don't WORRY ABOUT IT!" Heh.

Unless I'm having (ahem) gastrointestinal issues, I'm never in a hurry in cashier lines these days. I appreciate it when a clerk with a newly opened lane personally walks the correct "next person" over to his/her spot -- except if I already have my items dumped on the conveyor. That's past the point of no return and I'm not gonna sweep everything up again.

It's snowbird season in Central Florida, so 2-3 times the normal amount of traffic, and today everybody seemed to have forgotten the rules for two- and four-way stop signs. Please do not wave me to go when it's not my turn!

ari333 · February 16, 2017

9 hours ago, forumfish said:

Can you call behavior a "peeve" if it makes you want to Gibbs-smack the person?

The old man in my house swings his arms as he walks, paying no attention to anything in his path. I was in the kitchen, getting my sister her medication and I heard a crash. My glass, which was sitting on the tray next to my chair, hit the floor and shattered.

He had the nerve to say "it was a clear glass." Um, no, genius, it was three-fourths full of iced tea. I know his vision isn't the best, but he knew my glass was there, since I had already brought it to his attention twice tonight when he was walking by. So that excuse won't fly.

Sorry for the rant, back to the checkout aisle peeves!

OMG that made me laugh out loud. Bless your heart. The way you told the story is hilarious. And I feel you.

And BW56 made me hoot and holler :-) with the, "no tags and pay with plastic that does not work" Bwahahahahah So true!

9 hours ago, bilgistic said:

Apparently you didn't have the air rights to what was on or above the tray.

BWahahahaha you people are killing me.. Hilarious. Carry on and keep it up. :-)

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