Checkout capers

My son was with his baby son in a Lisbon supermarket and they do have priority checkouts. Pregnant women, parents with children under 2, disabled and elderly can go to the front of the queue. When the cashier asked him to go to the front of the queue a customer moaned about it, in Portuguese. My son does look English but is fluent in Portuguese, so he spoke to her very politely and said, "Madam, I don't mind waiting in line, but my son is a baby and he can suddenly decide he doesn't want to wait and you would not like to hear him screaming. Thank you for your patience." She did look rather embarrassed.

As others have said it sounds like normal practice to me. On the other hand if someone had said that to me I would have been fuming!

Shanma .... I an as unlucky as you ... If I were second in the queue, the one being served would have a split bag of sugar, umpteen coupons to deal with or their card decides to play up. It seems worse when I pride myself for picking the right isle for quickness,:-(

I was just about to be served in the chemist when a man called out to,the cashier to ask where something was. There was only one other person behind me. She left me to go with him to show him the item. I guess I was invisible to both of them.

Nona4 ever: What a cheap crack, accusing me of being racist: evidently you don't understand about racial mores. I bet you get off on feeling morally superior.

Bluebelle, It's not a storm in a teacup if you were the one standing in agony from osteo-arthritis. In Paris & Prague I have had younger people get up and kindly give me their seat on trams and underground. They could probably tell from my awkward stance that I was in pain. I just think that we are training youngsters to think they come first in any situation. And me "being rude" are we not allowed to breathe criticism these days for fear of abuse?

Balini, on aeroplane boarding passengers with children have priority so it wasn't a story.

Continente here in Portugal has introduce a one queue system where we are called to the next available till. Much fairer.

It happened to my wife and I, changing planes, there was a huge queue. We were near the front, when a man and his wife and two children just walked into the queue in front of us. I asked him what he was doing. He gave a story, about some official, had told them they could go to the front of the queue. I told him he could go to the front, anywhere behind us. They moved behind us. Not one other person objected to him. They all stood, like sheep. I'm not the biggest person in the world, but I won't let anyone take advantage of us.

What on earth was the point of the 'we in England' jibe?
You had no way of knowing this woman's nationality and therefore your response sounds borderline racist to me.

Clearly this calls for legislation. Perhaps a caution for pushing into a queue at WAITROSE and maybe three months for not acknowledging someone letting your car into a line with a nod and a wave. What about the 'milk in first/last' question though? Possibly a debate in parliament and a free vote would be appropriate.

I live in Portugal and they are bringing in a new law in December were the elderly and pregnant and disabled have the right to be served first and can jump ahead of everyone Great! And yes I would say something if someone pushed ahead of me but not if another till opened it's every man or woman for themselves?

That gave me a chuckle Rosina. Would that I could be so quick thinking as your Peggy.
I notice that bus queues are a thing of the past round here.
I have learned to crowd on with everyone else or stand.

Oops! I'm with Bluebell on this. I wouldnt push in, but if I choose to join a different queue because it looks shorter then I'm all for it. The only place where that doesn't work is the Post Office. If I change queues there, I always find myself behind the person who has just emptied their child's piggy bank and the queue I was in before empties rapidly!

I do agree with OP, if I am next in line then I should be served next. If I'm behind someone queuing and a new till opens I always move back to allow the person in front to get to that till. However the same courtesy never seems to apply to me. I probably wouldn't say anything though.

OP - isn't that what usually happens? The first 2 or 3 people stay in the original queue and 4,5 and 6 form a new queue.

I always think we are a fairly polite nation on the whole and do consider others, but as ever there are those who haven't been taught manners by their parents ( an earlier thread this week covered that one in much detail!)

'Had a lovely experience in a store some time back. I was in a fairly long but good tempered queue; man behind me suddenly detached from the queue, went to the front, and trying to be charming but managing only to sound rather oily he smiled at both the person at the front and the salesgirl and said could he go first as he was on a double yellow line outside? He had not noticed the 'Peggy Mount' lookalike who was second in the queue and she let rip; 'SO! You're holding all the traffic up outside and now you want to hold everyone up in here? I DON'T THINK SO - GET TO THE BACK'. And he did!

Sometimes when I am in a queue, the person behind me asks if I would kindly let them through as they only had one item etc and I have happily said yes. However when I have tried this myself on others, it hasnt worked.

I was at the baskets only checkout in Sainsbury yesterday and the person behind me trundled up with a fully laden trolley. The checkout lady did actually point out to the shopper and she harrumphed a little before moving to the next one. It is so annoying when you get stuck behind a trolley at the baskets only checkout. I mentioned it to the checkout lady, full of praise as often they realise but are wary of moving them on.

Storm in a tea cup ! I have to admit that I used to hold this polite rule but now ,if all the cashiers are busy at Lidl I lurk until they open another so that I can be first.Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. No body ever objects. Perhaps it is different in Waitrose .??

Nottooold apology accepted I was wondering what I d done wrong Lol

The woman didn't commit any big wrong doing she saw an opportuniy and took it just as you were about to Jaxie, but she was quicker, that's not being rude or inconsiderate

The thing that you're not getting is YOU were trying to commit the same ' rude act'

I have come to realise that whichever queue I go to, for whatever reason , that is the one where something will go wrong. The machine will break, or someone will get in a kerfuffle and forget the pin number for their card. I just stay where I am and let fate take it's course. Just make sure that I am not the one in front of you at any checkout because i am a jinx

Aldi has a system of announcing, 'Dear Customer. We are about to open till No 5. Please load your shopping on to the conveyer belt.'

They don't actually put anyone on till No 5 until the conveyer belt is full so you stand there, looking and feeling daft having unloaded all your shopping, hoping that somebody will turn up because in the meantime, tills 2,3,and 4 are moving along nicely without you.

Thought by the title I was going to have to check out my jar of capers in case there was a recall.

Life's too short to worry about the little things.

Sorry, my previous post was in answer to Jaxie, not BlueBelle, Sorry, BB!