Flipping woman

Our local Aldi doesn't allow you to take baskets (as opposed to trolleys) to the till. You have to leave them in a pile at the end when you've placed your stuff on. This is because apparently people walked out with the baskets and didn't return them.
So a couple years ago I just had a few things and didn't bother with a trolley. I'd picked up a box along the way to carry the things to the car. However, because of the speed of the checkout process I didn't get the things into the box, attempted to transfer everything quickly to the packing area, and dropped a 4 pint carton of milk which broke and not only splattered onto the window and all over the floor, but also all over another customer, including her hair. I was mortified, but she made little of it. I ALWAYS use a trolley now!

I was in Lidl and was unpacking my shopping at the end of the conveyor belt. A man walked straight in front of me and placed his items at the front of the belt and was served first. sometimes I'm lost for words.

I am that flippin' woman. At Morrisons today l had picked up the wrong crusty loaf so l left my husband unloading while l went back to change it. Typically the bread counter was at the farest point from the till. I expected DH to pay for the shopping and if necessary l would use the hated self checkout to pay for my loaf. Imagine my horror when l got back to find a queue of people all waiting for my return. Talk about embarrassed. But l was surprised to find them all and the cashier laughing and joking with DH who had kept them all entertained in my absence.

Well, I went to Waitrose this morning and by the time the cashier had asked me if I was OK to do my own packing, we chatted about the strawberries which were reduced and the merits or otherwise of making your own jam, some stuff at the end for the food bank collection, I won't pack that, I'll just pop it in there now, would I like a coffee (yes please), purse handy in my bag- yes - but don't forget the Waitrose club card (fumble)! oh - don't forget the token, all in all it's a good thing there was no-one behind me.

I put items like bread and eggs onto the belt last, that way they don't get so easily squashed either on their way to the till or on the way back to me, in Aldi and lidl I try to get everything back into the cart as it passes the till, but it is admittedly a scramble.
When DH isn't with me, I can't both pack and pay at the same time, so the next customer probably does have to wait two seconds while I pay for my shopping.

What annoys me most, are the women who park DH and cart at cash desk with a reasonable small quantity of shopping then run round the shop to get the rest that was on their list, leaving DH, or sometimes a child, without the housekeeping purse, so they can't pay until she gets back. They seem to think this is quicker for them than doing all their shopping before going to pay for it.

Grr ...also live inn France, and after many hours spent queuing behind the woman who a) pays for her litre of milk by cheque (I kid you not !) then b) behind the woman who does not even attempt to pack as you go then waiting whilst she packs her shopping into bags, not back into the trolley, only then searches through her bag for money/card/cheque book vouchers, shop fidelitie card, etc etc .....then pays, then puts shopping into trolley, then discusses her mutual friends with the cashier ......

I tried scan and pay ...for some reason (possibly because I am English) ever time I used it for a full trolley of shopping, I was asked to unpack the trolley whilst the cashier clocked up the total (which always came to the same total as on the scanner !) ...I simply never use that shop anymore !

Now I have learnt ....go later, get a coffee, wait for the French lunch two hours to begin, then do the supermarket shop as the supermarket is empty (most of the shelves are too, only drawback !) and I can get my shopping done in half the time ........

Online is not too popular here, and although you can order online I have yet to find someone who delivers ...it is buy, pay and collect ..and if there is an item they do not have, it will be substituted by something else !

JanaNana Fri 30-Jun-17 12:20:01 I do this as our Sainsbury's is small.. not a Local, bigger, but still small. They have hardly any space between the end of the checkout and the start of the shelving in spite of a refit to be handicapped accessible.

I had back surgery so I bring a shopper with me to trek home, so I like to unpack my shopping trolley in the order that I pack the shopper. If not, I drag my stuff over to the next empty checkout and rearrange to get all in properly.

It is a scrum in some stores!

willsmadnan To say nothing about the other assistants who lean over your half-scanned shopping for a bisou and then chat for minutes and the cashier being unable to scan and chat at the same time.
The best time to supermarket shop in France is about 1.30 on a Tuesday.

What really annoys me is when you have been in a queue a while and they open another till and people behind you get served before all those who have been queuing.

I organize my goods on the belt in groups according to where they will go when I get home. This type of bag makes packing very easy. I can easily keep up with the cashier. I used to have these longer length ones, but being a short-ar*e I found they would drag on the ground when carried and were also rather heavy when full. I therefore got the shorter set, made for shallow trolleys, which actually work well in the deeper ones too. They are sold by Lakeland or by others on line. My card is removed from the wallet before reaching the till and tucked into a pocket. No probs!

When I am putting things on the conveyor belt, I position the 'separator bar' quite away along the belt area towards the end of it and then start loading on from the rear end, moving forward towards the cashier with the last few items. This ensures there is plenty of space for all my shopping. If anyone complains about anything, I go at a snail's pace with lots of chat to the cashier!

I hate grocery shopping and my DH loves shopping of all sorts. I just let him do it. We discuss our menu for the week so he knows what to get, if he forgets anything i might get it later, i live it a big market town so plenty of opportunity when i'm out having coffee or lunch with a friend. He does get impatient with those who pfaff around with their purse at the til!!! I did all the shopping for years but now it's his turn and he loves it!

Sunseeker...my handbag is only big enough to hold my purse so not a problem finding it.
I still think life is too short to winge if someone takes a second or a minute to find a purse. If a person can't be prepared to show any patience ...use a self service till

DH always used to do our shopping as he retired before me. He has been incapacitated for 3 months after a THR (which went "tits up" in the words of his surgeon since you ask!) so I've been doing the shopping. As OP have said I choose a quiet time (Thurs morning) and do scan and shop. So it's packed as I go. I keep my debit/credit cards in my mob wallet in my pocket so easily to hand to pay-easy/peasy. It will be interesting to see DH's reaction when I show him when he's sufficiently recovered to shop again lol!

me too , I hate the people who are in such a hurry that they don't check whether your trolley is empty. I usually mildly comment with a smile that "I haven't finished" and gently, unapologetically push their shopping back as far as I can. They are usually mortified [or at least I hope they are].
I very frequently let people with few items jump the queue; and most of all, I try very hard not to shop when I know that people who are working would be shopping.

OMG -shopping in a supermarket in France! My son was born in France 28 years ago, and we had a horticultural business. So my "day out" was shopping at the small local Intermarche. There the cashier took great delight in hurling the contents of my trolley to the packing area - bottles and all, to see if she could do it faster than I could pack them up and hopefully smash the bottles. She was a madwoman. However, things lightened up when my son got to 2 years old. He was so good looking and charmed all the females around. They used to offer him titbits from the delicatessen counter. He got so used to it that he got really picky about which cheese they gave him, and one day, disgusted with the offering, he said at the top of his voice "NON - ROQUEFORT"!!!!!

Exactly sunseeker It is a small, unimportant thing to whinge about but I try to be considerate to others.

Oh glory! What a fiasco. Life is stressful enough. Prefer online grocery shopping though must admit that that can be stressful sometimes when a substitution is off the wall. No lifting, fiddling with a purse, or packing involved though and unpacking can be interesting if you've forgotten what you've ordered!

Myym - I also keep my card in my handbag - but it is in a small zipped compartment that I can get to easily. I think the complaints are about those who have to dig around in their handbags looking for their purse or card holder. Why not put it at the top of the handbag and fasten the handbag?

Think that woman was quite rude....one thing I do is get hold of another of those divider things and put it right on the end of the conveyor belt so that anyone who is behind in the queue from us as we are loading our shopping knows that we still need space for everything. As the belt moves along we still have that shopping space . For the lady who said she struggles at the check out trying to pay while putting her handbag down, buy an inexpensive cross body bag..( a handbag that is secure over your body while keeping your hands free) these have various small pockets in them and you could put your purse in a particular pocket of it without having to search or feel flustered. Even if you only use it when doing supermarket shopping they are really useful. I have several of these ..bought online different colours as I am not a dressy up person and travel a lot so find these hands free bags really useful.

Moobox There you go, it was a guy! kind but not always on the same wavelength.

I also leave my purse firmly in my handbag until my shopping is packed away. Why would I risk having it stolen if I leave it to one side whilst packing my bags, I rarely have a coat on so have no pockets I could drop it into.
This scenario is not as stupid sounding when you think that someone could walk past, take the purse and be off out the store...I would have no chance of catching them. If people in the queue cannot wait a few seconds longer whilst I extricate my purse from my handbag...tough and the more I hear people chuntering behind me then the longer I will take.

kittylester
My response to the ignorant and selfish in our society , as you have experienced, is 'where's the fire then'
Not what you would call appropriate at the moment given recent events but none the less it does make them pause maybe in shock? and then a tut and a 'where did that come from' look.
I find the worst are the elderly accompanied by their equally elderly husbands who bang the separator down and rush to unload. For the life of me I can never understand this desperation at their time of life.
Myself having retired, for many years,it is a joy not having to rush 24 x 7 like in my busy working life.

I shop and scan too much easier. I scan each item as i take it off the shelf and pack staigt into the bag. Paying is a doddle, no queue and takes about 2 mins - no unpacking and repacking.
I used to hate queueing especially when the person in front suddenly remembered another item and rushed off to get it leaving all her stuff on the belt!

Do big shop monthly and get Tesco to bring it straight into my kitchen. Only once do I have to touch it to put it into the cupboards. Absolutely no stress at all.