Women are best at everything, except...

I never use self scanners on principal. I just wonder how many jobs they've got rid of.

You would hate rural France then Rufus. The cashiers chat to each shopper that they know, check their phones while the customers are packing their shopping and carry on filling shelves until the queue is long enough to make it worth their while to saunter to the checkout. The customers are just as bad and positively dawdle while packing shopping and paying. It seems to be a social experience for lots of them. Cheques are very common here and the till prints it and then details are written on the back - so time consuming.
I tried to have a small handbag but have to carry so much stuff for both of us that it is quite large and heavy. Sadly, DH doesn't approve of man bags.

What a load of crap. Women have always been superior. It doesnt need an old bumbler to quote that stuff. What is the problems with jacket pockets. I wear a mans for work with deep pockets. I have a parka for everyday with 3 pockets. I rarely carry a handbag as ive nothing to put in apart from purse and keys. Ive not seen a jacket without pockets i once had a lush barber with 6 pockets and good winter wool coats usually have deep pockets.

And I agree about self scan. I always use it at Waitrose. It is much quicker and I love it , on the other hand my husband struggles with it......

Load of cobblers

I have no idea how to use self scanners. Our local supermarkets don’t have them and my DC tell me not to use them anyway as being a cashier saw them through university.

What absolute sexist rubbish! I do self scan more quickly and efficiently than the check out people and have my store card, vouchers and credit card ready at the end. Often there are blokes struggling on another till to understand the simple self scan instructions and constantly calling for help!

Some of these posts really made me chuckle, I can relate to some of them. Things are much more irritating relaxed here, cashiers stop to have a conversation with the customer or leave the till to find an item on the shelf. Opening an extra till when there is a long queue does not happen. Vive La France !!

Must admit some of the observations have brightened my day.

It is not just women who hold everyone up it is men as well although I do try to be efficient. I usually do most of the grocery shopping while my wife wanders around other local shops.

What I don't understand is the need to load up bags at the till, place bags in trolley, then wander of to the car with said trolley load of bags. Do what I do and load the trolley, go to car and then load the appropriate bags for the purchases. No need to carry several bags around with you and then finding at the till you are a bag short.

4allweknow ?

Tesco Pay Plus has been a life saver for the queues of people behind me!

Do you have a tissue, hand wipe, elastoplast,any food in your bag? Can you put that measuring tape, wallet,keys,medicine in your bag for me please? Of course dear then I will take 5 minutes to get my purse out at the supermarket and oh have a distinct slope on one shoulder! Can't have anything bulky as it spoils the line of his clothing.

Put my debit card in the slot inside my mobile phone cover (most have one )...pick up phone and shopping bag and of I go. No purse ..no handbag..no fuss.
...and that’s how I shop!

Get with the programme, people! I use Apple Pay so just whip out my mobile phone (always to hand), touch the fingerprint recognition pad and tap their machine - done. To the astonishment of watching teenagers, pensioners and often even the checkout staff alike!!

Sorry, 'We', not 'we' after the full stop. GN needs an edit button!

I am not just replying facetiously here as this is the honest truth.
In Sidmouth Tesco's a fussy, oldish man on his own held us up for about ten minutes in the queue by insisting on packing everything himself in special bags he had bought via the internet, each item one at a time and at a glacial speed. When he saw we were waiting he SLOWED DOWN.

We drove out and saw a Tesco's ad for Champagne for a tenner a bottle (for New Year's Eve), turned the car around and went straight back in for half a case of the cheapo fizz.

The same thing happened. we were caught behind a very slow, single old man.

I think the poor old things had little else to do but shop and wind up the public.

I've always found that it's men who cause the hold ups. Take ages packing and never have cash or card at the ready. I very rarely get in a queue which has a man infront of me I, personally, always have my payment ready. I'm wondering if it's a geographical thing.

I always have items ready at check out thanks,including cashcard,any supermarket vouchers and nectar card(or whichever)while checkout clerk goes " oh,wait till were done for all that"(!!)and yes i agree about the bus too,all men get on,then wait to last second to start fiddling in their pockets/wallets for passes and/or LOOSE CHANGE that they knew whilst waiting for bus theyd need to at least have ready in their hand,even if not sure of cost??Then hold up bus while they count it all out,and if they get that bus/ route regularly they should already blinking well know how much it is & have it ready!!!

When I finish shopping, I get my card/money out before I even join the queue. I stood behind a woman in Wilko who packed all her shopping away while the cashier waited patiently for her to pay. First she had to find her purse from the depths of her handbag, then shuffle through all her cards to find the right one.

Considering the average length of supermarket check-out queues, it shouldn't be beyond anyone, irrespective of sex, to find their purse before the cashier even gets to their groceries!

I DO agree about the pocket business, unless we women only wear Levis 501 we usually don't have any pockets. If we do have one, it certainly isn't large enough to hold our housekeeping purse, is it?

When I remember to, I bring my snazzy shopping bag on wheels which has a clever concealed purse near the top. I then shove everything in there.
I prefer to shop locally, frequently, on foot without bothering with the car.
The bag does fold flat for storage.

Hello Applegran when it comes to parking the car I like to drive into what you might call a 'tandem' space. Yes, it means that the boot is in the middle of the row but there's a particular spot I choose which has a lamp-post in the middle - I think it puts people off as they're scared of bashing into it - so they rarely park behind me. Although I can reverse perfectly well I prefer to drive out as I think it's safer. Safety is my number one concern.
When I was learning to drive my instructor said that there were plans afoot in north America to make it compulsory for drivers to reverse in and drive out of parking spaces. Can't vouch for this and am not sure how it would be policed.

I always used to have my purse or card out ready to pay at the checkout however it is difficult to keep track of purse while packing shopping and a couple of times I've thought I lost it so normally now I do leave it in my bag until ready to pay, though I do put it at the top of my bag.
I don't have pockets big enough to carry my purse

Aren't women advised never to put their purse at the top of their bags in case they get nicked!!

Happy Half Year Birthday Rufus ?????

I often stand in the queue at my local, fairly small, Tesco and marvel at how incredibly inconvenient it is. Most people use it for top up shopping, so they have baskets. Usually I go in for a couple of things and end up with about ten. I stand in the queue with the basket getting heavier and heavier, but there is nowhere to rest it or put it, except on the floor which means bending down every time the queue moves. At the till there is a space for the basket, but no space at all for the scanned goods now shooting madly through, so they accumulate in a tottering pile whilst I am trying to disentangle my reuseable bags. The cashier is then waiting for my money and I have barely started packing and am now in a flap and clumsy. Eventually I get to rooting in my handbag to pay and even after that I have to put my money and cards away before I can pick up my bags which are on the floor as there is no where else to put them. Meanwhile everyone else in the queue stands waiting and waiting. I think a little re-design might be in order.