In which I call out an inconsiderate person as such
It’s going to be a long night at the office, so I went to Randall’s for a Diet Pepsi and a TV dinner a few minutes ago. I approached one of the express lanes, which was clearly marked with a large sign: 15 items or fewer.
The woman in front of me had approximately 40 items splayed all over the conveyor belt, which bugged me. But I didn’t say anything. Then, as the woman was bagging her groceries, she asked the cashier why there wasn’t an employee there bagging her groceries.
The cashier responded that it’s an express lane, and the sackers work at the regular lanes.
The shopper, a bit flustered, then said, “I didn’t know that.”
Bullshit.
First of all, there’s a large sign proclaiming “Express Lane,” and specifying the details thereof. On this sign, the letters and background are in contrasting colors, and the text is printed in block letters in the English language. The sign is suspended directly above the entrance to the lane. Furthermore, it’s positioned in such a way that you can’t see the light indicating the lane is open without having the sign directly in your field of vision.
Secondly, this store is configured like virtually every other grocery store in the English-speaking world. The first two or three lanes are always express lanes.
The cashier started to say something, and the woman cut her off: “Why didn’t you tell me? You should have told me.”
Now, I have a working knowledge of human nature. I understand that all people — myself included — have an inclination to duck responsibility for their mistakes. No one likes to think they’ve failed, so people shift the blame. I understand that. But this woman didn’t blame circumstances, or society, or something else out of her control. She blamed an innocent person for her wrong action. And that pissed me off. I had to say something, so I did.
“No, she shouldn’t have told you,” I said. I turned and pointed to the sign above the register, a sign you can’t miss, even if you’re a stupid, inconsiderate boor.
“There’s a big sign right there. It says ’15 items or fewer’ in 8-inch letters. You can’t miss it.”
The woman quickly, but not quickly enough, bagged her groceries and left in a huff. I paid for my purchase and the cashier gave me a smile. Made my day.
Posted to Out and About,Overanalysis,Personal,Stupidity
17 comments
A galant gentleman, teeming with genuine Houston hospitality (not unlike Jordy’s) would have offered to bag the simple-minded woman’s groceries, so she could have been on her way.
Matt,
you have better things to do than worry about a cashier who has been trained to A: not insult customers B: not embarasass customers
Also, you might not know that Randalls early in the morning – usually till 9 am, only has one cashier working and they are usually in the fast lane.
Maybe she was used to it or maybe she had a sick child in the car
Or maybe she is an ass, but I agree with Tom, take the high road.
Matt,
They also play the blocking game in the aisles!
But at least there, I can go the other way! :^D :^D
At least the sign didn’t say “15 items or less.” It bugs the heck out of me to see printed material with such errors.
It’s a simple rule, folks. If you can count it, it’s “fewer.” If you can’t, it’s “less.”
Case in point: I got fewer than ten gallons of gas, but that’s less gas than I got last week.
She was probably parked in handicap parking, too.
Hey, I think I know this lady!
Well, I say “CONGRATS” on letting the woman know that YOU knew all about her inconsiderate actions. I know the cashier cannot respond in such a manner, but I’m glad you found the guts to do so!!
I’m with ya dude on this one!! Obvisiously she wasn’t
a hot chick, or it wouldn’t have been so bad. But I’ve seen this same woman a hunnert times in the grocery stores that I haunt. And I know her personality type as well.
I prefer grocery stores that have a self check out, so at least one has a chance to avoid these personality disordered customers.
P.S. I bet she had that Patrisha Dunn personality.
Sorta bitchy looking, with the bitchy i’m in a hurry
attitude, who the fuck looks at signs anyway, cuz signs mean nothing when I want my way kinda gal.
I’ll wager Ms Dunn goes through the express lane with
two shopping carts filled, then if told she can’t do
that, then asks for the manager.
AMEN! One of my pet peeves are people who clearly exceed the limits on express lanes at grocery stores. I’m actually quite pleased to hear that Randall’s at least makes people bag their own groceries in the express lanes so as to discourage (presumably) such inconsiderate people.
Worse yet are the people who do the same thing in the U-Scan lanes at Kroger’s while also PAYING BY CHECK!! I’ve come very close to calling these people out, but I honestly can never bring myself to do it.
Bramanti, I salute you for defending the cashier who surely was as annoyed as you with her blatant disregard for the express lane rules.
Let me whip this dead horse one mo’ time. Today, a most pleasent of days, i go to check out with one
item and not knowing if its noon yet, i go to the
10 items or less lane. There is one fellow ahead of
me, who has a case of the red ass. Then I see, our dippy woman friend again, along with her dippy husband, with a car full of crap. There musta been at
least thirty items or more.
The checker was someone new, who looked like it was
his first day on the job.
No one said anything, but the whole line was peeved, as the line was getting longer and longer.
I wish Matt had been there, just to hear one of
his famous zingers.
Wow, the famous, or infamous, Matt of LST, fighting the crimes of the city.
You’re such a hardass.
Was she short and mean looking? My wife goes to Kroger by the house and gets into the scan-it yourself aisle with a basket full of crap. I went to the store with her the other day and she went to this aisle. I looked up and saw that this aisle was 15 items or less. I told her and she said “I didn’t know, oh well”… as a line formed behind her. There’s a sign bigger than the sign over an off ramp hanging over her hard head. And she’s only been ther only 50,000 times! I don’t go shopping with her EVER!
Sounds like a job for Mr. T.…
As someone who’s job it is to convey information to the public, I can tell you the first rule we have:
PEOPLE DO NOT READ.
That’s it. Period.
In the end, does it matter? Okay, so she took an extra 10 minutes to go through the line–big deal. Why get worked up about something that by the end of the year (or month) you won’t even remember?
Bramanti — you know if you used the self-checkout lanes, it would’ve been much faster.
Accidentally getting in the express lane? Totally forgiveable.
Blaming the cashier for not pointing out her own dumbassery earlier? Unforgiveable.
Standing up for the poor cashier who has to deal with people like this all day long? Absolutely fabulous.
Good for you! Thank you and keep up the good work. There is an endless list of inconsiderate actions by people. We could write a book the size of an encyclopedia set the list is so long. There should be laws against inconsideration instead of laws against the word nigger.