Tuesday 10 April 2012

Rude Isn’t the Word for It

Prepare yourselves. I’m about to cut loose with one of my famous rants.

Why?

I was stupid and went out on government check day which was also Good Friday.

Now, I truly realize why gov check days are so hectic. People on any sort of fixed income are out of everything by the time their next deposit or check arrives, so they rush out to buy what they need. They also pay bills that day, fill their cars up with gas, and so on. This is why I avoid doing my shopping during the first of each month. This particular time of the month turns everyone into raving lunatics—myself included when I have to deal with the anal behavior of said people.

All I had to do was go into Save A Lot and then Riesbecks, our local family-owned grocery chain.

Simple, right?

Wrong!

My two youngest were with me on Good Friday. I warned them that it would be busy and to stay close and not lollygag. They helped me in the store, and before I knew it, we were done with our shopping. I thought, wow, this didn’t take long and it wasn’t crowded at all.

That was until we started toward the front of the store to check out. People suddenly came out of the woodwork. It was like flipping on a light and watching cockroaches scatter in every direction. I stood there thinking, did someone shout “free money!” at the front of the store or what?

Worse, they were all elderly folks and another couple who were stupid like me and went out on the wrong day.

Steeling myself for the worst, I approached the check-out—and only one was open, of course. An elderly couple stood there finishing up their order. The conveyor belt was empty. Let me repeat: EMPTY.

I started putting my groceries on the counter halfway back from them so I wouldn’t disturb them or make them feel like I was trying to push them out of the queue. The old man shoved in between me and his wife who was paying for their stuff. He kept shooting me dirty looks.

Then is wife takes out a check book. Lord have mercy and give me strength. I kid you not, it took her ten minutes—count ‘em, ten!—to write out a personal check, when, I might add, the register had the auto-print feature. All she had to do was sign her name, but no, she stood there ten minutes writing the check out. What took her so long? I have no idea unless she writes that slowly or she didn’t have her glasses.

The elderly gent then began pushing backwards, sticking his rear out slightly in an effort to force me back.shopping cart Pictures, Images and Photos

Okay. That did it. I’m all for respecting my elders, and I adore elderly people, I really do; however, blatant rudeness? Hell no! But what got me is my mouth. I controlled it…for once. I nearly killed me, but I did it!

However, the urge to snap, “Move it or lose it, Grandpa!” almost made my teeth explode.

I glanced at the cashier, and it must’ve been the look on her face but she in turn glanced at the old man, a strange expression of “Oh, sh**” on her face, and motioned for him to move. Surprisingly, he did.

And because they took so long to write a check and refused to move so the line could advance, said line was backed into the food aisle! They had to open two more registers.

Okay, deep breath. I can do this. I can buy my groceries, pack them, load them in my Blazer, and get the hell out of Dodge before I lose my ever lovin’ mind.

Well, it wasn’t quite so easy. Save A Lot doesn’t carry our brand of coffee, so I had to drive a few yards up the strip to Riesbeck’s. The kids waited in the Blazer for me. After all, I was just running in for coffee, right?

Fifteen minutes later, I staggered out of the store and fell into the driver’s seat.

“What took you so long, Mommy?” Wee Man asked.

One woman was having a fit at the 8 Items or Less register because she was told she had to buy four of the sale items she wanted to get two free. So the stock boy drove to freaking Alaska to check the shelf and got lost on the way back!

Pant-pant!

So I move to the 10 Items or Less register, where another woman’s total came to $37.06. No, no! Don’t do it! Woman, I command you to hand her another dollar bill—but no! She digs in her wallet for five wonderful hair-pulling minutes for a nickel and a dime!

Pant-pant! Oh, but it gets better!

Since Wendy’s is at the end of the parking lot, I buzzed through the drive-through and got the kids sandwiches. On the way out, the one entrance farthest away was busy, so I went back through the entrance that leads into Riesbeck’s lot to exit that way. It’s a three-way stop with two stop signs within ten yards of each other, followed by either turning left to go out the proper exit where there’s a right-hand turning lane, or go straight into the parking lot. I stopped at the one sign, then stopped at the next, and sat there to make my left-hand turn to the third sign…and sat there…and sat there….

Elderly people were leaving the lot and would not let me out. Hello? Does right of way mean nothing to anyone? It has been my turn to go next for five minutes now. Hey, lady! Do you know what the brake is? You jerk! You don’t get in the damn right-hand turning lane to turn left! Finally, my turn! I edge out beyond the sign and—WHOOSH! This old woman with blue hair and who could barely see over the steering wheel, driving an SUV worth every bit $40K, left a trail of fire behind her to cut EVERYONE off and make it to the exit.

After I sat there for minutes on end, I let loose with a string of expletives and mashed the gas peddle, weaving and bobbing, baby! Weaving and bobbing!

Oh, and the air over the parking lot was a lovely shade of sapphire blue.

But I had to cross the entire lot and exit through the service entrance because no one would let me out at the stop sign so I could exit the normal route.

By the time I got home, I stuffed groceries wherever I could find room and then crashed into my chair utterly frazzled.

I’m buying a taser to use in the stores AND a big monster truck with a cattle catcher on the front of it for those rude-beyond-comprehension ijits in parking lots.

Anyone else enjoy a day out on Friday? Hmm?

16 comments:

D L Jackson said...

I work for a bank. The third of the month scares the crap out of us. It's an all day festival of the same thing you just described, without escape.

Justyn Perry said...

lol. Sounds hectic! That's what weekends are like up here. Many times have I gone to a Costco type store on a Saturday (horrible choice by the way) and stood in line for about 30-40 minutes only to get to the front and put my stuff on the belt when the I look up and the cashier has a blank look of stupidity on her face. She was frazzled because she had a large ring through ($200+) and "had to take a break" so she stood there and stared off into space for another 5 minutes before putting my stuff through. Another time, I was standing in line when this elderly couple wanted to get by, so I moved my cart a bit out of the way so they can go through (the line blocked the aisle). What do they do? park themselves directly in front of me IN LINE. Then proceeded to tell me how busy it is. I have respect for people (much more than half of Calgary), so I politely said, the back of the line is over there and pointed down a few people. Their response: Smiled and said we only have a few items, it's ok. Needless to say, I don't venture out to that store on the weekend anymore.

Valerie Mann said...

I traveled up I-95 from NC to Richmond VA. Holy Crazy Drivers, Batman! You'd think a lunatic Easter Bunny was hopping on the bunny trail the way these vehicles were moving! Just cuz it says I-95 doesn't mean speed limit is 95 MPH. Fortunately, we made it to destination in one piece. Now, the price we spent on gas to get there? Whole 'nother story! Ouch.

Marci Baun said...

Whose that kitty looking up at you amidst the grocery bags?

I don't usually shop Fridays. I go out on Tuesdays for the farmer's market. For the most part, people are pretty nice.

When I was in San Antonio, I was waiting for someone to pull out of a parking space, my turn signal is on, and someone honks at me. I turn to look to see who honked... A police car. Yeah, that's a way to show people how to behave. (rolling eyes)

Valerie Mann said...

He wasn't honking to be rude. He thought you were hot. I'm pretty sure that's what honking means in San Antonio :-)

Jessica E. Subject said...

That's exactly why I go shopping at 8 AM when the grocery store opens, or on Mondays when I have a day off. I did go out on Saturday, as most places were closed here on Friday. Didn't get out as usual, and it was crazy. No real bad experiences, but I came home and swore I would never go grocery shopping at that time of day again. Thank goodness the kids weren't with me.

Faith Bicknell said...

DL, I have a question. Does the bank you work for put the window tellers on their lunch break at noon? Ours does, and that's when all the workers rush to the bank on Fridays to cash their paychecks. The hubby says he sits in line for a min of 15 minutes at noon. Why not send tellers to lunch before or immediately after noon?

Justyn, your town sounds like our li'l towns around here! I would've ground my teeth into powder over that elderly couple.

Oh, Val, no way I travel Interstates during any holiday. One, people are nuts, and two, people are nuts!

Hi Marci. That's not one of my cats. I found that pic on photobucket, lol. Also, I've had a cop honk at me for the same reason. First they stop you if they think you didn't stop at a sign long enough then the honk if they think you're lollygagging.

Jessica, I'm usually an early shopper too, but when the two youngest are home it's difficult to get them up on a day they think they should sleep in. By the time I get them out the door, it's around 11 AM.

Mary Corrales said...

Good Friday was crazy. Folklore has it that the devil is out on Good Friday. I believe it.

I was leaving Costco going to my car when a little old man drove right up on the sidewalk and nearly squished me.

Faith Bicknell said...

Good grief, Mary, I'm glad you're okay!

What on earth made him drive up on the sidewalk?

Janice Seagraves said...

Breath, Faith, Breath.

That old man was too much,, but I'm glad you restrained yourself.

I shopped at our regular grocery store on Good Friday. There's wasn't a lot of people there, mostly because our local Wal-mart is now selling food and taking their customers.

I don't like getting any where near Wal-mart on any holiday, but its worse if a holiday falls near the third of the month.

Janice~

Faith Bicknell said...

Oh, Janice, don't even get me started on Walmart. I absolutely despise shopping there. It was okay until they made ours into one of the super stores.

Fiona McGier said...

I work retail and believe me, I've never had much respect for John and Jane Q. Public, but I have even less now! People treat the salespeople like hired help, and get pissed if things don't go their way. They cut each other off in line and complain when I point it out to them. Everyone seems to be walking around with a giant "entitlement" pole up their ass and that's supposed to signal to everyone else that they are "special" and deserve to be treated first and better. Sheesh!

E. Ayers said...

I'm one of those crazy folks who venture into the grocery store on all the wrong days, like Christmas Eve. Yep, I did it. I went into Wal-Mart for groceries. The woman in front of me was buying fresh collards probably for her family that now probably numbered 53 that were about to descend on her for Xmas dinner. I never saw anyone buy that many collards. I know that they wilt into a tiny pile but... She's counting pennies. She's paying for the collards in change. She had handed the cashier a dollar bill and was paying in change: two quarters, six nickels, three dimes and pennies. She's carefully and slowly counting each coin ans she pulled it from her little change purse. I want to go home! I don't want to stand in line. My feet hurt, my back hurt, and my head was pounding. I looked at the cashier and asked if she could put the collards on my bill and let the woman have them. Merry Christmas!

Somebody once told me not to pay it back but rather pay it forward. I can remember being a young mother and paying for groceries with cash and my panic when I was trying to find the change in my purse for the last eighty-five cents. Somebody handed me a dollar and said keep the change and pay it forward.

Yes, I'm crazy. When I went through the drive-thru of our local fast food joint, they had a special deal that included the drink. I don't do sweet drinks. In my rear view mirror I could see the car with several young men. I asked the cashier to give my free drink to the car behind me. She said sure.

But there's no place in our world for rudeness. The world isn't going to come to a screeching halt if we're two minutes late. We're never getting out of this world alive.

We're back to everything we need to know we learned on the playground. There are bullies. They can't chase you if you don't run. Take turns, play nice, and be fair. If someone is hurt, get help. If you want a friend, then be one. If you're mean, no one will like you. Don't cut in line. If you want to get pushed on the swings, you'd better learn how to push. If you're going to play on the seesaw then understand the principle of a fulcrum or it won't work.
:-)
E. Ayers

Faith Bicknell said...

Fiona, I've worked the sales floor in places like Fashion Bug, run the register, and then eventually became a store manager. Trust me, I sooooo KNOW what you mean!

Hey there, E! Yes, I agree with you. One day a lady in Dollar General was short a quarter and was gonna put something back because she'd dug ALL her change out and was still short. It was before xmas and she was getting so upset she started to shake. I handed her a quarter and she wanted to run out to her car to pay me back. I said no, just do the same for someone in need one day.

Booksrforever123 said...

I work for a post office in rural Michigan and on Good Friday we had people lined up to do passports because it was the last day of spring break and everyone wanted to come in and get them done. We processed 24 of them in a 5 hour period. It was totally nuts. We also had people coming in to mail out Easter things and Tax paperwork so the day was nonstop.

Faith Bicknell said...

I can only imagine the chaos at the PO during the countdown to the end of tax season!