Not my problem?

[Amethyst]

Some of it may just be the way people behave where they are from! In Florida, you get people from all over, and from every walk of life, including the ones who (at younger ages) end up featured in "People of Wal-Mart."

Plus as we all know, sadly, we all become "invisible" to the rest of the world, once we stop being visibly attractive to the opposite sex [and/or the same sex]. At that point, the one and only thing the world cares about is whether we have any money left to pay for things. Maybe the inconsiderate elderly are simply testing the boundaries of "invisibility." ("Nobody sees me or cares about me anyway, so why should I go to any trouble to be considerate?")

Amethyst

I live in Florida where a good deal of the population is older than dirt .The thing I have found is after a certain age they give up any pretense of manners and just let it all hang out . They walk in front of cars daring them to hit them . They jam the grocery aisles by having their cart in the middle and their husband who looks like he doesn't want to be there standing by the side so the whole aisle is blocked . They have long conversations with the speedy check out girl about the weather in Indiana . They wait until all their groceries have been bagged before they locate their check book and proceed to write a check . Then they have to re zip their pocketbook and rearrange everything before they start to leave . The only thing that keeps me from screaming is that in a few years I will be one of them and game on !

 

[JOHNNIE36]

I like this thread! Something just crossed my mind about the "10 items or less" aisle. The WalMarts in my area changed the signs to read "20 items or less". Those aisles are always packed and I'm thinking that since many customers there can't count pass 10, it's a win-win situation for WalMart. No matter how many items you have in your cart you can enter the "20 items or less" aisle. Thirty five items, no problem. They know you have more than 10 but they don't know how many more. It's confusing me now so you can see how confused you would be in the store. Go WalMart.

 

[Mulligan]

I like this thread! Something just crossed my mind about the "10 items or less" aisle. The WalMarts in my area changed the signs to read "20 items or less". Those aisles are always packed and I'm thinking that since many customers there can't count pass 10, it's a win-win situation for WalMart. No matter how many items you have in your cart you can enter the "20 items or less" aisle. Thirty five items, no problem. They know you have more than 10 but they don't know how many more. It's confusing me now so you can see how confused you would be in the store. Go WalMart.

You know, I wonder if its a " WalMart" phenomena. When I am there it is like what most posters opine about. When I am at the 2 much smaller grocery stores in town, when someone is in line with only a handful of items almost always everyone lets them go ahead and check out first. I do this also. These are the Save A Lot type stores, not fancy stores mind you, so the civility is certainly not a class thing in my experiences. At Walmart no one would ever do this, including me for some reason unbeknownst to me. Maybe crowded stores change peoples behaviors after fighting through aisles of people and just wanting to get the hell out of the store even if that means "rounding down" on your total item count.

 

[packrat44]

... Let's not forget the checkwriters who wait for the cashier to tell them the amount before they even start looking for their checkbooks -- heaven forbid they fill out everything but the amount while in line.

+1. This one really sets a burr under my saddle. However, I have never seen a guy do this. Probably because we are inpatient and have things we consider more important than standing in line spinning our wheels.

 

[Ronnieboy]

What I know - whatever checkout line I choose it is the slowest line in the store, even if it looks like the shortest at the time.

 

[GandK]

Plus as we all know, sadly, we all become "invisible" to the rest of the world, once we stop being visibly attractive to the opposite sex [and/or the same sex]. At that point, the one and only thing the world cares about is whether we have any money left to pay for things. Maybe the inconsiderate elderly are simply testing the boundaries of "invisibility." ("Nobody sees me or cares about me anyway, so why should I go to any trouble to be considerate?")

I found this touching in a sad sort of way.

 

[TromboneAl]

And remember that five people with 10 items each will be significantly slower than 1 person with 50 items, due to pay delay.

 

[haha]

Plus as we all know, sadly, we all become "invisible" to the rest of the world, once we stop being visibly attractive to the opposite sex [and/or the same sex].

No one is so old that someone doesn't want them. Remember, we don't age alone.

Ha

 

[JOHNNIE36]

And remember that five people with 10 items each will be significantly slower than 1 person with 50 items, due to pay delay.

T/Al, now you get into the checkbook curse. Old ladies with shakey hands trying to remember what store they are in and, oh yeah, what's the date?
And how about this one? "Price check on aisle 3". They'll spend 10 minutes checking out the price of a 25 cent item. Aaarrrrrggggghhhhh!!!

 

[Nords]

Picture a two-lane road that is being merged into a single lane after a traffic light. There are those little merge arrows painted on the road before and after the traffic light. While stopped at the light, some douche will invariably drive on the soon-disappear lane and cut in front of everyone else when the light turns green.

Lemme get this straight.

The guy is accelerating past the rest of you drivers (burning his own gas and wearing out his own engine/drivetrain) to get in front of the rest of you to occupy a part of the road that nobody else is currently using.

Unless he cuts you off and makes you slam on the brakes to give him room, he's making a more efficient use of the road. The book "Traffic" says studies have shown that "late mergers" allow more cars per minute to move through that point.

Hawaii has a "I'm politely waiting my turn" phenomenon where drivers will line up for half a mile at a merge or an offramp. They'll even do it for a couple blocks at a light. Yet when it's their turn to move, they'll slowly accelerate and allow 2-3 car lengths to open up in front of them. Later mergers can occupy those holes and move on down the road, leaving those overly polite/patient drivers to proceed at their own pace.

But when someone does it to me, slamming his transmission down into second gear in a merger lane, madly accelerating around me and slewing into the road ahead of us, perhaps using the shoulder and spewing gravel to make it all work out, I just take pity on him. The poor guy is probably driving like an insane idiot because he's late for work... and by the time he gets there, I'll be waxing up my longboard at the beach.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

Just saw a funny commercial on TV about being courteous in a checkout line. Guy has an arm load of groceries but the guy behind has only one item. So, he lets him go in front rather than hold him up. As this is going on, announcer says that the next person checking out is the one millionth
customer and will be the winner of $50000. The guy with one item checks out, the band starts playing, the balloons come down and then he gets the check for $50000. The courteous gentleman just stands there stupified. So, remember that when you let someone go in front of you in a checkout line.

 

[grasshopper]

Speedy checkout, doesn't bag their stuff to speed things up. Counts out 50 pennies to make exact change, leaves the cart right there in the checkout lane. Brother