h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It isn't that it's a big deal - it's just that it's completely unnecessary and purely down to crap organisation.

The *real*, non-petty, hate about it is that a company like Tesco makes billions upon billions, and won't employ enough staff to have all the checkouts open no matter how long the queues are. Usually well over half of the tills are closed.

I'm interested to know, though, how people think you should handle it?

If I'm moving my stuff from the conveyor belt into my trolley at the speed the things are going through the till, and for that I need both hands, how should I get my purse ready at the same time? should I leave it on the till ready?

PH from me for today: people at petrol stations who can see that a lot of people are in the queue behind them, who pay, then amble to their car, admiring the view, then faff about in their car for 10 minutes before they drive off. In rush hour.

I thought the problem was waiting (unnecessarily) for people to do all their bagging at the till.

no the complaint was putting all your stuff in your trolley and THEN looking for your purse

Have Tesco changed their policy on queues? I remember when I lived in Lux, the supermarket queues were just awful, totally different concept. And on a trip back to London, I was overjoyed by a "one in front" notice in Tesco, which indicated that if a queue was ever longer than 2 people, they'd open another till.

This was before the days of the self-scan machines, which are definitely on MY PH list!

I don't use the self-scan machines out of solidarity with the supermarket workers

Annoying TV advert music.

I know I've said this before but it's getting worse. People start quoting a list of things and say "a" - but I have yet to hear anyone continue the list with "b". Is absolutely no one capable of coherent or do they get waylaid start another item.

premium in game currency for apps,
children don't realise it equaits to real money, not that it's ever worth buying it and its not like you can cash it in for... well cash but in some games you pay money to get game money (or play the game to earn it in very rare cases when the game actually allows this) but its so easy for a child to spend...

PH: people saying "second-guess" as a verb when they mean plain ol, boring, "guess".

Quote........."Perhaps there's localised differences? There are 2 ALDIs and 2 LIDLs near me, and in all of them, people put their shopping straight into bags in their trollies."

We have two of each here as well, but they all have "bagging areas" where you transfer all your shopping into bags, in your own time.

I like that actually, as I can pack all the damageable stuff separately, which is even better for putting into the car.


Smudger.

I load up the conveyor belt in a very specific order so that I pack my bags in the order I want. My petty hate is cashiers who reach over objects at the start of the conveyor belt so I get stuff in the wrong order. In which case I just wait until the right stuff comes and put that in first anyway. And if they go so fast that the groceries are pushing into the bottom of my bag, preventing me from packing, I start to pack slower. I've even been known to push stuff back up towards the cashier if it's really bad.

Another related petty hate is cashiers who start to put your stuff through before the person in front of you has finished putting their purse away or whatever, so by the time you get to put your bag in the packing area there are already 4 (usually large) items there.

I should point out that I don't hate cashiers. The majority of them are pleasant and helpful, ask if I need help, even slow down if I'm struggling. But they're not the ones you remember, are they?

Deb

you've just described me perfectly there, Deb

So what I gather from all this is that we *all* hate grocery shopping with a passion.

So glad it's not just me who gets stroppy at the checkout

Deb

I've stopped being stroppy, and started being nice as part of a "Sho Charm Offensive". Saying hello to people in shops etc, and thanks, and bye. And it makes a difference to my mood if not theirs.

The lady in Aldi was lovely today, slowed down a bit because I had a lot of stuff, and put all the soft things that I'd inadvertently put in the wrong place on one side so I could put them on the top of my box.

Now the other shoppers... it is NOT necessary to park your trolley in the aisle directly next to someone else, you can offset it a bit so the rest of us can slalom through.

Really supermarkets could do with a petty hates thread all to themselves.

Deb

There have been a lot of annoying flies around today. I have a semi buddhist view of insects, my position is that if they don’t annoy me I won’t annoy them. Fleas and mosquitoes are aggressive and I have no hesitation in taking steps pre and post emptive against them. Spiders if they are large and fast tend to be captured and put outside or if they are slow and stay up in the corners sorting out mosquitoes then they are allowed to stay. Flies are different. If they stay at 6 feet above the ground or only fly about in the kitchen when I can’t see them, then generally they can survive as best they may. Only when they get into that annoying habit of constantly landing on head or arms do I take up weapons of destruction and kill them.

I do consider it a point of honour to speak to them first and point out the rules that I operate under. Any transgression on their part after that and their fate is their own fault.

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