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

ok the supermarket thing. It used to drive me crazy but thinking about it: when I'm on my own I have to put all the things onto the conveyor, then I have to put them into my bags. All the time under pressure from the person at the till and the queue behind me.

What do you want me to do, leave my purse and card/money somewhere handy so everyone can help themselves? I guess it adds maybe 30 seconds to the wait. Sorry folks. That's how it is

I never get annoyed with people shopping on their own like that. It's the ones who are usually stood their while their partner or a member of staff does the unloading/packing for them while they drift off into their own little world watching the amounts ringing up, and are then surprised that they have to pay.

"What? You mean that's not us finished now that everything's back in the trolley? You mean I have to now pay for it? Are you sure?"

I have to confess that sometimes, when I feel the checkout assistant is just going stupidly fast, I deliberately slow my packing speed. Then they get to the end and tell me what the total is, and I smile and say thank you and continue packing. When I've finished packing, I pay.

I very much doubt they learn the intended lesson, which is "it doesn't matter how fast you throw my purchases down the slope towards me, this transaction will only be completed when I've finished so you might as well slow down a bit and let me catch up".

That possibly does irritate the people behind me in the queue. But I only ever do it when I'm really, really fed up with not being able to find somewhere to put my next bag because all available space is taken up with the stuff I need to put in it. When I can get it open and on a flat surface.

That's MY petty hate.

Deb

A Petty Hate on a similar theme, and one I'm sure I've already mentioned here...

Checkout Charity Bag Packers. Seriously, just get out of my figging way!

"Would you like help packing your bags?"
"No thank you."

...

"Would you mind moving out of the way so I've space to pack my own bags, and maybe move my trolley to the end of the checkout to load my bags?"
"Huh?"

And *that's* just one reason I'm not letting these morons near my shopping. Any kid (and it's always kids these days (yes, I'm getting older)) that doesn't have the sense to realise that I might need the space myself, isn't getting near my shopping!

Bar codes on the top of soft fruit packages.

Strawberries need to be treated with care and reverence. Not turned upside down and shaken about.

PP.

My PH regarding strawberries is the way food manufacturers make anything containing the fruit far too sweet. It doesn't matter what the product is (jam, jelly, cheesecake, mousse, whatever) there's always way too much sugar in it for my taste. Strawberries are naturally sweet. Leave them alone!

Another bag packing PH - internet grocery orders. Hard & soft stuff thrown in together, sometimes fresh & raw, potentially leaky bottles tipped up. Then the delivery person picks up so many bags at once, it's jumbled & squashed.

I've complained & had vouchers - I just want it packed & carried better.

People who buy strawberries out of season.

People who buy any fruit out of season, but I am guilty of the odd punnet of blueberries to go on my porridge.

another thing that drives me crazy at the supermarket is if I arrive at the till, and there is only one person paying for something down by the till.

And I have a trolley and I want to put the heavy stuff first, so I sort of go half way down the conveyer so I can arrange things - *and they keep making the flipping thing move* so I have to try to stop it all, or run around placing things. And I have said this repeatedly in one particular place, and usually to the same woman, and it's usually empty so there is nobody behind me... and SHE STILL DOES IT.

Under those circs, no jury would convict me, I feel.

If there's only you, just stop unpacking EVERY time it moves.
Or stack the shopping so that the light stuff is one end rather than on top. Do they have those divided trolleys in Germany?
Bribe a Gruesome to go with you?

My own current PH: when I'm listening to the radio on my laptop in the wee small hours, Microsoft takes it on itself to put in updates.

my Gruesomes, apparently, are not only unbribable they resolutely refuse to believe that there is a time called "eight o'clock on saturday morning"

Reminds me of the joke:

Go to sleep now, you have to get up at eight o'clock tomorrow.

- What's a potato clock?

>>People who buy strawberries out of season.

Why strawberries in particular?
Pretty much all the fruit we're eating in the UK at the moment is out of season.

Must be feeling extra irritable. Several PH today:

Damp towels & worn clothes left strewn on the bed - especially if on my side.
Toothpaste spit left to dry in the basin.
Not clearing up spills on the kitchen worktop - harder to remove when dry.

Sounds like my teenagers have visited you.

No, it's the resident husband. My teenagers were actually better behaved!

Quote........"Damp towels & worn clothes left strewn on the bed "

Aye! I remember when we ran our B&B, the amount of folk who used to leave damp towels on the beds, that really p****d us off!

Smudger.

I've been ranting about it on fb all morning but... over here trains, including commuter trains, have special carriages for people to transport bikes. Of the cycling variety. They are signposted as such and have fold up seats and often straps to secure the bike while in transit.

No problem.

At commuter times it's usual for there to be 2 or 3, and it's not an issue since mostly everyone is polite enough to recognise that

a) it's allowed

and

b) we're all just trying to get from A to B

however, bikes do not have priority over other passengers and when it's full it does require a lot of friendly eye contact and tact.

But this morning a young woman pushed past everyone waiting to get on the train (it's a major city, lots and lots of people get off, everyone waits) and knocked an old lady (not me) nearly off her feet.

When I (and the young man) were helping the old lady onto the train and into a seat, remonstrated with her, she said "I have to go first or I don't get a seat"

at which nearly everyone in the carriage unleashed The Commuter Stare of Death. And tutted.