A little whinge

erm...

Life’s too short overthehill -

Heve you ever sent someone to the back of the line when they attempted to jump the queue?

I saw a very grand old lady do it once in the Oxford St branch of John Lewis. She was seated beside the counter where the assistant was busy measuing out many meters of expensive curtain fabric. Several others were waiting in line. A young man walked up to the head of the queue and began engaging the assistant in conversation. Flustered, she stopped measuring the material and this obviously irritated the old lady.

"Young man" she addressed him in a snippy cut glass accent. "This assistant is attending to me. Kindly go to the back of the queue and wait your turn!" The young man looked at her, open mouthed. Then she banged her stick on the floor and repeated the order. He walked off pretty smartly and left the department.

I loved the way she "took charge" of the situation when the assistant was obviously lacking in training. In the kind of situations some of you mention here (like the swimming lane) I would tell the person myself to get out of the way rather than wait to do it through an intermediary.

Maybe she didn't want to fill up the wheelchair space in case someone in a wheelchair, or pushing a pram, got on and she'd then have to move!
That may have been the seat she usually sat in, and thought you would not mind as it was empty.
Is this a Covid reaction, do you think, overthehill, or do you just like to sit alone?

Is this a Covid reaction, do you think, overthehill, or do you just like to sit alone?

I think many of us on this thread just like to sit alone actually.

Shantygirly

I go regularly to aqua aerobics and every woman has her 'spot' woe betide if you should encroach on someone else's!! A deliberate kick during exercise has been known, and some of those women are really scary!

It took me a while to learn that rule Shantygirly. What I find is that those at the front are very precious about their spots whereas those at the back will move up to let you in, and welcome you.

Years ago I went to the cinema, it was almost empty, a man clutching his shopping bag came and sat next to me and offered me a humbug. He kept looking at me so I moved seats, within a few minutes he joined me and asked if I was ready for a humbug,

Allsorts

Years ago I went to the cinema, it was almost empty, a man clutching his shopping bag came and sat next to me and offered me a humbug. He kept looking at me so I moved seats, within a few minutes he joined me and asked if I was ready for a humbug,

You should have told him you prefer Allsorts.

Calendargirl

^Is this a Covid reaction, do you think, overthehill, or do you just like to sit alone?^

I think many of us on this thread just like to sit alone actually.

Yep nothing to do with covid.

I think I have worked out why she did it. If she picked a vacant double seat she would have to sit on the outer one to hang onto her trolley. Then if someone wanted to sit on the inner seat, she would have to get up to let them in. Far better to sit next to someone already using the inner seat, saves her the bother.

I remember joining the chorus of a large semi professional opera company in my late teens not long before the first night.
The producer put me in the front as a ‘camp follower’ waving a flag. I was very pleased, but the older members of the chorus weren’t and as each night went by, they pulled me back until I practically ended up in the wings😁
Also working in Germany in a strange town, I decided to go to mass. What a cold reception from the regulars in their pews! Huffing, puffing and utter disdain for this interloper. Not very Christian I must say.

nanna8

The first time we went to China, many years ago, they had seen very few white people. In a department store a lady behind the counter spotted my feet and beckoned all her friends round to stare and laugh at them because she thought they were huge ( not really, British size 6). I thought it was funny and laughed but can you imagine the comments if the situation was reversed? Thank goodness those people weren’t the victim of the woke police.

That reminded me of a Swedish friend* visiting her son in Malaysia, who wanted to buy some shoes.

When she told the shop assistant her size, the woman said, ‘We sell shoes here, not boats!’ 😱

*she’s like me, tall and size 7

When I was a library assistant (many years ago) I went to work with a boss who was a communist. If someone phoned at a busy time when all assistants were occupied he used to make the caller wait in the "queue" for their turn.

Back then not everyone was on the phone (1960s) and he thought it unfair that people should be able to take priority over readers who had taken the trouble to come to the library just because they could afford a phone. I have to admit that I did this with my own library at busy times.

We had to answer the phone because the ringing was irritating but I used to say something like "Im afraid all the staff are busy just now so I must ask you to wait a few moments until some is free." Ofter the caller had hung up before someone got back to them.

Hands up I am one of those yogi's Grammaretto our yoga class is followed on by a yoga nidre class and unless I'm right by yoga teacer, I cant hear.
However it is very rare that any one wants to front of class, the scramble for places is usual at the back.

On my first day at this particular yoga class yoga. I plonked my mat down by door thinking I would out of the way , I was asked to move by another member, which I did.
This lady still goes and always in the spot next to the door , I assume she has a very good reason and no one complains.

Sometimes there is a reason why people choose to be in a certain place.

Ginny42

My whinge is when I park my Focus - not a small car - and I arrive back to it in a car park to find a 4x4 on each side. I then shimmy into the seat trying not to mark either mine or theirs and edge out in centimetres until I have clear vision of whether another driver may be approaching.

The absolute worst scenario is when there is someone waiting for my space and sits drumming on the steering wheel whilst I to and fro to get enough swing to vacate the space. Whinge over!

I hate it too Ginny42 when someone is impatiently waiting for me to leave, I go to pieces and takes me forever to complete a simple manoeuvre. My husband can't understand it and tells me just to ignore them but I can't.

A woman sat next to me on the bus years ago, and took out a map of the shopping centre she was visiting. She held it out in front of her for quite a long time, and all the while, the back of her right hand was rubbing against the side of my left breast. I was mortified, and couldn't fathom why she did not realise what she was doing. There was absolutely no room to move away from her, and I was too embarrassed to speak up.