Lack of awareness or arrogance.

I have oodles of patience quite honestly. Queues don’t frustrate me in the least, especially now I’m retired. Mind you I’m very rarely in a hurry.
#lazygran

I never make salon appointments for a Saturday though. It’s good to be considerate of other people’s restricted time!

Hithere

I am surprised the receptionist didn't ask her to step aside as there were people waiting.

No they don't. The majority of people just want a quiet life and won't speak up even in the case of real emergency!

#EEJITS! Tool please!

Rude selfish and usually completely not aware of anything other than themselves! I've always trotted after my little devil too! These edits needs "reconditioning" at my boot camp!

I am surprised the receptionist didn't ask her to step aside as there were people waiting.

A bit thoughtless but sometimes the people she was talking to may have been the first human contact for days!
Flippin annoying if she was just chatting to her friends though! One of the reasons that my GP surgery doesn't really employ anyone that lives in my village!
I think I would have started do some very heavy and audible sighs at some point, especially when it got to being in the pharmacy queue or even butting in and saying excuse me!

this annoys me too. another thing is when shopping, I have my purse ready at the checkout and shopping bag ready to load while others have to hunt for their purse at the bottom of the bag......I am seldom in a hurry but it does annoy me.

I try to be understanding but agree it can be frustrating. I get really annoyed with people who try to monopolise all the available staff in a shop, raising a query with one then dragging another staff member into it then, when a third assistant comes onto the floor including her in the query as well. Completely uncaring that there is a queue of people waiting to be served.

I don’t know why but I’m always really patient in these situations, but my husband really gets his hair off to the point of almost being rude.

I also get impatient with people chatting too long, but after reading 'Mamma66' I will try and do what she does....I think that's heart-warming.....

I have encountered this in the Post Office. A woman sending a Money Order to the Philippines and the operative having difficulty (or not knowing how to do it) and calling for help from the shop until there were 3 staff dealing with one query. I said to the the counter staff were they aware the queue was out the door and was snapped at and told this was a difficult process and to be patient. I replied it surely didn't need 3 people to deal with it. I was gratified to be quietly applauded by the people in the queue. My transaction was to collect a parcel and it took 4 minutes the woman in front was still there after 45 minutes. This was not the customers fault except the time she chose to send her Money Order but the staff should have been a bit more organised. This is so annoying as the post office is a single use counter and you can't go elsewhere as an alternative.

It's very common here in Spain. The cashier/receptionist is all yours until you done. The post office is the worst, long long queues, much gossiping and general fiddling about. Cars will stop in the street so the drivers can gossip. Sometimes, in our supermarket , the staff will stop mid scan to chat with random people. I've learnt patience.

I lead an extremely hectic life and get maddened beyond belief by people hogging supermarket aisles, fussing with change or coupons in queues and chatting to receptionists etc while people queue behind them! I literally have to time my day to 5 minute windows as I work and help with 6 young grandchildren! So these people will often mean that I am late to collect a child from school or getting to a meeting. I understand that people are lonely but they are not the only people in the shop etc!
This morning I was made very cross by a young mum at the nursery, who double parked her car, stopping me from parking by the roadside, so that she could get her toddler in without him getting wet and meaning that my own small charge had to walk some way in the rain (there was ample room if she had been more considerate) and then proceeded to chat to nursery staff while standing under the porch so that we were stood getting wetter and wetter! I am afraid I did say to tiny grandson loudly “sorry you are getting wet we cant get past that lady sadly”
I do think there is a sense of entitlement with a lot of people and an arrogance which is infuriating! I was brought up to think about other people around me and I get stressed if I am at the head of any queue even if its no delay of mine, just by virtue of knowing others are waiting!

I’m not overly bothered about chit chat between receptionist / client, cashier/ shopper, unless I’m in a hurry. I do try to assume, especially if they’re elderly, that they perhaps don’t have much interaction.

What really gets to me, is a situation where receptionists are talking among themselves, and you have to wait for them to finish. Or having been kept waiting at the doctors for example, with no apology.

I normally say something though.

Operalover

Oh my goodness what happened to live and let live , are we all so busy we cant wait a few minutes for someone to finish their conversation.

That's fine if you are not in a rush to get back to work.

I have happily waited for people in front of me to finish their conversations - if I have nowhere else to be.

oh dear! saw at least a couple of references here to "elderly people"

here, it is the youngsters that seem to monopolise(?) the supermarket aisles!

pinkcosmos That was my constant annoyance when I was still working. I promised myself that when I retired I would never shop in a supermarket at lunch time so far I have mostly managed it.

Another person's habits are often so annoying - thankfully I'm perfect.

I think when people are in full.flow in.a conversation they do become unaware of their surroundings. I know I do sometimes, them am v apologetic if I realise I have inconvenienced someone.

Sago - I have a relative who behaves this way. She has no formal diagnosis of any mental health problem but we all know she has OCD and suffers with generalised anxiety which is why she has to talk and repeat her story continually. It's very wearing to be on the receiving end of this but when I find my patience wavering, I literally pinch myself and remember that her life is so much more lonely and challenging than mine. Not sure how I would react to watching a stranger behave like this though, especially if I'm in a queue behind her.

I just read this morning that the French supermarket, Carrefour, have introduced 'blablabla' tills so lonely people can have a chat with the till operator and others who choose that till. I use the self checkout in supermarkets. I know it probably does someone out of a job but life's too short to wait behind someone telling their life story.

Infuriating, I am sure but we could be that lonely person one day who never sees a soul apart from shopping, doctor's appointments and hair or chiropody appointments. I am not the world's most patient person, but I do keep trying to be a better person and remember 'Karma'. What comes around goes around.

I used to try and make the effort to use the small post office counter in a local shop to post off my occasional ebay sales parcels, both to give them the custom and because it gave me exercise walking there. However, the counter is now 'personed' by a young chap, who as well as being extremely slow, spends a long time chatting to the other staff on the general shopping till so that it's impossible to get a word in to ask him for other things such as stamps. The final straw was that on the last occasion he was also engaged in vigorously scratching his balls, so I now go to the next nearest post office, even though that necessitates a car drive to get there. Oh well, I suppose it showed he was capable of multi-tasking!

Inside a GP surgery! Goodness, forgotten what mine looks like. Dh receiving palliative care, due to excruciating pain worsening over past 3 weeks all consultations with GP, Oncology service are over the phone. Been to pharmacy every day for past two weeks (except Sunday)for collection of medication. In fact, I am on way there again just now waiting in car, only 3 allowed in at a time. That woman is using valuable time that could be allocated to other people or at least prevent delays for other people. Would find it hard not to tell her so.

Some people are plain lonely and just don't see anybody to talk to.