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Rudeness from a stranger in public

(108 Posts)
ACDC Thu 26-Feb-26 22:25:26

I don’t get out much, but today I was able to visit a National Trust property on my own (a very rare treat).
My thread is about rudeness because as I went to pay for parking I pressed a wrong button and had to start again which annoyed the person behind me enough for her to say “ Oh just park your car”.
It only took less than a minute for me to press the buttons again and get a parking ticket.
I don’t know if I am imagining it or are people getting ruder?
She was middle aged somewhere between 45-50 at a guess. I’m 55. I didn’t react to her at all. I’m not upset just surprised 😳 and sad if this is the way things are going. I hope it was a one off, I will try and press the right buttons next time and save a few seconds 😂.

JenniferEccles Fri 27-Feb-26 13:41:47

We are NT members so we don’t have to pay to park, but in every property we’ve visited over the years, we’ve had to park the car first and then non members walk over to the ticket machine to pay.

Her comment urging you to ‘just park’ as well as being very rude doesn’t make sense.

I guess we all encounter the odd rude person from time to time but my observation is the same as someone else on here who said the vast majority of folk are fine.

I hope your experience doesn’t put you off venturing out again ACDC

ginny Fri 27-Feb-26 13:48:59

I’ve always found that the majority of people are kind and helpful . In fact other rudest ones I’ve come across are somewhat older and seem to think they are special , simply because of the years they have clocked up.

Marmight Fri 27-Feb-26 14:37:13

How rude. She was presumably, like you, visiting the NT property so not in a particular hurry. Being me I would probably have turned, given her one of my enchanting smiles & asked if she had a bus to catch & then asked if she would perhaps very kindly help me deal with the vagaries of the parking machine 🤪.

Oreo Fri 27-Feb-26 15:40:14

GrannyIvy

I am the person who always apologises and says sorry when it isn’t even my fault just comes out automatically 🙈 I am a bit slower and tend to stick to Waitrose and M & S there is less huffing and puffing and rushing 😂
My problem is night driving my headlights are the old halogen ones and I cannot see as well. I rarely drive unless I have to at night and I always get someone impatient behind me and I’m not going that slow on little country dark roads!!!

I’m a bit the same with ‘sorry’ and it happened today in M&S when browsing clothes, a very tall ( and I’m not short) woman of around 40 pushed into me as she went past as if I wasn’t there and out came ‘sorry’ from me 🤬😁which she ignored anyway.Felt really cross with myself.

keepingquiet Fri 27-Feb-26 15:43:15

Don't blame the people- blame the machines!

Shel1951 Fri 27-Feb-26 15:44:47

Silly woman probably menopausal

Oreo Fri 27-Feb-26 15:45:00

keepingquiet

Don't blame the people- blame the machines!

Blame both!

NittWitt Fri 27-Feb-26 16:55:15

ACDC maybe the person wasn't talking to or about you at all.
Maybe she was watching someone making a mess of trying to park and just made the remark to herself.
Maybe it was her husband! grin

Bibedybop Fri 27-Feb-26 17:32:45

cornergran

I think in general there is less patience around acdc. I’ve noticed a lot of huffing and puffing in supermarket queues lately although recently a young man waved us to go first as he had a trolley full and we had half a dozen things, he reminded me there is kindness and consideration too.

Common at our local supermarket. Last week we let 3 people through who only had a couple of items, I did draw the line after the third lol.

MayBee70 Fri 27-Feb-26 17:37:29

I have always made a point of being polite to people. But must admit to getting angry at my surgery these days when I pick up (or attempt to) a prescription because they’re never ready and, if they are they’re the wrong item. And there will be a whole waiting room full of people with the same problem. I even find my heart rate going up before I even get there. My daughter said at first she thought it was because the waiting room was full of grumpy old people until her husband needed a repeat prescription and realised how chaotic it all was. I hate feeling angry sad.

Tenko Fri 27-Feb-26 21:59:06

I’ve found that since covid . People are more impatient and quick to anger , plus more judgmental.
Today I took my mum for a hospital appointment. She’s 90 , in a wheelchair and has a blue badge . The disabled spaces were full , so I had to park in an ordinary space . Because I need space by the passenger door for mums wheelchair. I parked with wheels on the white line . As I was getting the wheelchair out of the boot , a guy drove past and shouted that I was a f**** inconsiderate driver . I pointed to the wheelchair and said this is why I’m parking like this . I did park within the lines once I got mum in her chair . But it did annoy me that he jumped to conclusions.

mokryna Fri 27-Feb-26 23:51:18

HelterSkelter1

I think we must be a bit more prepared. I have queued behind...often people looking like my age mid 70s... at a supermarket checkout who wait till they have loaded all their goods into bags before they then hunt through pockets or handbag for their purse/money/card and all their vouchers and take an age to pay. They could load their stuff back into their trolley, pay with their card etc which they could have already in their hand and then pack stuff into bags away from the checkout at their own speed.
I rarely now go through a manned till and prefer self service because of this. This deliberate slowness and selfishness let's the side down.
But I agree with the OP that there is a lot of lack of patience about especially when you are new to a system and need to take a little more time before you get used to it. The people I am talking about above probably shop weekly so are never getting used to it, but are being quite rude themselves.

I am sorry but people should used manned tills where possible as these jobs will disappear soon. One less person employed who will pay no tax for social services but has to have unemployment pay, so the companies can get richer.

seasider Sat 28-Feb-26 09:09:50

Well said @Mokryna . Our local Booths supermarket has removed all self service tills

seasider Sat 28-Feb-26 09:11:02

And the majority of shop lifting is through self service tills . This obviously pushes prices up .

HelterSkelter1 Sat 28-Feb-26 09:30:42

I do use both manned and self service for the reasons of employment, but I refuse to queue behind someone who is not prepared and holding the queue up in a selfish way. I am grateful to have the option of self service.
If I had no choice in a Booths....which is not a supermarket in my area...I would shop elsewhere unless they had a small basket/fast service lane and pointed the slow people to another till. Of course that would then be age discrimination and that's a subject for another day!

HelterSkelter1 Sat 28-Feb-26 09:33:24

The shop lifting that I have witnessed in my local Waitrose was a run through. They didn't even bother with a manned or self service till. They just ran through with a bottle held high to clobber anyone with. They didn't bother about staffing levels!!!

NannieChicken Sat 28-Feb-26 13:48:28

We live in a society where pretty much anything is available quickly. Films on demand on Netflix (other providers are available), food delivered anytime night or day, next day delivery of purchased items. No need to visit the library as books can be downloaded instantly. There is no waiting for anything these days. People have lost the ability to be patient. And as for manners, well they seem to be going the way of the Dodo!

knspol Sat 28-Feb-26 13:50:46

I probably would have done the same as you but with that wonderful thing hindsight I would have said ''I may be slow but at least I'll never be as rude as you". Always think of these responses too late!

annab275 Sat 28-Feb-26 13:54:01

Patience is a virtue. Some people have forgotten how important patience is

Pearlsaminger Sat 28-Feb-26 14:00:36

I have a go to phrase…

‘If you wanted to be in front of me you should have got up earlier!’

Usually garners no response - but makes me smile smile

Carolest59 Sat 28-Feb-26 14:02:29

I am nearly 70 but when I join any supermarket queue ,I put my items on the belt ready then straightaway get out my card or cash to pay plus any store cards like nectar or tesco cards etc plus any parking tickets to verify but every time ,the people in front wait till payment actually due then scrabble around for the same .Theres no excuse for it and it’s very frustrating for all those waiting .so yes I do understand people getting mad .

HelterSkelter1 Sat 28-Feb-26 14:07:08

I agree its so frustrating especially for people shopping in their work lunch hour. As I am retired I try to shop out of busy times for just that reason. And try like you Carolest59 to be prepared.

Siptree Sat 28-Feb-26 14:10:37

My local Tesco has taken out lots of manned checkouts and replaced them with self service ones. The ones for a basket load are mostly used but the ones for a fully trolley shop are either empty of a couple of people with a few items are using them because there is a queue at the smaller ones. This means the manned checkouts have queues. Choice is good but surely if noone is using self service ones it's obvious people don't want them. I try not to shop when in a hurry. I find sometimes people like bus drivers can be very short with people who are not familiar with using a service. I hadn't used a bus for 20 years or more, but recently started to use them to go to local big towns, to sit up top and enjoy the scenery as I have time to be leisurely now. Some people expect everyone to know the same routines they do.

Nanny27 Sat 28-Feb-26 14:26:09

I like to shop in Aldi. Items checked, return to trolley, pay, take trolley to bench, pack items, go home.
Seems perfectly straightforward to me so why do so many people insist on packing their shopping at the checkout before paying. Holds everyone up and create loud huffing all along the queue.

Ktsmum Sat 28-Feb-26 14:49:22

Just been to local Costa where the entrance door is very heavy, behind me was a man with his elderly frail mother, in front was a woman about my age who went through and let the door swing behind her, instead of taking a second to hold it open, just rude!!