Things that annoy me

What makes the impatient type even more irritable is when they look to the person behind them in the queue for affirmation of their impatience and discover it's me who just shrugs and says: "So what?" {smile]

I try to be patient. People are struggling with all sorts of problems.

jusnoneed I do that frequently but it is not always accepted.

At my local Aldi goods are not packed at the till- they are put back in the trolley and one can pack in a more leisurely manner after paying and at a packing place.

That annoys me too. Other things that annoy me are:

Sales assistants (or anyone else) who don't say "Please" or "Thank you".

Other motorists who don't wave or nod in recognition of me letting them out of a side road/queue etc.

People who are providing a service saying "No problem"...eg. bartender/shop assistant/call centre person, etc.

After my sister was killed in a road accident. I became much calmer. I drew up a scale of 1 - 10 and I started scaling every little irritation in life on that scale. Very few things really rate a score of more than 0.1.

Even having no gas supply last Saturday and yesterday (therefore no heating) barely made it to 0.5. Finding out yesterday that the water in the gas main had got into the boiler and done £200 damage to our central heating boiler only took me up to 1. However I suspect the oncoming battle to make the gas distributor pay that bill may take me up to 1.5

This measurement gauge is also an excellent way of keeping your blood pressure under control.

I cannot see the point in getting worked up because someone is slower than you would like them to be. You don't know what problems they have. One day you might be that person. I really think you shouldn't sweat the small stuff, it all comes right in the end.

We have many older customers in our local , smallish Waitrose. They like a chat and why not as they may not have much other contact with people. This does slow things up if we,are in a hurry but perhaps this isn't so far away for us too.

This includes fumbling for a card or more annoyingly "the pennies and halfpennies".

I really think we need a new system at supermarket checkouts. If you watch people the whole thing is a nightmare. At my local smallish Tesco, there is nowhere to put your heavy basket whilst waiting in the queue, then nowhere to put your shopping bag whilst you pack it, the goods are scanned like lightning and then pile up teetering on the edge of a very small counter, its impossible to get out the store card and payment whilst packing bags and the assistant hovers impatiently which makes people flustered. Surely if they designed a better system they would get more custom and we would all have a calmer life.

I'm sure this is not confined to 'older customers' lullydully

Can I just say as it is from the other side of the counter.Im sure before I went to work in the Supermarket I do, I also may have been a little impatient at times, but working where I do has taught me more.

Just for instance 2 weeks ago I had a chap comes to my checkout every Monday morning, bright n breezy, then tells me his wife died earlier in the year and the funeral is on Friday.So of course I have to have a little chat with him whilst the next customer I can see is getting impatient!

I have another gent comes in who's wife has demetia, she is normally with him but has been unable to come, they are a little slower going round the shelves and through the till as he has to keep hold of her hand or she will go off.

There are the older ladies who husbands have died they used to be the driver so now the lady has to catch a bus, do her shop on her own,she trembles with her purse and fumbles with coins, she has arthritic hands ,struggles with her packing.But wants to remain independant and pack herself.

People who may be missing a limb, an arm a leg,fingers etc.who cannot move as quick as an able bodied person, new hips new knees all take time to recover.

Some are partially blind and struggle with the card machine.
Then the ones who barely see another soul unless they come in to do a little bit of shopping .a carton of milk a loaf of bread, just to speak to another.

The fraught mums/dads with little ones, crying and screaming, trying her best to keep the peace.

And of course the ones who may have an illness that we cant see.

We come with all different problems and yes whilst I myself always have my card ready, others are not able to.
We may all if not already have problems in the future.

Yes we do have scan speeds to achieve, but I always pack for my customers if they want me to,I don't like my customers feeling intimidated by the next customer and having to apologise to them for being slow.

I myself will apologise to the next customer and say "sorry for your wait". Any of these people who struggle or are slower, could be our mothers/dads/ family.

My dad has Parkinsons but he trots across to the garage for his paper every morning and yes sometimes he may fumble with his change and drop his money because his hands shakes.

So if you do have a person in front of you and they seem to be struggling them perhaps stop and think

I would love to be a customer in your queue bikergran its good to see you x glamma x

lol hello there glam yes I love my little job in my big supermarket, just wish I had more time to chat to the customers who need it

Thank you bikergran. Many of the cashiers I deal with are as kind and helpful as you are!
What really gets me going is the person who absolutely can't wait for me to finish unpacking my trolley and fills the end of the conveyor belt leaving me no space. Grrrr!!!!! I feel like pushing it all off the end of the belt, regardless of the breakages. I usually look daggers [I do 'icy' very well] and comment that I haven't finished...

I get irritated by some things in the supermarket which never bothered me when I was young. Probably something to do with now i am older feeling life's too short and I don't want to waste time. I'm very tolerant of the elderly or disabled. But I regularly find myself behind people (usually husbands and wives) who appear to be perfectly able, walking very very slowly up the central aisle or leaving after paying, pushing a trolley with a wide gap between the two of them, so they take up almost the whole aisle. And every time they speak to one another they just stop dead. Annoying. Guess I've just become a grumpy old woman (not that old though).

When I read the title of this thread I thought OP was inviting others to share their own irritations.
The one which I had ready was the use of the word ‘said’ to refer to someone or something already mentioned.
And there it was in OP’s message!
If she’d only finished off with LOL or xx my irritation would have gone through the roof.

I think it would make a good book... "The everyday life of the Checkout" operator lol we do have smiles and laughs as well

I get annoyed at all the miserable people at checkouts who huff and puff at having to wait; who push their trolley into me because they're spatially challenged, or just plain ill mannered or just can't wait for it to be their turn - bruised bum anyone?
I get annoyed at people who live their lives as if everything's a massive affront to their sense of self importance...you know the sort? the permanently affronted types who always find fault with everything.
And I must admit to getting the rage when shoppers can't offer a polite please or thank-you at the checkout.

I agree I do have one tip never get in a check out if there is a man in front with a large shop as there will be the inevitable delay.
Another thing tbat annoys me is the che k out operative who chats too much when all check outs have long queues

"I do think some people are totally oblivious to others around them."

Quite, Day6, it's called selfishness.

In the case of fumbling packers, unless they have arthritis or some other disability, it is an assumption that their time is more important than yours that makes the slowness infuriating.

Pack straight into your bags and have paying in mind before you have to do it so you know where your cards and money are.

I get really hacked off when I am waiting to use a petrol pump and the driver of the car in front has a leisurely browse in the shopping area before paying, then stays to have a gossip with the cashier.

bikergran?

Thank you Bikergran. I loved your post. It really made me stop and think....as one of the ‘impatient’ ones!
But I do think lots of people are totally unaware of others around them...these I will always struggle with.

I'm not willing to stuff my shopping away at a rapid rate to suit the person behind me. The groceries are expensive enough without being damaged by thoughtless packing. Either I pack as I go and pay after that then leave, or I wait to pay then pack. Slight delay but its not, nor was it ever going to be, an instant service!
I also enjoy chatting to the various regular check out ladies. There are very friendly ones at our nearest store. I don't go shopping when working people are likely to be there so don't tend to hold up queues. Shopping can be a relatively civilised activity.

I go as fast as I can. I select the cards required and pull them out a bit so they're easier to get at. I must admit I don't take much notice of the person in front of me as I just drift off into a world of my own if the wait's a bit longer than I'd like. If the person's on their own and they want to chat I don't complain as the assistant could be the only other human they speak to all day. It's only a bit of time, isn't it?

ariana6 yes I know where your coming from with the trollies in your back! I have often thought there should always be a line (or footsteps) on the floor to indicate where people should not go past in order for the person in front to pay ..many many a time the next customer has encroached so much forward that they are hovering over the card machine whist the customer is paying.

Many a time I have to ask "could you just let this customer pay for their shopping first" (with a smile of course)