# Lady, Please! Buy The Groceries, THEN Talk On The Phone! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 9, 2004, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-please-buy-the-groceries-then-talk-on-the-phone/223557 "2004-01-09T02:33:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-please-buy-the-groceries-then-talk-on-the-phone/223557/1 "2004-01-09T02:33:29Z")
It was 6:00 pm and I had to be at work at 6:30. It was raining just a little here in Dallas, Georgia and since it’s also cold, people feared the worst. Our local Ingles was packed and the only way I could pay for my three items was those automated cashiers. In front of me was a lady with three kids and _she_ only had a few items in her cart, so I thought to myself, “Great! This won’t take long at all!” Well, she never even “came up for air” on that damn cell phone, and what’s worse, she was using the other hand to _gesticulate_, so the scanning was going slowly, she had coupons and those kids were leaning on the carousel which is weight-sensitive. This means that the machine would stop and tell her “Call cashier for assistance”, which she didn’t see, but I did and so I did the calling the cashier for her. Well after a while I began to fume, and tapped her on the shoulder. “Excuse me Ma’am, but I work at a hospital and I’m trying to get there, so how about I help you with your scanning and bagging while you just continue your phone chat?” She rolled her eyes at me and told the person she was speaking with she had to go, because someone behind her in line was “chomping at the bit to get to work!” Well _damn_! It wasn’t just _me_ that was waiting. There was a line behind me at that time of at least 8 people and they weren’t happy either. I saw her outside later, and she couldn’t resist one last dig at me: “I noticed you didn’t offer to _pay_ for my stuff!” I just stopped in my tracks, stared and shook my head then went on. Wonder what she told her hubby when she got home? :rolleyes: Q ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-please-buy-the-groceries-then-talk-on-the-phone/223557/2 "2004-01-09T02:46:20Z")
Man. Some people need to be forced to wear dentures made of live antelopes. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-please-buy-the-groceries-then-talk-on-the-phone/223557/3 "2004-01-09T02:49:50Z")
Sometimes it seems like the world is full of people like that. Logic tells me that there must be people like me who are aware of their surroundings and try to keep out of people’s way, heck I am sure that most dopers are considerate people aware of their surroundings. But it _seems_ like I am the only one. That everyone else will go to the ten items or less counter with fifty seven items, will use a cheque or credit card to buy a toothbrush, will stand around seemingly doing nothing with 12 friends in the middle of a very busy very narrow shopping street (MUST you stand there? of all tens of thousands of square-metres in this town, must you choose to stand in the busiest one to chat about teenage shite?), will ALWAYS want something from the one bit of stall I am looking at in a very long, very spacious aisle, ALWAYS, will walk ac… I could go on forever if I had time. Basically it seems like everyone exept me is the same type of oblivious inconsiderate person you describe in your OP. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-please-buy-the-groceries-then-talk-on-the-phone/223557/4 "2004-01-09T02:51:22Z")
What **Gadfly** said! ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-please-buy-the-groceries-then-talk-on-the-phone/223557/5 "2004-01-09T02:56:17Z")
**I saw her outside later, and she couldn’t resist one last dig at me: "I noticed you didn’t offer to pay for my stuff!"** What planet was she from? You were supposed to offer to pay for her stuff? WTF? ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-please-buy-the-groceries-then-talk-on-the-phone/223557/6 "2004-01-09T03:10:47Z")
I encountered your phone lady at the gym this evening, before she went shopping (How did she get from Trenton to Georgia so fast?) She was sitting on the piece of equipment that I wanted to use, possibly resting between sets, but gabbing away on her phone. I loitered for a minute or so a polite distance away to see if she had plans on using the machine that she was seated on, but she just kept on chatting. Since I was at the end of my workout and was looking for any little excuse to cut out, I simply left. This was one of those moments when I exercised my right to pick my battles. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-please-buy-the-groceries-then-talk-on-the-phone/223557/7 "2004-01-09T03:16:25Z")
well, fuck, you never offered to buy my groceries either, asshole. 😃 Actually, I probably wouldn’t have been so polite. I would have been passive-agressive, with much loud sighing, grumbling (like “I wish the stupid bitch in front of me would hurry the fuck up”) and moaning. I hate people like that. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-please-buy-the-groceries-then-talk-on-the-phone/223557/8 "2004-01-09T03:18:11Z")
Well, I admit to a bit of a sarcastic tone in my interaction with this lady, and that’s not _like_ me. I also see **Lob’s** point of view and I am guilty of transgressing the laws of courtesy a time or two myself, but perhaps not in so blatant a manner as the lady ahead of me. And it wasn’t as if she wasn’t _aware_ that she was holding things up, otherwise why the rolling of the eyes, and that little b.s. in the parking lot? Q ---
**Author:** ![county](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@county](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/county)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-please-buy-the-groceries-then-talk-on-the-phone/223557/9 "2004-01-09T04:53:16Z")
You should have left home 15 minutes earlier. No aggravation. That stuff is gonna happen. You know it. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-please-buy-the-groceries-then-talk-on-the-phone/223557/10 "2004-01-09T04:57:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by county \* > \*\*You should have left home 15 minutes earlier. No aggravation. > That stuff is gonna happen. You know it. \*\* 😕 Oh, wait, it’s a **county** post. :smack: Putz. ---
**Author:** ![lightingtool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/57b2e6/32.png) [@lightingtool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightingtool)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-please-buy-the-groceries-then-talk-on-the-phone/223557/11 "2004-01-09T05:09:19Z")
Hey **county** , here’s an idea. Stop posting. ---
**Author:** ![county](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@county](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/county)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-please-buy-the-groceries-then-talk-on-the-phone/223557/12 "2004-01-09T05:14:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lightingtool \* > \*\*Hey **county** , here’s an idea. Stop posting. \*\* If you want to, bite me. ---
**Author:** ![laigle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@laigle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/laigle)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-please-buy-the-groceries-then-talk-on-the-phone/223557/13 "2004-01-09T05:27:34Z")
Whenever I’m being irritated by imbeciles, I just remember an old adage I heard somewhere about the nature of human compassion, and how we should tolerate and respect each other: “There’s a reason that people are flammable.” Seriously, the line thing was bad enough, but if the bitch had chewed me out in the parking lot she’d have been in need of a new cellphone and a proctologist. ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-please-buy-the-groceries-then-talk-on-the-phone/223557/14 "2004-01-09T06:10:00Z")
Yeah, sure enough there are going to be people popping up in this thread ranting and raving about how they are perfectly entitled to gab away endlessly on thier cell phones, common courtesy be damned, a la **county**. :rolleyes: Honestly. You should’ve left earlier? It’s amazing the complete and utter bullshit some people will come up with in order to justify being assholes. They lady was a self-absorbed twit who should be yanked out of society and forced to undergo some serious common courtesy lessons before she can be re-integrated into society. End of story. And **SnoopyFan** , I believe she was being sarcastic since the OP offered to help her scan and bag her groceries. She probably thought she was being witty. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![applejamie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@applejamie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/applejamie)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-please-buy-the-groceries-then-talk-on-the-phone/223557/15 "2004-01-09T08:05:15Z")
I was at the market the other day with, I think, the exact same woman! She didn’t have to scan herself, but she talked the whole time about NOTHING and then whipped out a checkbook after the guy told her the total. Then had to get her license out. Funny thing is, MY mobile rang whilst in the line and I answered it but told the person that I was standing in a line and didn’t want to be rude and talk on the phone. The woman in front didn’t hear me over her attempt to find her license and talk at the same time, but the people behind me got a good laugh. ---
**Author:** ![county](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@county](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/county)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-please-buy-the-groceries-then-talk-on-the-phone/223557/16 "2004-01-09T11:56:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lezlers \* > \*\*Honestly. You should’ve left earlier? It’s amazing the complete and utter bullshit some people will come up with in order to justify being assholes. > \*\* I never justified anything. I never said the woman wasn’t an inconsiderate bitch. In fact I think that kind of conduct is deplorable. But, it is a fact of life that things like that happens and usually when you are in a rush. If if you leave 15 minutes early you get less aggravation. It is also a fact of life that some people on this board (not many, but a few) can’t seem to read and really might consider biting me. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-please-buy-the-groceries-then-talk-on-the-phone/223557/17 "2004-01-09T13:21:54Z")
I thought this was going to be a thread by a cashier about how she was ringing up someone’s order while they talked on the phone and completely ignored the fact that they were supposed to be having a service interaction with another real live human being. When I worked as a cashier I always hated that. And **Quasimodem** , you know what I would have done about that lady? I would have ground my teeth and thought nasty thoughts and said nothing. (Yeah, I’m a doormat.) Good for you for pointing out to the rude bitch that she was, well, a rude bitch. [hijack] Another rude-bitch-in-a-grocery-store story that comes to mind… My mother was invited into a lane with her stuff by a cashier who had nothing to do. Mom says, “But I can’t use this lane; I need to pay by check.” The cashier says, “Oh, come on anyway.” So there’s Mom writing out her check and some old twat gets in line behind her, peers over her shoulder, and says loudly, “Is she writing a check? Well, I don’t like that. That really upsets me.” Mom calmly showed the lady her middle finger and said, “Oh yeah? How about this?” The lady said no more.😃 [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-please-buy-the-groceries-then-talk-on-the-phone/223557/18 "2004-01-09T13:43:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by county \* > \*\*If if you leave 15 minutes early you get less aggravation. \*\* **county** , you are assuming I went to the store from _home_. I did not. It was the final stop _before_ going to work, and I had been running some errands prior to that. In my OP, I only stated what time I arrived at Ingle’s and what time I had to be at work. Now, if your point is _still_ that I should have foreseen this, and left 15 minutes earlier, well how do you know I didn’t? Sorry, but that just doesn’t make sense. Do you blame _yourself_ when you get caught in traffic due to an accident and don’t make it to work on time? 6:30 PM: “Damn! If I’d only left home 15 minutes _earlier_, I’d be at work now!” 6:45 PM: “Damn! If I’d only left home _30_ minutes earlier. I’d be at work now!” Sometimes even with one’s best intentions, contingency planning doesn’t work. BTW, y’all: I _did_ get to work on time, and I’m a bit of a doormat myself in situations like the one I posted. It just so happens that we’re all a bit stressed right now with patient overload at my hospital, and I must admit it felt _good_ to be a bit of a smart-ass for a change! 😉 Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-please-buy-the-groceries-then-talk-on-the-phone/223557/19 "2004-01-09T15:12:34Z")
You should have at least corrected her–the phrase is actually “ch **a** mping at the bit.” ---
**Author:** ![county](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@county](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/county)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-please-buy-the-groceries-then-talk-on-the-phone/223557/20 "2004-01-09T15:23:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Quasimodem \* > \*\* > and tapped her on the shoulder. “Excuse me Ma’am, but I work at a hospital and I’m trying to get there, so how about I help you with your scanning and bagging while you just continue your phone chat?” > Q \*\* Well, I thought you were quite reasonable (although I didn’t hear the tone of voice etc). Seemed like a solution to me. As far as the “left 15 minutes earlier” I see your problem, but the point is that you only have control over your actions; not control over the actions of the multitude of inconsiderate morons in the world. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-please-buy-the-groceries-then-talk-on-the-phone/223557.md?page=2)