I didn’t want to hijack this pit thread about the cart blockers, but I did want to ask:
At the grocery store, when passing in front of someone browsing a shelf (when you don’t have the easy option of going behind them), do you excuse yourself or is it just considered a part of the shopping that people are going to walk in front of you if you stop to browse?
I don’t really browse much as I usually know exactly what I want in the brand I want but if I do, as long as someone doesn’t stop fully in front of where I’m trying to get to, then I don’t really take notice.
Most of the time when I pass by someone browsing I do it quickly with a mumbled “pardon me” to which most seem to mumble “no problem” but it got me wondering as to how common it is.
Yes, of course it’s a normal part of shopping, but that shouldn’t stop someone from saying, “excuse me.” Like saying “please” and “thank you,” “excuse me” is just a normal part of interacting with other people. You don’t have to save it for unusual occurrences.
I try to say “pardon me” or “excuse me” whenever I inconvenience anyone in a meaningful way, but if I walk past someone and obscure their view for just a brief moment, I don’t apologize unless I accidentally jostle them or otherwise interrupt their train of thought.
Most of the time, it is some fat ass ignorant idiot who has their shopping cart blocking one side of the aisle while they are bending over trying to see the price of lima beans and block the other side of the aisle.
I am always aware of my surroundings. I don’t stand in doorways to chat, I don’t stand at the entry to escalators and elevators and chitchat and I don’t block two sides of an aisle. So when someone feels no need to give a damn about others, I treat them the same.
After once saying, “excuse me” to get through, and have them ignore me, I have been known to shove a shopping cart half way down an aisle.
However, to those who have no other option, when the aisle is simply filled with 25 carts of people trying to get by, I always say “excuse me” and try to go by as fast as possible.
I always excuse myself. I even say “sorry” if I cut somebody off accidentally with my cart, or if I’m unintentionally blocking the aisle for a minute. To my knowledge, I am the only person in my particular Shop Rite that does this.
That’s one nice thing about the South.
I’ve recruited many a tall person to help me get something off that top shelf.
I swear stores need to have shelves with those little fold down kneeling benches like I remember from church that you could use as a stepping stool. :dubious:
My friend and I were in Target a couple weeks ago, and she’s two inches shorter than me. She wanted something on the top shelf, of course. Because she’s absolutely terrified of talking to people she doesn’t know (and even people she does–it’s quite strange, really), she started climbing up the shelves–and was still too short to reach what she needed. I pulled her down before she killed herself and asked the freakishly tall guy in the next aisle to get it down for us. My friend would have gone home without it rather than ask a stranger or an employee for help.
I say excuse me if I have to squeeze by a person because, well, why not? Hey, sometimes you need to stand in the middle of the aisle to read a particular box clearly.
However, I have little patience for people who don’t seem to realize that other people get to use the store, too. If someone leaves their cart in the middle of the aisle, they get no such courtesy, since I know they’re the same fuckers who double park all over Haight and Castro streets. Away your cart goes.
