I have a big problem with people who seem to be totally oblivious of their surroundings, and this morning I saw something happen that really pissed me off. I was walking to work and waiting behind a bunch of people for the light to change at a very busy intersection. A lady was crossing the street the oppsite way with her baby in a stroller. The pack of people in front of me were standing right up toes to the curb. Everyone saw this lady coming and NOT ONE of them moved a millimetre. This lady had to go around them, on the road, and quickly pull her stroller up over the curb so THEY WOULDN’T GET HIT BY A CAR. Going over the curb jostled the baby and it started crying. These stupid bovines still just stood there like robots until the light changed. WHAT THE FUCK?? WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE IDIOTS?? I’ve had similar things happen when I’ve been stuck behind someone carrying something big, etc, I say “Excuse me” and they just kind of stare at me like I came from outer space, and maybe shift their weight onto the other foot a bit. Thanks a lot, bunghole. I’m tempted to start wearing football gear and just slam through the morons who find it too much of a convenience to move out of the way for a second. :mad:
You know what has always irked me? People who walk through a doorway and abruptly come to a complete stop. The people behind them either crash into them, or are forced wait behind them until they decide to move.
Maybe I’m getting rude in my old age, but lately I’ve been saying, “Excuse me!” , and pushing past them. And if I should happen to kick them in the ankle as I pass, well, that’s a complete accident . (Just kidding.)
Great minds think alike, NichtRabbit. I wish I’d seen your post before I submitted.
It’s not only pederstrians that do this: people at drive-thrus seem to think that the folks behind them won’t mind waiting while they catch up with Martha on the local gossip. What sucks even more is when cars are behind you, so you can’t back out. I’ve had to resort to honking the horn, which always feels like a faux pas.
What I love is when some group of gabbers decide to stand right in the middle of the doorway to have their discussion. It happens all the time, from work to Walmart.
YES!!! RARRRRRRRR! They do this all the time at Wal-Mart!!! And it’s ALWAYS in the busiest aisle at the time! During the Easter season they held regular meetings in the candy and stuffed bunny aisle!!!
Having worked in a restaurant waiting tables/managing for the past three years, I have plenty of experience with this. If two parties sitting at seperate tables happen to know each other, they will, without fail, stand up and start chatting right in between the two tables. Coincidentally, “between the two tables” also tends to be the area we mere employees need to walk in when attempting to deliver food. Plaintive attempts at “Excuse me, please”, are met with the same glares of contempt you folks have already described (except perhaps even more vicious, since we’re supposed to respect the Right of the Customer to stand wherever he/she damn well pleases). At that point, lacking the option to simply shove my way through, I extend my arm and squeeze the plates in between the offenders, which generally gets them to back off enough for me to pass (wouldn’t want to get marinara on your clip-on tie, would you, sir?).
The exception to that was when I was managing at the last restaurant I worked for. Most of the servers used the same method I described above, which was fine by me, but a couple of our girls were too small or too timid to do it effectively, and they’d just stand there pleading with the (apparently deaf) bovine entities that remained in their way, and receiving the same zombie-like inattentiveness each time. At that point, I’d walk up to the customers, summon up all the authority a (then) 19-year-old college kid can muster, and tell them that I’d have to ask them to move to the side, because my employees were attempting to do their jobs. That usually worked, and it was mighty satisfying as well. I don’t know what it is that inspires people to do this, and if (as I suspect) it is a matter of pure ignorance, I don’t know why they’re so reluctant to move when politely called on their error.
Oh wait, yes I do: people are assholes. Maybe I’ve been working in restaurants too long…
Who the hell is NichRabbit? I don’t see a post of his in this thread. 
Anyway, something similar that I hate is those that stop facing opposite directions on the roads. So they can talk out their car windows. When you pull up behind them they keep on talking, as if they never heard of pulling into a parking lot or using a cell phone or something. Grrr.
I generally get out of my car, walk over to them and tell them not so politely to get the fuck out of my way. Works every time.
Well, ok, what really chaps my ass are the motherfuckers in my office building who want to get on the elevator before I can get off. Many actually brush past me actully boarding the elevator before I can get off. They can’t seem to wait until the elevator clears and are waiting outside the doors actually impeding people who are trying to get the fuck off. I’d like to carry a “stun gun” - I bet if I hit a half dozen or so with 50,000 volts that things would straighten up around here pretty quick.
On the subject of bovine idiots blocking progress: I invite you all to come for a ride on the subway. Any subway, I’ll bet, although the one I ride happens to be in Boston. Try to get off when the door slides open, especially at busy times. If you’re lucky, you’ll merely have to eel your way through the wall of oblivion waiting to get on. Odds are, you’ll be hipchecked by some troglodyte charging into the car.
Ooo. This could be one of my favorite rants. I fucking hate this.
• Especially when two people stop to catch up and gossip in the aisle of the grocery store. Some days I stand behind them and stare at their backs until they can feel my gaze burning through their shirts. Other times, I’ll say “excuse me” as rudely as possible before glaring at them as I push past. And this is another rant, but don’t you think there should be turn signals and brake lights on shopping carts? (Of course, nobody would use those anymore than they’re used in cars on the streets.)
• I also hate it when people in cars stop in the middle of the road for a lengthy chat. Makes me have road rage. Recently I witnessed my local crossing guard, standing in the middle of the street with his head poked into the window of a nonmoving car, chatting up the driver. While a dozen kids attempted to get across the street without guidance.
• I was headed to the bathroom at work once and when I got there, two women were standing right in front of the door, talking away. I politely said, “excuse me” and they both glared at me as if I had no right to interrupt their conversation so I could go pee. There happened to be someone behind me with the same intentions and she said, “Yeah some people actually want to use this facility.” The idiots realized they were standing in front of the bathroom and finally moved… to the middle of the hallway.
• This is why I walk into the grocery store, grab a cart and get myself halfway down the aisle before I actually change from shades to my regular glasses. I do not understand why people – who know more people are following them – will enter a place and stop. Why, why, why? That’s like sitting at a red light and when the light turns green… you cross the intersection and STOP. We should have the right to run straight into people, knocking them even more senseless than they already are.
• And then there are The Stroller People. Some Stroller People are quite considerate and very self aware, which I greatly appreciate (and will go out of my way to assist). Some merely fill the strollers with diaper bags, souvenirs, and other sundry junk while the child is forced to walk beside the stroller. But that’s another rant. The Stroller People hang out at festivals, fairs, malls and other crowded places where the area designated for walking from point A to point B is limited. You may be forced, at an especially crowded festival, to walk in a single file line. The Stroller People will choose these opportune moments to stop and scold their child, catch up with an old friend they just ran into, fix their hair and makeup… anything but actually pulling the stroller over to the side – out of foot traffic – to take care of business. As for The Stroller Lady who was trying to cross the street – clearly she was paying the price for years of Stroller Abuse by others. It’s a shame really, to put her and her child in danger just because most Stroller People are thoughtless, inconsiderate sheep.
I ran into an old friend at the grocery store the other day that I hadn’t seen in several years. We were really excited and naturally had a lot to say…so I pulled my cart aside and we stepped into a low-traffic area and had a nice long chat. During our nice long chat, I constantly looked over my shoulder to make sure no one was trying to look at stuff on the shelves I had parked in front of. Why? Because I wasn’t raised by freakin’ wolves!
Oh man, I was going berserk about strollers being used at this big flea market (the Porta Portese) when I visited Rome several years ago. This place was packed; my husband and I were walking along shoulder-to-shoulder with people in the crowd, and after the first couple dozen "scuzi"s in a half of an aisle, we finally stopped saying it as no one else was either. You shuffled along at times until you could get to an open spot and step out. Well, you guessed it, there were people with strollers stopping in the middle of the aisles here too. Worse yet, all of them that I saw had no shoes on their kids, and no foot guard or anything to protect them, just bare little feet hanging off the front of the stroller. I cringed; I’d be afraid that someone in that crowd would turn and accidentally kick/step on their little feet. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the strollers were enclosed more at the foot area, and/or if the people using them would “pull over” more often if they were going to stop.
In grocery stores, when people are completely blocking an aisle, my husband will wait for a moment, then rattle his shopping cart by lifting the back end slightly then dropping it, to snap them out of their daze. If you weren’t paying attention, it could be mistaken for the sound of the upper basket/seat area rattling around - but regardless, it tends to wake people up.
Heh. I’ve only ridden the T 4 times, about the same as any other subway in the past decade, and I gotta tell ya, it’s the worst in that aspect.
Especially since one time (out of 4!), the car was jam-packed with people, and we got to my stop and only one of the two doors opened…the one kitty corner to me. I had to squeeze past people who said comments like “why are you in such a hurry” “it’s gonna be open forever”
I’m sorry, I’ve never seen a subway whose doors gave a sufficient amount of time for exit/entry, especially when only one of the doors opens properly!
Attention, yo-yo who spent ten minutes discussing inanities with the cashier while I was trying to pay my check at Denny’s yesterday, then stopped just outside the door, resulting in my nearly smacking him with it (not intentionally, but hey).
Even better, persons who get to the top of an escalator and do the same, causing everyone behind them to pile up like cordwood. Pure comedy gold. Fer cryin’ out loud, people, step aside; the folks behind are coming whether they want to or not.
NichtRabbit/NightRabbit wanted to post, but didn’t want to subscribe. I have banned this person and removed all the NichtRabbit posts. You don’t wanna pay, you don’t get to play.
The Doorway People infuriate me, too. Never understood how anyone can be so &%$# inconsiderate as to abruptly stop in a doorway to have a conversation with someone.
A close second are the Escalator People, the people who stop cold at the top/bottom of the escalator, just prior to getting on, in order to discuss or argue precisely where they wish to go next. Until the issue is settled, NO ONE will use the escalator. Traffic backs up behind them; they’re oblivious. Do we wanna go downstairs and look at china, or stay up here and look at appliances? I dunno, whaddaYOU wanna do?
I am also not fond of the Hypnotards, people who freeze before a large shelf of goods in any given store – usually a grocery store – and go into a sort of trance, trying to decide what to buy. My upper limit here is about two or three minutes; take less than this, and you’re simply a choosy shopper. Take more than that, and you’re a frickin’ Hypnotard, and I will step WAY into your personal space, reach around you, get what I want, and ignore your stunned look at my violent rudeness in doing so. Hey, I muttered “scuse me” when my lips were less than an inch from your ear, didn’t I?
Speaking of Doorway People, does anyone else have trouble with the related breed of Parking Lot People? And no, I don’t mean the ones who block the aisle while waiting for someone to pull out of a parking spot. By this, I mean… well, imagine with me:
Y’r cruisin’ down the street, going to… Wal-Mart, let’s say. Everyone can imagine a Wal-Mart. You’re going to Wal-Mart, and you’re behind this blue Ford, and you pull into the turn lane, and he does, too, you both hit your blinkers, you’re both going to the Wal-Mart parking lot… and he slows down… and he turns into the parking lot…
…AND THEN HE STOPS, COLD, while your front wheels are just on the concrete ramp leading into the parking lot, and more than two thirds of your car is still sticking out into the street.
You wait a second. He does nothing. If there is someone else in the car, though, he is certainly discussing something with that person. Do we really wish to go to Wal-Mart right now, maybe? Perhaps we should go to the grocery store first. Maybe we should go home and check our horoscopes. What should we do, George?
…and meanwhile, my car is sticking out into traffic. A couple of cars have hung up behind me, now. Some want to get into Wal-Mart. Some just want to keep going, and can’t. After a half-minute or so, someone honks.
The Parking Lot people are oblivious to this; they cannot hear car horns more than five feet from their vehicle. The discussion continues.
Finally, I honk my horn.
The Parking Lot People both crane their necks and look at me. Half the time, they’ll get this shocked, “Oh, wow, w’r blockin’ traffic,” look, and immediately get the hell out of the way. The other half of the time, they’ll give me a dirty look for interrupting their conversation. They may or may not move.
Once, I had to sit and lean on my damn horn for about ten seconds. These people were not going to move until they had finished their conversation, by ghod, and I had to make sure they couldn’t hear each other before they’d move their damn car and clear the fraggin’ road!
Does anyone ELSE have problems with folks like this?
Oh don’t get me started.
Too late.
Preach it, brother. You know what it is like trying to get through my town past the railroad station and prime commuter “I will stand in the middle of the street because I’m a clueless moron who can’t get off his cellphone for two seconds to MOVE THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY SO PEOPLE CAN DRIVE” time? I go out of my way now by half a mile just so I don’t have to drive near the freaking train station.
Oh, and coworker type folks, we have, here at work, large rooms with tables in them and chairs that can accommodate a fairly large number of people. We call these rooms CONFERENCE ROOMS. They are for conferences, or meetings as we like to call them! You know - Meetings! See people! Show Charts! Feel Important! Point with a Stick! Impress your Coworkers! Eat Donuts! DO THESE THINGS IN A ROOM INTENDED FOR THAT PURPOSE, NOT THE STAIRWELL, NOT THE HALLWAY, AND NOT IN FRONT OF MY DESK!
I love children, I do. I even have one. However, when there is a gaggle of them standing in the general vicinity of their bus stop completely blocking the entire entrance to my complex and they won’t get out of the way I become somewhat enraged. No, I take that back. I get REALLY enraged. MOVE THE HELL OFF THE STREET YOU CRETINS!
Grocery store idiots? I WILL move your cart FOR YOU if you don’t get the hell out of my way. The aisle is for everyone! Also, I WILL say something to you if your children are out of control. Oh, you and the neighbors want to “visit”? Call your buddy up on the phone, don’t do it in produce when all I want is a five pound bag of grapefruit! And frankly, you do NOT need to pick through all five thousand packages of pork chops while your three children are running amock causing other shoppers no end of inconvenience - the world does not revolve around you, nor your unruly offspring.
I’m about ready to go home and go back to bed - it has been a very, very bad morning.
:mad:
Honey? That you?
My favorite though is people who leave their cart in one place, inevitably blocking an aisle or path, and then wander off to grab something somewhere. I get a real kick out of sending their cart flying off to some unused portion of the store, and then watching them come back and hunt around for it.
However, as an agent of universal karmic distribution, I have adopted a new plan. When walking by one of these abandoned carts, I take out one small item that’s sure not to be missed. That way when they get home, they will have to spend a ridiculous amount of time looking at their receipt, in their bags, back in the car, etc etc.
You waste my time, I waste yours.
How many times have you seen this:
You’re in the grocery store and the idjit ahead of you is pushing a buggy (or cart) in one direction while looking in another direction and ends up running into to you.
A group of people walking down a narrow sidewalk. They manage to walk at an angle not leaving enough space between them to pass. They also decide to move at a pace of .00000000001 miles per day.
Oh yes. The subway thing is one of my pet peeves. People in Montreal have pretty good metro manners on the whole, but sometimes you’ll get a gaggle of noodjes forming a little semicircular shell around the entire periphery of the door, and open slightly to make a little piece of room for you to possibly get through when they discover that amazement! shock! people are going to disembark.
In Barcelona they have little signs above all the doors that say DEIXEU SORTIR (let people get off). I don’t know how well it works, but it’s got to be better than nothing, which is what we have presently got.
This sounds like a large group of temporary sanitary facilities to anyone else? 
I still recall a sad, small voice one day on a crowded subway [sub] This is my stop, but I don’t think I can get off [/sub]. A small, intimidated looking woman, standing in the middle of the car. Must’ve been new in town. It was my stop, too, though, and she managed to follow me off.