Like most shoppers, I get a cart when shopping at the grocery. But it is difficult and frustrating to maneuver the cart down the isles when it is full of other carts.
So when I am shopping, I do not maneuver my cart up and down the narrow isles full of food. Instead, my cart only goes up and down the two “main” isles that are at each end of the smaller isles.
When I want a food item in an isle, I park my cart at the end of the isle (in the main isle), walk down isle, grab the food item, and then walk back to my cart.
It is so much faster doing this vs. trying to steer my cart through a traffic jam in each isle.
I’ve been doing this for years. I’ve never noticed anyone else doing this. (Though I guess an argument could be made that, if everyone did this, the main isles would be clogged up instead of the food isles.)
If everyone did that then the main aisles would be crammed with carts. And what if you’re buying a dozen cans of dog food - that’s a lot of stuff to carry down an aisle.
I find it works just as well to say “Excuse me” - no one has ever refused to move out of the way.
Yes, it most certainly could. Besides, many people need more than one item from an aisle. Either you have to carry an armload of groceries back to your cart or make more than one trip. And when you’re shopping for produce, the things you need are all over the department and most people like to inspect their produce to make sure it’s fresh and hasn’t spoiled. It’s difficult to do that if you have other items in your hand.
In my experience far more inconvenient are the people who treat shopping as a family outing. Husband and child block one side of the aisle with the trolley while wife selects items from the other side of the aisle.
Since I haven’t used a trolley while shopping since last century, it is easy enough for me to weave through with my basket. However it is noticeable how little awareness of others many shoppers have.
I’d prefer to carry a cattle prod with me in the grocery store but since I can’t, I find it best to just go down those aisles where I know I need something and steer around the lollygaggers as best I can. If there’s one person who’s always in your way, just skip a couple aisles, get what you need there, and swing back for the ones where you were blocked.
My “favorite” thing in the grocery store is how many people recently(say, the last 5 years) I’ve noticed who pull the buggy behind them instead of pushing it. When you do that, not only do you take up more space (because you’re inevitably pulling on a corner of the buggy front, not standing directly behind it), but you also have less control. It’s easy for the wide end to swing wide around a corner and hit someone.
The biggest part of the problem, as I experience it, is the vast amount of crap the stores cram into the aisles. I told the manager of our local store, which has about ten standups per aisle, that one more display would be permanent gridlock. She laughed. “I wasn’t joking,” I said.
I do this if I have only one or two items to get down that aisle. I can, well, used to, be able to walk much faster than to push a cart, so I was up and down the aisle in a flash.
I agree that if too many people did this the major end aisles would look like an abandoned expressway during a blizzard, and it would be a pain, but for the most point it works well.
Store employee here. How long are we supposed to wait for you to return to your cart? I swear there are people who go into stores, full up a cart, and then walk out.
Blocking an aisle with a cart is a fire hazard.
And let’s not get into the people who stop in the middle of the aisle to cell phone or text. You might as well be invisible if you ask them to move.
I use people blocking the aisles to my advantage. I don’t even need a shopping list any more. I simply look to see what section is being blocked for what seems like hours by a lolly-gagging shopper, and it is always right in front of an item I need. Even if only ONE person with a cart is in an aisle, they are ALWAYS standing right in front of the item I need!
I’m rather fond of using the hand-basket over the cart, anyway- gives you better maneuverability, and if you go with a spouse, can get 90% of week’s shopping done with no problem.
I choose which grocery stores I use SOLELY on the average behavior of the other shoppers. I don’t consider price, selection, proximity to my house, or other such factors.
In my experience, low-end grocery stores have the best shoppers. They are courteous and don’t block the aisles nearly as much. High-end grocery stores seem to attract those “special snowflakes” who love to block aisles, chat on their phones, and generally project an “I didn’t get to where I am in life by being courteous to low-lifes like you” attitude.
I’m serious. Upper-middle class soccer mom/dad types are the worst. These are exactly the same people who drive their SUVs at ridiculous speeds in my nieghborhood and tailgate me for miles because “Muffy has to get to tennis practice before I go to my weekly pedicure.”