Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So many of these threads are about rude people recently...the people in here must be the only nice and polite ones left in the world.
Is it just a local thing here or are you all seeing a rise in rudeness at the grocery? People cut in front of you with their carts, block the aisles, come flying out of the aisles with their carts without pausing, and never offering a token of apology. It's like zombies walking around with fixed eyes and a voice in their head repeating, "Must buy food...must buy food". I really think you should have to take a cart-driving test and get a license before getting behind the cart. Lesson #1 - when looking for an item on the right side of the aisle, don't park your cart on the left side and stand next to it hogging the aisle up...and if you feel compelled to do so, and just can't repel the impulse to do so, at least come out of the trance long enough to say, "Excuse me" , and smile...not a teeth clinching grimace, a smile! There is a difference
I flipped some lady off in the tea section the other day and she gave me this maniacal cheesy smile, started nodding rapidly and said "YES, PLEASE!!" Can you believe it?
duke,,,i use to work in a supermarket, for many years, and have witnessed, courteous behavior, and very rude, behavior, ,,one thing that was funny at the time (because i didnt have to pick it up and was young) was watching this ,,kid, around ten,,walking down the cereal aisle, with his hand out,,seeing how many boxes of cereal he could knock off the shelf..
you notice patterns and trends when you witness the general public, after a while,,and the trend i saw,,was,,ironically, it was folks on foodstamps, or welfare.being the rudest, and allowing the kids to raise hell, in the store.
the second week of the month was foodstamp week,,,and in some areas watch out! on one hand,,, we (the store) certainly welcomed any and all foodstampers or welfare recipients,,thier money or stamps,,were just as good as any,,,but when working in a store,,you also get to witness, not only rude behavior,,but the excess or abuse of what welfare assistance is intended for.
here are a few examples,,,,lobsters were bought with foodstamps,,,,many over 50$ orders,,,while thier kids were in rags. ,,,filet mignon,,porterhouse, rib-eye steaks were purchased regularly with foodstamps,,,not the cheaper cuts...and ironically, brand names were bought in the grocery aisles,,,not the cheaper store brand,
most of the working store employees, couldnt afford rib-eye steaks, or lobsters,,,and to see many welfare recipients,,purchase what we couldnt ,,opened my eyes to what fraud we have in the system,
im not saying ALL did this ,,but enough to be disturbing.
and some men i got to know,,,and talk to (they'd order special cuts) would brag about being out on "disability" and working a job,,,getting paid "under the table".
the older i got,,the more disturbing it hit me,,,,i saw everyday, single mothers, or fathers,,,busting thier ass,,,two-three jobs,,,trying to get by,,,and do for thier kids,,while some lazy asses,,,are taking advantage of the "system" which is all of us working folks,
like i said not everyone on foodstamps.welfare is rude,,,i met quite a few ,,single moms,,that needed a helping hand ,,for a short period of time,,,,and they were very appreciative,,and courteous,,,if asking for a special order..
So many of these threads are about rude people recently...the people in here must be the only nice and polite ones left in the world.
Is it just a local thing here or are you all seeing a rise in rudeness at the grocery? People cut in front of you with their carts, block the aisles, come flying out of the aisles with their carts without pausing, and never offering a token of apology. It's like zombies walking around with fixed eyes and a voice in their head repeating, "Must buy food...must buy food". I really think you should have to take a cart-driving test and get a license before getting behind the cart. Lesson #1 - when looking for an item on the right side of the aisle, don't park your cart on the left side and stand next to it hogging the aisle up...and if you feel compelled to do so, and just can't repel the impulse to do so, at least come out of the trance long enough to say, "Excuse me" , and smile...not a teeth clinching grimace, a smile! There is a difference
I flipped some lady off in the tea section the other day and she gave me this maniacal cheesy smile, started nodding rapidly and said "YES, PLEASE!!" Can you believe it?
YOU DID WHAT??? THAT WAS YOU??? sike.. heehee Yes they are crazy up in Super Wal Mart here where I live... I leave needing therapy...
Like mystree66 and Paula Lynn, I rarely meet rude people in the grocery store, and generally it is a time to meet neighbours and chat. But I do often go to a co-op grocery store. Could make a difference!
Or is that I am always smiling through the aisles!
wow....I agree duke.....people are getting almost insane at the grocery store.
Just a couple of weeks ago, I walked into the local super Walmart. It was really crowded that day and carts were in short supply. So I locate a cart and low and behold my bracelet gets caught on the wire of the cart. I haven't even had time to put my purse into the cart. I am fidgeting with the bracelet trying to carefully dislodge it and all at once someone comes along and grabs my cart by the front. I say "stop, I am caught". She tells me to "go F.... myself". WHATTTTT??? I am pulling on the cart and almost yelling "stop pulling, I am caught". She keeps pulling on it. The greeter finally yells at her. She gets huffy with him and he calls a security guard who is just a few feet down the front aisle by the restrooms. She continues to pull on it so I finally said ok broad if you want this da.. cart I am getting inside it and you can push me around....I raised my leg trying to pretend I was getting in and she purposely gave the cart a push which knocked me over and dang it, broke my bracelet. The security guard saw it all as he made his way up to us and he called the police and they ended up taking her away. Oh great I think, she probably has a whole family waiting for me in the parking lot when I come out!
So after getting settled down I go do my shopping. Of course in just a while I am fuming (to myself mind you) when I see Walmart has once again raised the prices on my most favorite items. Why do they do this weekly????
Then I get to the water and YAY the liquor aisle is right across from the water.....I know for a fact that I might need a drink when I get home after that incident. So I pick up a bottle of wine and am reading it and some elderly lady starts preaching to me about how wrong it is to drink. I just stand there and stare at her. Now I am a God fearing woman, but I want to tell you that I had thoughts of hitting her over the head with that bottle of wine. No one is gonna tell me I can't have a drink when I want it nor preach to me of the sins caused by drinking. Many Good Christians have a snort or two when things just are going badly doncha know. In a small town such as mine, the local townsfolk call many drinkers Saturday night hypocrites .... ones who sit on a bar stool at the local pub the night before church and get very drunk and then go to church and profess to others how sinful it is to drink and carry on. I ain't one of those.
I just shook my head and politely told the old lady that I had roaches in my house and I had read that wine was very good to get rid of them. I continued to tell her that you simply pour the wine around the baseboards and the roaches will come out and drink themselves to death. She seemed to just shine as if she really believed me. God forgive me for blantantly lying. I started walking away with my bottle and thought what the heck, maybe I do have roaches and they will be really hard to get rid of so I put two bottles of wine in my cart. I hung around a while to see if the old lady got some too. LOL
So I finally get done shopping and go to the front. The lines are horrible. Where is the old walmart policy of "we will open another register if there are more than two people in line." I am grocery cart #7. So I patiently wait. Then it's my turn and she starts running stuff across her magic handy dandy reader. My magic eight ball from the 50's would have been more accurate. So each time I know something was marked differently on the aisle I stop her. She is getting pretty preturbed with me. But I have decided I am not going to fund Sam Walton's great grandson's college tuition so I want the lower price which was marked in the aisle. It takes 15 minutes for me to check out....and everyone behind me is really ticked off. They probably think I was drinking my wine all the way through the store.
So I get through the checkout, amazed about how I could spend almost 3 times my budget but oh well I had a cartful. Onward to the car.
I walk up to the car and three carts rest on my pretty car. And one scratch. I know when I get home my hubby is gonna be really mad at me because I didn't park at the end of the lot and walk....he will know I parked close, by me getting those scratches on his beloved car. Somehow sometimes I think he loves his cars more than me.
As I am worriedly putting groceries in the trunk, I think wow I think I need to treat myself after the day I have had. I still have two things in the cart. Just then someone grabs my cart and starts to pull it.....I think "deja vu " what the heck? I turn around with fire in my eyes and said if you touch my cart one more time I will knock you into the pits of he*l. The person must have believed me as they turned and kind of started to run towards the building. Let em report me as a "mad woman". Because by this time I am.
So I guess the moral of my story is .... I guess I can see why some people act as they do when they go to the store.....since once upon a time it happened to me. LOL
THE END......thank goodness huh!
Last edited by doll lady; 05-25-2007 at 07:50 AM..
you notice patterns and trends when you witness the general public, after a while,,and the trend i saw,,was,,ironically, it was folks on foodstamps, or welfare.being the rudest, and allowing the kids to raise hell, in the store.
the second week of the month was foodstamp week,,,and in some areas watch out! on one hand,,, we (the store) certainly welcomed any and all foodstampers or welfare recipients,,thier money or stamps,,were just as good as any,,,but when working in a store,,you also get to witness, not only rude behavior,,but the excess or abuse of what welfare assistance is intended for.
here are a few examples,,,,lobsters were bought with foodstamps,,,,many over 50$ orders,,,while thier kids were in rags. ,,,filet mignon,,porterhouse, rib-eye steaks were purchased regularly with foodstamps,,,not the cheaper cuts...and ironically, brand names were bought in the grocery aisles,,,not the cheaper store brand,
most of the working store employees, couldnt afford rib-eye steaks, or lobsters,,,and to see many welfare recipients,,purchase what we couldnt ,,opened my eyes to what fraud we have in the system,
im not saying ALL did this ,,but enough to be disturbing.
and some men i got to know,,,and talk to (they'd order special cuts) would brag about being out on "disability" and working a job,,,getting paid "under the table".
the older i got,,the more disturbing it hit me,,,,i saw everyday, single mothers, or fathers,,,busting thier ass,,,two-three jobs,,,trying to get by,,,and do for thier kids,,while some lazy asses,,,are taking advantage of the "system" which is all of us working folks,
like i said not everyone on foodstamps.welfare is rude,,,i met quite a few ,,single moms,,that needed a helping hand ,,for a short period of time,,,,and they were very appreciative,,and courteous,,,if asking for a special order..
There are some grocery stores I don't even bother going into anymore. It's amazing that some stores really do get more than their fair share of rude people. Hence the reason I tell people, when looking to move to an area, check out the local stores - these are the people who will be running you down with a shopping cart! I think the stores should remove those little ads on the carts and replace them with "Shopping Etiquette" cards. Oh, but no, instead we now have cup holders. So you can now, drink, talk on the cell phone and shop! No wonder I come home bruised.
As for the foodstampers - that is a program that needs to be overhauled. I can go to the grocery store and buy xyz brand cereal and within a month have coupons in the mail for xyz brand cereal. I see here, in NJ, with the foodstamps there's no more coupons/dollars. It's all electronic, they give you a card and I guess fill up the card. I don't know the specific details as I am not on foodstamps (with the real estate market going to #$#!, I may soon be). So, the store does know who you are, what you're buying and your method of payment. Why isn't this information made available to the agency that issues foodstamps? It just kills me when I'm on line and see in the cart, the person who is buying lobsters, premade iced tea, twinkies, candy, t-bones, assorted pre-made frozen meals, etc. and pays with the foodstamp card. And then there's the person buying hamburger, hamburger helper, tea bags, sugar, flour, bread, milk and store brand cereal and they hope they have enough money and food. I understand there's been some reform. I remember when people would use the foodstamps and get the change to buy lottery tickets or liquor or cigarettes.
Being from NJ, I would have to say the shoppers here, for the most part are rude. Has nothing to do with money, or lack thereof, it's just part of the rat race, the world revolves around "me" type of attitude. I have to go shopping today and am not looking forward to it. Holiday weekend shopping is the pits! Even the clerks are rude. I think the grocery stores around here think you need them more than they need you. It's hard to believe they treat customers the way they do. No acknowledgement, no "have a nice day", "thanks for shopping here". Nothing. They barely make eye contact. They scan, throw the items down the belt to the collection area, all the while shouting to the other clerks on the aisle or two next to them, how many more minutes they have, can't wait to get out, plans for the weekend, etc. Excuse me, isn't the cereal on sale? Eye roll, flip the light switch, manager to.... and picks up the conversation with Ann on aisle two. Did you think they were going to bag??? Actually, the clerks at Wegman's are not like this. They are very nice, friendly. If only the other stores were like this.
Sorry for my rant, but I am headed to the grocery store...wish me luck!
So many of these threads are about rude people recently...the people in here must be the only nice and polite ones left in the world.
Is it just a local thing here or are you all seeing a rise in rudeness at the grocery? People cut in front of you with their carts, block the aisles, come flying out of the aisles with their carts without pausing, and never offering a token of apology. It's like zombies walking around with fixed eyes and a voice in their head repeating, "Must buy food...must buy food". I really think you should have to take a cart-driving test and get a license before getting behind the cart. Lesson #1 - when looking for an item on the right side of the aisle, don't park your cart on the left side and stand next to it hogging the aisle up...and if you feel compelled to do so, and just can't repel the impulse to do so, at least come out of the trance long enough to say, "Excuse me" , and smile...not a teeth clinching grimace, a smile! There is a difference
I flipped some lady off in the tea section the other day and she gave me this maniacal cheesy smile, started nodding rapidly and said "YES, PLEASE!!" Can you believe it?
ROFL!! Complaining about rude people and then admitting you flipped someone off in the store? Hilarious!
That lady might have been my wife though, it sounds like something she would do if flipped off. The first several years of our marriage she got extremely upset when people were rude to her. I taught her that the worst thing you can do to someone who is angry or rude to you is kill them with sweetness. When they are trying to pick a fight and you smile and tell them to have a wonderful day and come back soon, it drives 'em nuts! The will often implode visibly as they storm away. She watched me for a few years and has become a believer.
Many years ago a coworker was confronted by a driver with a severe case of road rage. When the driver shouted and flipped him off, my coworker blew a kiss to him. The poor guy got so upset he ran off the highway and across the frontage road before getting a grip.
duke,,,i use to work in a supermarket, for many years, and have witnessed, courteous behavior, and very rude, behavior, ,,one thing that was funny at the time (because i didnt have to pick it up and was young) was watching this ,,kid, around ten,,walking down the cereal aisle, with his hand out,,seeing how many boxes of cereal he could knock off the shelf..
you notice patterns and trends when you witness the general public, after a while,,and the trend i saw,,was,,ironically, it was folks on foodstamps, or welfare.being the rudest, and allowing the kids to raise hell, in the store.
the second week of the month was foodstamp week,,,and in some areas watch out! on one hand,,, we (the store) certainly welcomed any and all foodstampers or welfare recipients,,thier money or stamps,,were just as good as any,,,but when working in a store,,you also get to witness, not only rude behavior,,but the excess or abuse of what welfare assistance is intended for.
here are a few examples,,,,lobsters were bought with foodstamps,,,,many over 50$ orders,,,while thier kids were in rags. ,,,filet mignon,,porterhouse, rib-eye steaks were purchased regularly with foodstamps,,,not the cheaper cuts...and ironically, brand names were bought in the grocery aisles,,,not the cheaper store brand,
most of the working store employees, couldnt afford rib-eye steaks, or lobsters,,,and to see many welfare recipients,,purchase what we couldnt ,,opened my eyes to what fraud we have in the system,
im not saying ALL did this ,,but enough to be disturbing.
and some men i got to know,,,and talk to (they'd order special cuts) would brag about being out on "disability" and working a job,,,getting paid "under the table".
the older i got,,the more disturbing it hit me,,,,i saw everyday, single mothers, or fathers,,,busting thier ass,,,two-three jobs,,,trying to get by,,,and do for thier kids,,while some lazy asses,,,are taking advantage of the "system" which is all of us working folks,
like i said not everyone on foodstamps.welfare is rude,,,i met quite a few ,,single moms,,that needed a helping hand ,,for a short period of time,,,,and they were very appreciative,,and courteous,,,if asking for a special order..
While it can look bad, don't assume all foodstamp receipients buying high end food items are frauds. Fraud is very prevelant in these systems, but I can tell you from experience that it is sometimes cheaper to buy higher end cuts than to buy the cheap meats.
20 years ago I went through a bout of unemployment and did not have any savings to tide me over while I job hunted. I signed up for foodstamps and got one month's worth before I got a new job and no longer qualified. I had a family of 4 and received almost $400 to feed them. I bought a ton of canned vegetables and staple items, 30lbs of hamburger, and 10lbs of shrimp and 5lbs of fish. The shrimp was on sale and cost only a few cents more per pound than the hamburger did. I also splurged and bought several steaks because we were able to buy so much food and eat so cheaply most of the time that there were stamps enough to permit this indulgence. My unemployment check could go totally for other bills and this could only go toward food, so why not?
I was actually confronted by a lady in the line behind me and chastised for wasting money on shrimp instead of real food. When I showed her the price she shut up and went to exchange her chuck steak for shrimp.
I, fortunately, was not enrolled any longer than that one month so I cannot say if I would have been able to eat that well indefinitely, but I did eat better than month than I did for many years both before and after.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
She watched me for a few years and has become a believer.
10lbs of shrimp and 5lbs of fish. The shrimp was on sale and cost only a few cents more per pound than the hamburger did. I also splurged and bought several steaks because we were able to buy so much food and eat so cheaply most of the time that there were stamps enough to permit this indulgence. My unemployment check could go totally for other bills and this could only go toward food, so why not?
