Mr. McFizz told me this story today, asking me if I thought he was in the wrong. I told him I'd post it here:
He was at the supermarket this morning buying a basket of food. About ten items. It was not very crowded but not totally empty, so he got on line behind another guy who was having his food scanned.
A middle-aged women then came up behind him with one item and said, "Can I go in front of you? I just have the one item."
Mr. McFizz said, "I don't have much. I won't be long." And wouldn't allow her in front of him.
The woman apparently got all snippy and said, "Well, gee, thanks for nothing."
My first response was: Why didn't she just use the self checkout line, which is almost always empty?
My second response: He probably should have let her go ahead of him, but her being a bitch about it is worse than his refusal. My opinion is that the person complaining about someone being discourteous is often more discourteous than the original offender.
It I had noticed her behind me, I might have offered her to ggo first, especially if all th other registers are busy. Once someone asks, it get my hackles up...it's presumptuous. I still would have let her go then vented about her rudeness to my friends.
ReplyDeleteIt's very rare that I have more than a dozen items at the grocery store, and I frequently have only one or two. I usually end up in the 10 items or less line. Sometimes the person in front of me in line tells me to go ahead, sometimes not. It's not a big deal either way, really. If the 10 items or less line is swamped I use the self checkout, though I'm pretty sure I can't do that when I have produce.
ReplyDeleteWhat I REALLY hate is people like the woman who was ahead of me in the 10 items line at a very busy time with what looked like an entire week's worth of shopping for a family of six. No joke. This wasn't 11, 12, or even 15 items. The cart was packed full. That is a very rude person.
In my grocery store you can use self.checkout for produce. The scanner is a scale and the items have a code sticker on them/ or you type in the number.
ReplyDeleteI out myself through college working at a grocery store and yes we would get people going through express with a whole cart full of groceries. If I caught them early o would inform them of the limit but if they refused to move there wasn't anything I could do...
As for Mr. Fizzy, I think is response was spot on. She was the beaocth. But I would have probably let her go.
Mr. Fizzy is a self centered dick, if someone is in a hurry and only has one or two itmes it is only common decency to let them go in front of you if they ask. Does not mater if she is a bitch or not, he pulled a major dick move.
ReplyDeleteHmm...I think the supermarket bitch found your blog Fizzy.
DeleteHahaha!! Good reply!! ^^^
DeleteIf someone is in that big of a hurry, the why the hell wouldn't they use self checkout? Or even go to the store to begin with? Was her one item an emergency? I doubt it.
DeletePeople get on my nerves. Maybe his 12 items were an emergency. How does checkout lady know?
Mr Fuzzy was not in the wrong at all. If there had been no other options then maybe, but she could have used the self checkout. She didnt know if he was in a hurry, she just assumed her time was more valuable. It is the entitlement attitude that far too many people have that says that the rest of the world should cater to them.
ReplyDeleteIf I only have one item and the person in front of me offers for me to go ahead, I will graciously accept, but it is never ok for me to presume that I should just be granted that space in front of them.
Mr. Fuzzy was completely in the clear, and the rude lady needs to realize the world is not here to please her.
Mr. Fuzzy? lol
DeleteI don't think Mr. Fizzy was obligated to let her go. I have offered to let people go ahead of me if they only have 1 or 2 items and I have many, but I would never presume to ask to be let ahead of someone. I think that's one of those things that only gets offered, not asked for.
ReplyDeleteAnd her response confirmed she was not "worthy" of the favor she was asking.
I probably would have done it, but there's a line for a reason--it's typically first-come, first-served. Did he have to stand there all night if people with one item kept coming in line behind him and asking to move ahead of him?
ReplyDeleteExactly what I think.
DeleteI think if Mr. Fizzy had a cartful of groceries and refused to let her cut in line, then he would have been rude. However, with only a few items, the woman could have waited or she could have chosen the option of self check out. She was wrong.
ReplyDeleteI think that his response was fine. If he had had a full cart of stuff or if she had said something like, "Could I go in front of you because I'm about miss the last bus home and if I do I have to walk 20 miles?" then maybe he should have let her cut in front. But he only had a few items. She probably ended up waiting like 90 seconds max for him to get done.
ReplyDeleteI only have experienced when the person in front offers to let the one behind them with less items go first. I have always thought it was a strange custom. Where did that start anyways? I have never seen anyone ASK to be let in front though. That is a new one. She was apparently a bitch to begin with. If your husband didn't offer she should have kept her mouth shut. (unless she then followed up with "my one item is going to save someones life and you are going to kill them if you don't let me step in front of you!!)
ReplyDeleteI appreciate it when people offer but I would NEVER ask. And if it would occur to me to ask it would only be if the person ahead of me had a trillion items and I was facing some grocery store emergency. (I dunno, diabetic kid at home has low blood sugar and desperately needs the OJ in my hands?) In which case I would make the case for the emergency ... not the single item and I doubt anyone would say no. You go to the store, you expect to wait in line. Only needing one item does not exempt you from that totally normal expectation. And the woman's reaction only proves how irrational she is.
ReplyDeleteI think they were both in the wrong. The woman shouldn't have asked, because the world does not revolve around her schedule. However, since she had her own agenda in her head and asked Mr. Fizzy, he should have just let her go, which is the more gentlemanly thing to do. He does have the right to say no, but had he just let her go only one person would be upset (him) instead of two (him and her). But then again, by letting her go he might be sending her positive reinforcement for her assuming behavior? And not to throw another wrench but maybe she was having a terrible day??
ReplyDeleteI think he was right to refuse, but I think she shouldn't have asked. Had he turned and saw she only had the one, then it's fine for him to offer. But in no way is she entitled to cut in front of him just because she forgot something from her previous trip.
ReplyDeleteI agree; I've offered to allow stressed looking folks with one item to go ahead if I have multiple items, but if they ask me to do so, for some reason, I don't feel so generous towards them.
DeleteNo one is entitled to go to the front just because they only have one or two items and are in a "hurry." To paraphrase something my father always said, your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part.
ReplyDeleteI think your husband was completely in the right. I would have done the same thing in his shoes. That being said, I use self-checkout at all possible junctures. Might as well be at the forefront of the robot revolution.
Mr. Fizzy had no obligation to do anything.
ReplyDeleteIn essence, the woman wasn't ASKING, she was TELLING him to let her go. She merely phrased it in the form of a question. Her entitlement should not be rewarded.
Pfft, I can't believe all these cry babies saying he was rude. Who cares if she was in a hurry? Tell her to shut the hell up and wait her turn. That kind of behavior just shows how self-centered she is. If you can't wait 30 seconds for someone with 10 items to check out, then get the hell out.
ReplyDeleteIt really doesn't take that much longer to scan 10 - 12 items than it does to scan one item. Any good cashier can scan 12 items in less than a minute. It's the payment and receipt interaction that takes the longest, and that would be presumably similar for both of them. If he had a cart full of items, I would still think it would be presumptuous of her to ask to go in front of him, but at least it would make more sense to me.
ReplyDeleteThat was exactly his argument.
DeleteMr. Fizzy was wrong. It's NOT a question about whether it was "offered" or she "asked." The situation is clear: 1 item vs 10 items. The humane thing to do would have been to let the person with 1 item checkout before.
ReplyDelete"Humane" is perhaps not the right word here. ;o)
DeleteThe "standard" thing to do is to wait your turn, regardless of how many items you have. The "nice" thing to do is to offer someone go before you if they have significantly fewer items (9 items more is negligible). The "rude" thing to do is assumed someone owes you something.
The only thing that is clear here is that he was first and she was rude.
To Anon 10:47 Don't you think that people like that lady are just trying to take advantage of the kindness of people around them? Like so many on here have already said, they would have let her go. Good for him for saying no. She was probably rude out of shock because he actually said no, you can wait. She should never have asked in the first place. How is this not a question about whether it was offered/asked? It is courteous to not inconvenience those around you and wait your turn!
DeleteWhile it is always nice to let someone go in front who asks and I dont think there is anything wrong with someone asking, Mr. Fizzy had no obligation to let her go in front and her response goes to show that he probably made the right decision.
ReplyDelete1) I wonder if Mr Fizzy would have reacted differently if the woman was very attractive :p
ReplyDelete2) After the woman said "thanks for nothing", did Mr Fizzy replied "you are welcome"? I hope he did :p
3) So why didn't Mr Fizzy let her go? Was it because he thought it's unreasonable for her to even ask since the self checkout line was empty? Or was it because he's the kind of person that doesn't like to wait in line?
1) Doubt it. Maybe if she were elderly.
Delete2) I think he just ignored her.
3) It was because he felt checking his items wouldn't take much longer than hers. And since she didn't give a reason for needing to go ahead (i.e. being late to something), she was essentially saying her time was more important than his.
Maybe she is a doctor and thought her time more valuable than his?
ReplyDeleteI kid, I kid.
Ever watch The Middle? There was an episode somewhat about that where the main character pretends to be a doctor to skip lines. I didn't even realize that was an option! Hilarious.
I used to work in a grocery store. There was one woman that would come in every week and would ask people to skip ahead. Every single week. And people did. So she kept doing it. We all hated that woman.
ReplyDeleteI agree with MomTFH above too that it's the transaction, rather than the scanning that actually takes time.
Having "only one item" is never a valid reason to skip ahead in line in my opinion. If someone has only one item and they're running late and have somewhere they need to be and want to skip ahead in line, 1) they use that excuse and 2) you can see the stress on their face. THEN I feel it would be rude not to let them ahead, but that lady was just an entitled bitch from what I can tell.
-Laura
A similar event happened to me; someone else sent their kid with a chocolate bar to ask if he could go ahead of me. I said no because he was buying a candy bar (and not something essential--I know. I'm judging, but I think it's fair for me to evaluate the request based on present evidence).
ReplyDeleteThe kid looked disappointed and embarrassed, and I felt irritated not at the kid but at the parents, who were standing near the front of the store, for setting their kid up.
On my way out to the car, the mom came up to me and walked with me all the way across the parking lot to my car, haranguing and yelling at me for ruining her kid's day and for being so rude. With great restraint, I just said that I needed to go home and so should she.
Next time someone asks me to go ahead, and I decline their "offer," I'm getting the bagger to walk out with me to act as a protective witness.
I'm the person in line with one item all the time. First of all, I'd never ask to jump line, even in a hurry, so I'm with your husband on this. It's rude. (Besides, what if she had wanted to write a check? Then her one item would have taken longer than his 10 items!) Second, I live in the South, and 9 times out of 10 people will see you with one item and ask you to go ahead of them, but if they don't, you don't ask! IT'S RUDE. Third, most people today are morons and can't work the self checkout, and she sounds like the poster child for "I can't work self-checkouts" and finally we have a clerk at our local grocery store who asks people with more than 10 items in the express lane, "which 10 items did you want to pay for today?" when it's busy. I love her! :)
ReplyDeleteI know it's a side note, but WHY ON EARTH would your self-checkout lines always be empty? They are the absolute best option, way quicker and easier than the normal lines, and always filled up first when I lived somewhere that had them! Plus, they are the first step in a store getting 'Scan as you go' shopping, which is the ultimate grocery store convenience - no checkout line at all, you just carry a little scanner with you!
ReplyDelete