Keeping with my New Year blog resolution (blogolution?) I’m kicking off Pet Peeve Wednesday! Mostly these are my pet peeves, but if you’ve got one of your own, pipe up!
Today’s pet peeve – people who block the aisle in the grocery store. I’m convinced that half the people shopping at my local grocery store have never seen canned food before. Otherwise, how do you explain their slack-jawed wonderment at the foodstuffs on the shelves? They are generally so stunned by pondering how the can was built around the food that they forget they and their cart are parked across the aisle keeping me from my can of turkey chili. One day I wanted to get some crackers, and when I saw a fellow standing in front of them in complete befuddlement I decided to pick them up on my way out. As I finished my shopping I returned to the cracker section and he was still standing there, dazed with the possibilities of packaged food.
And then there are those who feel compelled to read the ingredients of every single item on a shelf. I don’t have any problem with reading, nor do I have any problem with reading slowly and mouthing out the words. I’ve been known to do the same. I do have a problem with becoming so engrossed with your reading that you forget you’re standing in the middle of the aisle blocking traffic in both directions.
My favorite, however, is when two folks run into each other in the store. Now, generally when this happens the folks move to one side of the aisle. But, not too long ago, I was stuck behind a woman who ran into a church friend and stopped to chat. After waiting a few moments to see if they would recognize that people were piling up behind them I cleared my throat gently, smiled and said “excuse me.” The response was a withering stare that drove my smile down into my throat and brought a little tear of fear to my eye. I turned around and went to the next aisle and let them finish their conversation in peace. I never did get those paper towels.
You must shop at the Seminole Heights Publix
The aisles are so narrow there, I always feel like I’m being rude when I try to get by someone staring at canned food. Lately I’ve switched to Sweetbay, just to have a little more room to breathe.
It’s true! All of those events took place at the SH Publix. I’m often amazed at how empty the nearby Sweetbay seems to be. I don’t know if it’s because it’s bigger or because fewer people visit. Unfortunately, no one store has all the stuff I like so I shop at multiple grocery stores. (On different days of course.)