Grocery Store Rules of the Road

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brewmeist

5-Year Member
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Mar 2, 2018
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I had two people crash into my cart today and gave me dirty looks.

For the record, here are the official rules of the road inside a supermarket...

The aisle that runs along the front of the store and the aisle in back of the store are the main roads. Shoppers using these main aisles have the right-of way.

All of the other aisles are just like back roads. You can't just cruise right into the main aisle, especially considering you have no clue who is walking by because you are a good 3-4 feet behind the front of your cart and can't see a thing. People in these aisles need to slow down and yield to those in the main aisles.

Glad to fianlly get that off of my chest...
 
Using the FAA methodology, it would be beneficial to have TCAS installed on all shopping carts to avoid near collisions. Or, following the merchant marine methodology, you follow LGT.....the Law of Gross Tonnage. When I commanded the LHA, I would want to shout into the radio, I am at flight quarters, and my big a$$ will roll over you and send you to Davey Jones locker.....get outta my way. (I never said this on the radio, but my thoughts inside my head were quite loud, especially toward sailing boats skippered by drunks.)

Instead, I shop early on Sunday morning, when the crazies haven't quite awoken from slumber.
 
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Gotta chime in here.... as a young officer we tried to shop on base at the Commissary. The isles are one way because the store had a smaller footprint than civ grocery stores and the isles were narrow( or at least were...) and there were arrows directing cart traffic. To the ire of old retirees, we would deviate from the rules in the name of efficiency and time, but got many a negative comment and some serious looks.

Good times!
 
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brewmeist said:
I had two people crash into my cart today and gave me dirty looks.

For the record, here are the official rules of the road inside a supermarket...

The aisle that runs along the front of the store and the aisle in back of the store are the main roads. Shoppers using these main aisles have the right-of way.

All of the other aisles are just like back roads. You can't just cruise right into the main aisle, especially considering you have no clue who is walking by because you are a good 3-4 feet behind the front of your cart and can't see a thing. People in these aisles need to slow down and yield to those in the main aisles.

Glad to fianlly get that off of my chest...
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And while all that is true, just like on the roads, we must always be on the lookout for "the other guy." Even when I have a green light, I glance both ways before entering an intersection. Doing that saved my a$$ a few weeks ago when someone blew a red light and would have broadsided me at 40-50 m.p.h. So, just because you have the right of way in the main aisles in the front and back of the grocery store, use cause as you approach and entering intersection with a fore and aft aisle.
 
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Capt MJ said:
May I comment about the people who park their cart mid-aisle, efficiently blocking people in both directions while they stare at a shelf or product, yet give me a dirty look when I politely ask them to move their cart a bit?
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Or kindly park the cart to one side, then stand next to it a foot or two away, effectively accomplishing the same mission.
 
Capt MJ said:
May I comment about the people who park their cart mid-aisle, efficiently blocking people in both directions while they stare at a shelf or product, yet give me a dirty look when I politely ask them to move their cart a bit?
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The same thing happens at Disney. A family will suddenly stop right here, in the middle a walkway, to discuss where they want to go for lunch. While creating a traffic jam of hundreds of people...
 
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Do these same rules of the road apply to our favorite drugstore?
 
They should issue shopping cart driver permits only after one has completed the written test. Do you know the distance to leave between you and the cart in front of you? ..... I thought so.
 
And don't even get me started on Costco. Don't be that family that walks 4 abreast down the main aisle, snarling traffic. I saw a 6 cart pile-up the last time I was there as a frustrated shopped tried to pass into oncoming traffic. Also, if you are going to meander languidly along, do so from the edges of the main aisles, leave the center open for those of us who want to grab the items from our list and get the heck out of there.
 
Totally unrelated to the conversation but related to grocery shopping…when my mom leaves me to wait at the checkout line when I was little to “quickly” grab something else and the line starts moving faster and there’s a huge line behind me…
 
brewmeist said:
For the record, here are the official rules of the road inside a supermarket...

The aisle that runs along the front of the store and the aisle in back of the store are the main roads. Shoppers using these main aisles have the right-of way.

All of the other aisles are just like back roads.
Click to expand...
Uhh you make the assumption that people will understand the analogy you are using...people around here dont follow the rules of the road so if I used that example, grocery shopping would be even worse....😭
 
Costco, ugh. People, it's a grocery store. NOT A RESTAURANT. For the love of all that is holy stop parking your cart near the sample tray and then just assume a relaxed posture as though you are in a diner booth. And then just stay there, for repeat samples, meanwhile, I'm envisioning all the ways I can harm you.
This explains why I end up in the liquor section of Costco---every damn time.

Oh, and park your damn buggy in the buggy corral. Don't be that guy. Even if no one is watching. Sheesh.
 
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