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Adventures in line cutting

batmagadanleadoff Dec 09 2018 10:17 AM

I saw this line cutting scam coming to the supermarket checkout line I was on from a mile away, because I've seen it before. I get on a checkout line at the local supermarket. There's a man directly in front of me on the line. He'd gotten on the line a few seconds before me. His wife goes on another line about three or four registers away, to our right. Her shopping wagon is just about filled to the top with items. The whole while, as our checkout lines are moving, the two of them are yakking it up from three or four registers away, making gestures at the lines and with hand signals, too. After about ten minutes (a little less, but more than five minutes), the man in front of me reaches the front of our line. He's now next. And by now, there are three or four customers behind me on my line. His wife, on the other line, is still two or three customers from the front of her line. Our line moved much faster than hers. So he tells her to come over on our line. The stupid artichoke not only agrees, but tells him that she'll stay on her line until the last possible second, when he's about to be checked out, so as not to inconvenience herself too much. The man thinks he's gonna let his wife link up with him at the appropriate moment, thereby cutting in front of me and everybody else behind me. I've seen this routine before. And I"m not about to let it happen, nosireebobno. So the stupid count comes over eventually and tries to cut in front of me. I block her wagon with my wagon and give her wagon a little nudge, pushing her wagon back so she can't cut in front of me. I tell her that I saw her on the other line and she's not cutting in front of me and that if she wants to get on this line, she needs to get on the back of the line because I'm not giving her permission to cut in front of me, and her husband doesn't have the right to give her permission. What's more, even if I did give her permission to cut in front of me, I told her she'd need permission from everybody else behind me on the line.. She tells me she that she was on our line. I tell her she wasn't, that she was on another line, and that I saw the whole thing. She continues to insist that she was on my line. We go back and forth on this. Unbelievable. This selfish, rude and inconsiderate person who thinks she can cut in front of everybody with a wagon filled to the top is also a bald faced bullshit artist. Then she also tells me that it's her right to cut in front of me because she's with her husband. I tell her that she wasn't on my line when I got on it and that I have a right to know who's on a line when I get on it because I, like every other customer, wants to get checked out as quick as possible and so I look at the number of people on every line and the number of items they have in order to calculate which line might be the quickest. Every customer makes this mental calculation, I suppose. I tell her that if I saw her on my line, I probably would've gotten on another line from the get go. She continues to bullshit me that she was on my line. So I ask her why was she standing on the other line for five or ten minutes if she was on my line? She doesn't answer that question and continues to tell me that she was on my line. And she's trying to force her way in front of me. What absolutely infuriates me is that once I blocked her wagon and showed her that I wasn't backing down, I figured she'd relent and go away. But she keeps on insisting that she has the right to cut in front of me. She's so sure of herself, that I get the impression that these two scumbags pull this scam all the time. In fact, she's so sure she's in the right that she threatens me that she's gonna get the manager, which I tell her to do and she eventually does. Meanwhile, all the while that I'm arguing with this woman, her husband is threatening to call the cops on me because according to him, I assaulted her when I used my wagon to block her. I told him to call the cops, because I'd wait patiently and that he could tell the cops that he called them because his wife wants to cut the line. I reminded him that there are security cameras like every 15 feet in that supermarket. In the end, the manager came over, but not near us. He was about 50 feet away. They went over to him. I don't know what they told him or what he said to them because I stayed on the line. I saw, though, that he opened up a closed register just to check them out. Some people.

batmagadanleadoff Dec 09 2018 10:44 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

Oh, also, I asked her what if she came to the market with eight cousins and sisters? Would that give them the right to take a spot on each line and as soon as one of them got to the front of their line, all ten of them could link up and cut everybody? She didn't answer that one. I told her she can't reserve a spot on the line and that she's not on a line until she's physically on it with her wagon. She was not persuaded.

MFS62 Dec 09 2018 11:44 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

I would have testified for your defense. Just curious, what were the other people on your line doing or saying: To the woman? To the husband? To the store manager? Later

Frayed Knot Dec 09 2018 11:56 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Dec 09 2018 12:47 PM

The only adventure I had remotely similar to this (a bunch of years ago) involved a fairly large tough-guy looking dude and his somewhat younger wife (had the look of a trophy wife situation only a less expensive version than the usual CEO + obvious second spouse stereotype). They split up as he goes to grab something else while she heads towards what I'm assuming is the front door to go get the car started, or maybe cross the parking lot to the CVS, while he finishes up. I'm assuming this because she has NO items in the cart she's pushing. But then she suddenly stops while walking through an otherwise empty check-out lane causing me to nearly crash into her on account of my assumption that she's going to keep going. My stopping short was I think the first time she even realizes that there was someone behind her at which point she at least has enough manners to say "Oh sorry, you go first" -- as opposed, I suppose, to her, me, and the checkout girl all standing there staring off into space on account of her not actually buying anything. I realized what she & he were trying to pull once he pulled in 30 seconds or so later confused as to why she wasn't first in line. "Who said you could cut in front of my wife?" he asks. "Umm, she did" I cleverly replied, a reply which was augmented by a brief nod from her confirming that, yes, she did indeed "allow" me to go ahead. He then at least had enough manners to apologize -- twice IIRC, once right then and again as I was walking away -- although I couldn't help believing that, if not for the confirming nod, immediate violence, or at least the threat of it, was to be his standard go-to option. The things people will do to save three minutes.

d'Kong76 Dec 09 2018 12:07 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

batmagadanleadoff wrote: I saw, though, that he opened up a closed register just to check them out. This drives me nuts shopping, the appeasing of assholes in the name of the customer is always right nonsense.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 09 2018 12:23 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

1. Was the guy John Franco? 2. They now have a mobile app where you can check yourself out as you shop & just scan the phone at the register as you walk out. It puts the labor on you, but avoids the line. These will be in every store in the USA very soon 3. The other tradeoff is surrendering everything that comes with a mobile pay situation (where you live where you bank, what you but how often etc) 4. Thanks for giving them shit. Most people won't, that was what they were counting on. 5. The Supe manager probably did the right thing, too. When you have a customer with a cart filled to the top, even if they're assholes, you can't afford to lose it or their next buncha visits.

cooby Dec 09 2018 02:40 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

I've seen people with those little apps, but it's been a long time. I wonder if they were "testers" since they were 1) at Walmart 1a) attractive Batmags I am glad you won! They don't know who they are messing with :D

Lefty Specialist Dec 09 2018 02:41 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

I would just stand there and not let it happen. I'm big enough to pull it off. They can check out separately.

cooby Dec 09 2018 03:02 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

Here is a somewhat more somber story, although ends well... My mom's 88. One of her Black Friday traditions was shopping with my sister, who passed away last summer. So, Vicki's daughter and daughter in law took mom to Kohl's on Black Friday. Everytime mom tells this story she says there were 1000 people in front of her in line and 1000 people behind her, so it must be so. No carts, no baskets, mom standing there in her usual six layers of clothing and winter coat holding her purchases, starts to see spots in front of her eyes. Jackie, behind her catches her before she hits the floor. Mom wakes up with wet paper towels wrapped all around her and a bunch of concerned people! Kohl's puts them to the front of the line! :) Mom says she hasn't passed out since she was a teenager, and then her mom asked her if she was pregnant! PS, Mom is fine ;)

seawolf17 Dec 10 2018 06:25 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: 2. They now have a mobile app where you can check yourself out as you shop & just scan the phone at the register as you walk out. It puts the labor on you, but avoids the line. These will be in every store in the USA very soon They have this, or something it, at many of the LI Stop & Shops. You pick up a scanner on your way in, scan everything as you put it in your cart, and then just pay on your way out the door. I used it every time, even if I was only getting a handful of things.

MFS62 Dec 10 2018 06:56 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

seawolf17 wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: 2. They now have a mobile app where you can check yourself out as you shop & just scan the phone at the register as you walk out. It puts the labor on you, but avoids the line. These will be in every store in the USA very soon They have this, or something it, at many of the LI Stop & Shops. You pick up a scanner on your way in, scan everything as you put it in your cart, and then just pay on your way out the door. I used it every time, even if I was only getting a handful of things. Don't you still have to stand in line to pay? Do you bag your groceries while you shop, or just move them from the cart to your car after you pay? They have it in my S&S too, but I've never used it. Later

metirish Dec 10 2018 07:10 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

I felt the tension reading that Batmag, I hate wankers like that , they think they are slick...

seawolf17 Dec 10 2018 08:00 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

MFS62 wrote: seawolf17 wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: 2. They now have a mobile app where you can check yourself out as you shop & just scan the phone at the register as you walk out. It puts the labor on you, but avoids the line. These will be in every store in the USA very soon They have this, or something it, at many of the LI Stop & Shops. You pick up a scanner on your way in, scan everything as you put it in your cart, and then just pay on your way out the door. I used it every time, even if I was only getting a handful of things. Don't you still have to stand in line to pay? Do you bag your groceries while you shop, or just move them from the cart to your car after you pay? They have it in my S&S too, but I've never used it. Later Yes, you still have to stand in line to pay, but you can go on an express line or a self-check line so it's pretty quick. I used to put my four reusable bags in a rectangle in the cart, load em up as I scanned, and BOOM you're done.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 10 2018 08:07 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

The next-gen of this tech eliminates the checkout line portion of it, its not a register but a screen, scan the code and keep walking.

seawolf17 Dec 10 2018 08:31 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: The next-gen of this tech eliminates the checkout line portion of it, its not a register but a screen, scan the code and keep walking. Isn't that the basis behind... the Amazon grocery stores or something like that? I remember a story about a pilot somewhere where the stores had no staff at all (or just a crew to keep the shelves stocked or whatever), it was just do it on your phone and go.

Edgy MD Dec 10 2018 09:10 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

cooby wrote: Mom says she hasn't passed out since she was a teenager, and then her mom asked her if she was pregnant! PS, Mom is fine ;) Is she pregnant?

cooby Dec 10 2018 09:14 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

Oh Edgy! I'm gonna ask her! She would love it if I told her a friend wants to know!

John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 10 2018 09:24 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

seawolf17 wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: The next-gen of this tech eliminates the checkout line portion of it, its not a register but a screen, scan the code and keep walking. Isn't that the basis behind... the Amazon grocery stores or something like that? I remember a story about a pilot somewhere where the stores had no staff at all (or just a crew to keep the shelves stocked or whatever), it was just do it on your phone and go. The Amazon one is a whole different level of complicated technology, it uses cameras and sensors to know what was taken from the shelf, and there's no scanning at all, except your phone that allows you to enter the store. The store is really more of a packaged food restaurant/conevnience store like a Pret A Manager. Stop & Shop's Dutch parent company is working on a new take where the shelf-edge tags enable the scan Walmart is at work with Microsoft on a competitive product, they opened an experimental Sam's Club store that has no cashiers. Most of the others will come with a 3rd party phone app today, the store where BatMags and John Franco shop (Fairway) just launched theirs

seawolf17 Dec 10 2018 09:41 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Most of the others will come with a 3rd party phone app today, the store where BatMags and John Franco shop (Fairway) just launched theirs Wait, I thought batmags *was* John Franco.

A Boy Named Seo Dec 10 2018 10:06 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

-funny to west coasters how east coasters say "on line". -they have the scan and shop things here at Smiths (Ralphs/Kroger). I find it very sad that the checkout people who will eventually be replaced by these computers are the ones who have to train the shoppers how the tech works. I haven't used it yet. No plans to.

cooby Dec 10 2018 10:13 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

Not just west coasters...to me "on line" is on the internet

d'Kong76 Dec 10 2018 10:17 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

I occasionally have used the cashierless checkout aisles but often have beer which requires human validation anyway. I used to go to our Stop n Shop every Sunday morning and scanned with a provided device as I filled the cart. Saved me three minutes per week. Stopped going to that store when I found a pile of poop pellets on a shelf. We pretty much exclusively use our 2 large Shop-Rites and check out old fashion style. Truth is their so well staffed and efficient there's rarely a delayed checkout.

d'Kong76 Dec 10 2018 10:23 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

Speaking of beer, a couple of weeks ago an underage cashier had to call a floor manager to put a code into the system to make things legal. That took almost five minutes pissing off the hottie behind me in line which was kinda amusing. Then she asks me if I was eligible for senior discount. Uh...

batmagadanleadoff Dec 10 2018 10:26 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

MFS62 wrote: Just curious, what were the other people on your line doing or saying: To the woman? To the husband? To the store manager? Nothing. Which I definitely noticed, to my mild annoyment. 4. Thanks for giving them shit. Most people won't, that was what they were counting on. Batmags I am glad you won! They don't know who they are messing with :D I'm not sure I'm the hero youse think I am. If it was Lana Turner and Johnny Stompanato that I ran into, like Frayed Knot did in his post, I would've handled it differently. metirish wrote: I felt the tension reading that Batmag, I hate wankers like that , they think they are slick... You're telling me. The tension was really building up inside of me for about 10 minutes because I saw the whole thing coming from the beginning because I'd seen that scam before and these line cutters were telegraphing that they intended to cut a line. 5. The Supe manager probably did the right thing, too. When you have a customer with a cart filled to the top, even if they're assholes, you can't afford to lose it or their next buncha visits. Yeah. This didn't bother me at all. But I didn't get satisfactory closure because I don't know what the manager told them. I don't mind that they got checked out but I would like to know that the manager told them that they were totally wrong. I'm not confident that this happened because human nature being what it is, I doubt that Mr. and Mrs. Line Cutter gave the manager a truthful telling of what happened. Without the manager's reprimand, they'll think that they were in the right and do it again. 1. Was the guy John Franco? ... the store where BatMags and John Franco shop (Fairway) just launched theirs OK. Now I know what this is. I thought Franco was a known line cutter or something after reading your first post. This incident didn't happen at a Fairway. But some years ago, I told JCL that I saw Ron Darling shopping at Fairway the weekend before Thanksgiving. His wagon was pretty full and there was a nice turkey in it. Did you conflate Franco with Darling? seawolf17 wrote: Wait, I thought batmags *was* John Franco. I still am.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 10 2018 10:48 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

I coulda sworn you said it was Franco. I think John Franco shopping at Fairway is better than Ron Darling shopping at Fairway. Franco would buy a lot of olive oil and sausages and corona beer. Darling would shop for sprouted-grain bread and cruelty-free fair trade organically raised kefir

batmagadanleadoff Dec 10 2018 10:54 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I coulda sworn you said it was Franco. I think John Franco shopping at Fairway is better than Ron Darling shopping at Fairway. Franco would buy a lot of olive oil and sausages and corona beer. Darling would shop for sprouted-grain bread and cruelty-free fair trade organically raised kefir Darling was wearing this very cool looking Navy pea jacket. It was very stylish, and cut very trim, like a slim cut. Not a boxy cut, like the way you usually see those jackets.

HahnSolo Dec 10 2018 01:04 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

seawolf17 wrote: seawolf17 wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: 2. They now have a mobile app where you can check yourself out as you shop & just scan the phone at the register as you walk out. It puts the labor on you, but avoids the line. These will be in every store in the USA very soon They have this, or something it, at many of the LI Stop & Shops. You pick up a scanner on your way in, scan everything as you put it in your cart, and then just pay on your way out the door. I used it every time, even if I was only getting a handful of things. Don't you still have to stand in line to pay? Do you bag your groceries while you shop, or just move them from the cart to your car after you pay? They have it in my S&S too, but I've never used it. Later Yes, you still have to stand in line to pay, but you can go on an express line or a self-check line so it's pretty quick. I used to put my four reusable bags in a rectangle in the cart, load em up as I scanned, and BOOM you're done. What's to stop you from filling your cart with stuff you don't scan (say you scan only about 60% of the stuff in your cart?)

HahnSolo Dec 10 2018 01:09 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

d'Kong76 wrote: Speaking of beer, a couple of weeks ago an underage cashier had to call a floor manager to put a code into the system to make things legal. That took almost five minutes pissing off the hottie behind me in line which was kinda amusing. Then she asks me if I was eligible for senior discount. Uh... At my ShopRite about a year ago, the cashier asked my wife AND me for IDs. Nevermind that I'm not young, OK she;s doing her job, whatever. My wife showed hers, but cashier lady said I need to see yours too. But I said, you don't need to see both of our IDs. Oh, yes I do!! If you don't I can't sell to you. So I start arguing. If I were here with my kid, would you not sell me the beer because he's not 21? At this point my wife starts giving me the look to just show my ID. I would have kept it up, but then I saw a poor old lady behind us also looking at me like, "please just show the ID so I can get out of here at a decent hour." So I did. Anyway, I drive a little further to go to a different (and nicer) Shop Rite now.

cooby Dec 10 2018 01:19 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

I wondered that too. Or even just a thing or two. Honest little me, I suddenly wondered if I forgot to scan the scotch tape I bought yesterday and was worried all the way home until I checked my receipt. I could totally see myself forgetting to scan something as I shop

Frayed Knot Dec 10 2018 01:39 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

metirish wrote: I felt the tension reading that Batmag, I hate wankers like that , they think they are slick... See now, that's the key to all this. Just call them wankers and they'll have no choice but to give up their scam. A Boy Named Seo wrote: -funny to west coasters how east coasters say "on line". One theory to the origin of this was that NYC school playgrounds were/are often blacktops with various lines painted on them for various functions and that, when fun time was over, the young'uns were herded up by being made to stand on a particular line so they could be marched back into the building in an orderly fashion. And the terminology simply spread outward from there. Whether that's actually true or not is something we'll have to learn while standing on/in line in front of St Peter.

Benjamin Grimm Dec 10 2018 02:01 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

And saying that it's an East Coast thing is too broad a statement. I think it's a New York thing. In Pennsylvania they say "in line" and get confused when I say "on line".

cooby Dec 10 2018 02:06 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

Yeah, thats what I said...

d'Kong76 Dec 10 2018 02:20 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

I have a feeling this has classic long thread written all over it...

Lefty Specialist Dec 10 2018 02:28 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

They card you at Citi every time you buy beer. I always say 'thank you'.

Frayed Knot Dec 10 2018 02:46 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

When I buy beer via the self checkout I've occasionally suggested to the clerk (who OK's me just by sight) that they need to teach the scanners to scan my rapidly graying hair so it would save her the trouble. And, yeah, I've started getting the 'Do you qualify for our senior discount?' question. No, but getting close.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 10 2018 02:50 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

HahnSolo wrote: seawolf17 wrote: seawolf17 wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: 2. They now have a mobile app where you can check yourself out as you shop & just scan the phone at the register as you walk out. It puts the labor on you, but avoids the line. These will be in every store in the USA very soon They have this, or something it, at many of the LI Stop & Shops. You pick up a scanner on your way in, scan everything as you put it in your cart, and then just pay on your way out the door. I used it every time, even if I was only getting a handful of things. Don't you still have to stand in line to pay? Do you bag your groceries while you shop, or just move them from the cart to your car after you pay? They have it in my S&S too, but I've never used it. Later Yes, you still have to stand in line to pay, but you can go on an express line or a self-check line so it's pretty quick. I used to put my four reusable bags in a rectangle in the cart, load em up as I scanned, and BOOM you're done. What's to stop you from filling your cart with stuff you don't scan (say you scan only about 60% of the stuff in your cart?) It'd be the same loss prevention techniques they'd use to keep you from shoving a pork chop down your pants, but the thing is, when you're shopping with these scan apps they know who you are. They have your name address number etc. If you were going to steal from a store and get away with it, you'd probably prefer to be anonymous while making the attempt. The other thing is, the systems are built so that once someone gets away with weighing/pricing conventional strawberries but actually purchasing more expensive organic ones it "learns" so as to prevent that kind of transaction from happening again.

41Forever Dec 10 2018 02:58 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

I get teased for saying "on line" out here in Michigan. I like using the self-checkout at the grocery store where I do most of my shopping, but not so much at another, which has a bunch of extra steps that seem more time-consuming than helpful. Both stores have a staffer manning several of the machines, and the person has to run back and forth to check ages on things from wine to DayQuil. Since I'm usually running and grabbing something instead of doing the big weekly purchasing, it's quick and easy. I used to get upset when people try to do things like cut in line. Now I'm, like, "whatever." It's not worth the added stress. I don't know what's going on in their lives that makes them behave that way. I try to save the stress for things that matter more. Like the Mets.

Centerfield Dec 10 2018 03:42 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

Benjamin Grimm wrote: And saying that it's an East Coast thing is too broad a statement. I think it's a New York thing. In Pennsylvania they say "in line" and get confused when I say "on line". New York City thing. In upstate New York, we stand in line.

batmagadanleadoff Dec 10 2018 03:51 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

batmagadanleadoff wrote: The stupid artichoke not only agrees, but tells him that she'll stay on her line until the last possible second, when he's about to be checked out, so as not to inconvenience herself too much. I totally misinterpreted this. The wife stayed on her line until the last possible moment, not out of a sense of convenience, but just in case her line exhibited a last second burst of movement and she somehow, got to the front of her line before her husband got to the front of his line. In that case, she would've claimed that she was on THAT line all along instead of on my line, and her husband would've thought he had the right to then link up with her and cut everybody on her line. These creeps were aiming to squeeze every last drop of advantage with their stupid scam.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 10 2018 03:53 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

The fastest-line game has to end as soon as the trailing traffic arrives. That's just right

batmagadanleadoff Dec 10 2018 03:59 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: The fastest-line game has to end as soon as the trailing traffic arrives. That's just right Yeah. Which is another way of saying, I think, that a person is free to switch lines as often as they like --- provided they go on the back of whatever line they're getting on.

d'Kong76 Dec 10 2018 04:11 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

I use both in and on.

Benjamin Grimm Dec 10 2018 04:29 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

Centerfield wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: And saying that it's an East Coast thing is too broad a statement. I think it's a New York thing. In Pennsylvania they say "in line" and get confused when I say "on line". New York City thing. In upstate New York, we stand in line. Not just New York City but Long Island too.

Frayed Knot Dec 10 2018 06:12 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

If the city playground origin of the phrase is accurate, it likely spread from the city as those kids grew up and carried it with them to the surrounding suburbs and one would think that 'In' starts to take over the further one gets from areas likely to have large numbers of ex-NYC'ers (and their offspring) hanging around. I also tend to use both 'In' and 'On' interchangeably to the point where neither has ever sounded wrong or even slightly unusual to me.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Dec 12 2018 09:34 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

batmagadanleadoff wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: The fastest-line game has to end as soon as the trailing traffic arrives. That's just right Yeah. Which is another way of saying, I think, that a person is free to switch lines as often as they like --- provided they go on the back of whatever line they're getting on. As far as linesmanship goes, I'm okay with it-- or at least to the point of letting sh#t slide-- as long as it's 2-3 items. It's just minor assholery then-- and a brand of same (full disclosure) in which I've engaged once or twice, when in a CRAZY hurry-- rather than a full-on shopping-day grift.

Frayed Knot Dec 12 2018 10:14 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

Yeah, that's the thing. In the case I described, had the husband simply given the cart to the wife while he searched for one or two more items and then joined her a minute or so later -- and while it would be a bit sleazy to make a regular practice of that -- I would have had no problem as he slid past me and added those to the already being rung-up total. But, instead, he keeps control of the cart (I'm the man in the house!!!!) while instructing her to squat at the open aisle they spotted with the assumption that this gives them the claim to be first whenever he got around to returning.

d'Kong76 Dec 12 2018 10:23 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

Years ago when I was a kid 'no cutsies' meant no cutsies!

Edgy MD Dec 12 2018 10:25 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

And backsies was complete bullshit. Frayed Knot wrote: The only adventure I had remotely similar to this (a bunch of years ago) involved a fairly large tough-guy looking dude and his somewhat younger wife (had the look of a trophy wife situation only a less expensive version than the usual CEO + obvious second spouse stereotype). They split up as he goes to grab something else while she heads towards what I'm assuming is the front door togo get the car started, or maybe cross the parking lot to the CVS, while he finishes up. I'm assuming this because she has NO items in the cart she's pushing. But then she suddenly stops while walking through an otherwise empty check-out lane causing me to nearly crash into her on account of my assumption that she's going to keep going. My stopping short was I think the first time she even realizes that there was someone behind her at which point she at least has enough manners to say "Oh sorry, you go first" -- as opposed, I suppose, to her, me, and the checkout girl all standing there staring off into space on account of her not actually buying anything. I realized what she & he were trying to pull once he pulled in 30 seconds or so later confused as to why she wasn't first in line. "Who said you could cut in front of my wife?" he asks. "Umm, she did" I cleverly replied, a reply which was augmented by a brief nod from her confirming that, yes, she did indeed "allow" me to go ahead. He then at least had enough manners to apologize -- twice IIRC, once right then and again as I was walking away -- although I couldn't help believing that, if not for the confirming nod, immediate violence, or at least the threat of it, was to be his standard go-to option. I've thought about this a lot since first reading it. This guy is clearly psychotic and should at be monitored with an ankle bracelet.

d'Kong76 Dec 12 2018 10:33 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

Not familiar with backsies. Do overs were law too, so long as not overused.

Edgy MD Dec 12 2018 01:11 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

Backsies was a junior high lunch line maneuver. "Hey, dude, c'mere. You can cut everybody behind me, but not me." Fwhat?

Benjamin Grimm Dec 12 2018 01:14 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

I remember it as frontsies-backsies. I would let you in front of me with the understanding that you would immediately return the favor.

Frayed Knot Dec 12 2018 01:32 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

Edgy MD wrote: I've thought about this a lot since first reading it. This guy is clearly psychotic and should at be monitored with an ankle bracelet. Well, you and I might both be reading a bit too much into what he said and how he said it with our conclusion of implied violence. Not that there wasn't a definite degree of arrogance involved in figuring that a person with no cart and no actual items could simply 'reserve' a place in line for some indeterminate amount of time and that if the scam didn't work that it must have been caused by a line-barging situation on my part. But on a pure entitlement scale, I don't think this couple comes close to the pair BatMags dealt with. At least the female half of my pair realized immediately that what they planned to do wasn't kosher with me so close behind, and then even he understood that his arrogant question was off base without first knowing the facts. But Lord & Lady Linecutter of New Jersey there apparently feel themselves so entitled that they're going to go to their graves believing that they weren't even involved in a scam and have probably tried and/or succeeded to pull it off at least twice since.

Vic Sage Dec 12 2018 01:51 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

Here's something I do: I go to a movie theater with my wife and/or child. We go to the concession stand. Instead of having a single line that feeds into the various concession stations (like they have when you buy tickets at the front of the house, which is the fairest, most efficient method of lining up), you have to just choose a line to stand in (or on). Shorter lines don't always move faster (depends on the employee working that line), and there's no "shopping cart" to determine whose going to buy more stuff; it's just a random crap shoot. So I wait on one line while my wife/child waits in another; whoever gets to the head of their line first places the order for the family and is joined by the other person. Is this assholery? why?

Benjamin Grimm Dec 12 2018 01:58 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

I've done that too. I don't think it's assholery, because it doesn't actually cost anybody else any time. At worst, it makes the lines look longer than they are, but the people who are in the line that's abandoned get the benefit of moving up one notch on the line.

Frayed Knot Dec 12 2018 02:08 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

Vic Sage wrote: Is this assholery? why? No. Because while it may be possible to argue that the folks in your line (assuming yours is the one that moved fastest) are slightly inconvenienced by you ordering food for four rather than just for one, they had no idea that you weren't going to do that anyway so there's no bait and switch here. In the meantime, your wife and son and daughter abandoning their lines benefit those behind them. Assholery? Hell, I think you're doing the movie house patrons -- nay, the planet!! -- a service.

batmagadanleadoff Dec 12 2018 02:22 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

Vic Sage wrote: Here's something I do: I go to a movie theater with my wife and/or child. We go to the concession stand. Instead of having a single line that feeds into the various concession stations (like they have when you buy tickets at the front of the house, which is the fairest, most efficient method of lining up), you have to just choose a line to stand in (or on). Shorter lines don't always move faster (depends on the employee working that line), and there's no "shopping cart" to determine whose going to buy more stuff; it's just a random crap shoot. So I wait on one line while my wife/child waits in another; whoever gets to the head of their line first places the order for the family and is joined by the other person. Is this assholery? why? This is very clever and I approve for the reasons already stated. Besides, a person on line intending to buy just one diet coke has the right to change their mind while on line and instead buy four diet cokes. And four boxes of milk duds. So you can justify it that way. Supermarket shopping wagon lines are a whole different dynamic.

Vic Sage Dec 12 2018 02:32 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

i feel better now. thank you.

batmagadanleadoff Dec 12 2018 06:56 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

Vic Sage wrote: i feel better now. thank you. But what about this one: You're on that line in the movie theater. You reach the front of your line. As soon as the person in front of you pays for his stuff, you're next. There are six people now behind you on your line. Suddenly, out of nowhere, some acquaintance of yours notices you and says hello. He was about to get on the back of your line but instead asks you to order and pick up for him three large popcorns, three large cokes and three big boxes of milk duds. He'll pay you when you get off the line. What if he asks you in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear? What if he walks up to you and whispers his request?

MFS62 Dec 12 2018 07:18 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

batmagadanleadoff wrote: i feel better now. thank you. But what about this one: You're on that line in the movie theater. You reach the front of your line. As soon as the person in front of you pays for his stuff, you're next. There are six people now behind you on your line. Suddenly, out of nowhere, some acquaintance of yours notices you and says hello. He was about to get on the back of your line but instead asks you to order and pick up for him three large popcorns, three large cokes and three big boxes of milk duds. He'll pay you when you get off the line. What if he asks you in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear? What if he walks up to you and whispers his request? It depends on how good an acquaintance he is, and how big and mean the people behind you in line look. Later

Rockin' Doc Dec 12 2018 08:37 PM Re: Adventures in line cutting

batmagadanleadoff wrote: i feel better now. thank you. But what about this one: You're on that line in the movie theater. You reach the front of your line. As soon as the person in front of you pays for his stuff, you're next. There are six people now behind you on your line. Suddenly, out of nowhere, some acquaintance of yours notices you and says hello. He was about to get on the back of your line but instead asks you to order and pick up for him three large popcorns, three large cokes and three big boxes of milk duds. He'll pay you when you get off the line. What if he asks you in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear? What if he walks up to you and whispers his request? They may be an acquaintance, but they don't seem like much of a friend.

Vic Sage Dec 14 2018 10:01 AM Re: Adventures in line cutting

the people behind me have no way to anticipate what anybody in front of them may order. So if I order 4 boxes of popcorn instead of 1, how does that effect them? If i'd ordered that for my family, they'd have no grumble coming. But if i order it for a friend, suddenly i'm breaking line etiquette? i mean, i wouldn't do it unless it was a good friend, but that's just because its a pain for me and an acquaintance doesn't rate that inconvenience, not because it's somehow unfair to the other people on line.