I always let people go ahead of me if they only have a few items. Unlike the woman with not one, not two, but three kids in diapers and 2 kids on formula and was pregnant who used 3 different WIC checks as three different transactions and also had coupons up the wazoo for items that she was apparently not even buying. The poor cashier had a call a manager three times to help. That was a real exercise in patience. I almost had to leave the store I was so upset. It took me 28 minutes to check out.

Did I mention it was 9:30pm and I was doing my family's grocery shopping after working a 12 hour day? Argggh!

But, I digress...

Run to get something if you must, but do not complain if I jump ahead if the transaction in front is completed and your stuff is just sitting there on the belt and I have two items.

I think the issue is that if the transaction in front is not completed, and no one is slowed down, but I digress.

Being a mother of 3 and pregnant and low-income is probably a very, very difficult situation to be in and probably requires a lot more patience than having to wait in line.

Yeah -- I figured someone would take issue with my post.

However, she and her young friend were buying $30.00 hair products, talking on their bedazzled cell phones and wearing Juicy Couture sweatsuits while ignoring the cashier's questions. Forgive me for stereotyping, but I have a hard time imagining how Juicy Couture clothes and $30 hair straightener fits in a fixed budget. *shrug*

I did for a moment consider that perhaps her husband was deployed or deceased, but this did not appear to be the case. And, she was not gracious at all about holding up the the line.

Anyway, it was just a story about being held up in line and not letting others go ahead when you know you're going to have a long or complicated transaction...

Yeah, I just think that when people post on certain stereotypes, you really have no way of knowing where they are coming from. Is this something they focus on? A one-time occurrence? Do they have concerns with people in that group? If you don't know the poster, you don't know their intention, ya know?

Is it important that this person has a cellphone or what they are wearing? Not really. Without knowing the poster, one doesn't know how to interpret the comments, that can come across as stereotyping one particular group, or showing a disliking or disdain of a group, when really, the focus should just be on having to wait in line.

Of course, I am probably guilty of stereotyping the person with the hummer who takes my parking space and feels entitled while drinking their soy latte, but, eh......

I am also aware when I shop that someone could look at my items (sugar-free this and that) and roll their eyes to the back of their head, or when I am having a hard day and willingly buy junk food, they may be "tsking" under their breath. I guess I feel that it is more acceptable if it is somene from the group I am representing, i.e., another obese person, etc. Sort of like how your family and friends can tease you, but others cannot.

The "people going up the shoulder in cars" thing drives me nuts too. But I try, typically, to imagine that those people have somewhere really urgent to be.

Actually, it's funny - my wife is a florist and she was recently delivering flowers for a funeral service for a baby that had passed away during childbirth - almost $5000 worth of flowers for that service, in two separate vans. The freeway between where we are and where the funeral was has pretty much no workarounds, you have to take it, so she always leaves tons of extra time, but in this case, the freeway had some sort of catastrophic closure and it was almost entirely stopped. Her choices were to not delivery the tribute flowers on time (heartbreaking for a family that was already going through a terrible time, to say nothing of the financial aspects) or to drive on the shoulder the 2 miles to the next exit so she could drive around the closure. A trucker pulled over in the lane to block her, and she got out, explained the situation, and he let her through. So, you know, there's always a chance that there's a REALLY GOOD REASON. Or so I try to tell myself when my blood is boiling.

I agree. The people in traffic that run up to the end and cut in drive me crazy. But then, I have a couple of merges on my commute home. People don't seem to get the concept of merge. (Imagine fingers lacing together) They treat me like I am trying to cut in front. I'm not, I'm just taking the space I am supposed to. Whatever. I don't let it get to me too much.

I like to operate on the philosophy of "Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

I really like your quote--I think it is something I should adopt, but it is a struggle to take yourself out of your emotions for a second.