The Middle and Pensionable Age in the Queue at Sainsburys

10th December 2009 15 Comments

I nearly committed murder today, twice. I thought I would be brave and go to Sainsbury London Colney, this is a large out of town ‘superstore’ with a Marks and Spencer, Next, Boots etc attached. The parking is awful, but I figured that as it was early on a weekday it wouldn’t be so bad. Anyhow, as expected the mother and baby parking spaces appeared to be full of pensioners jostling with each other, so I ended up parking miles away from anywhere no trolleys in sight, but where once I was trying to get Fifi out of the car appeared to be the busiest route in the car park. Still, thems the breaks, fancy expecting to be able to park at the supermarket in one of the TOO few mother and baby spaces.

At breakneck speed we located a trolley with a wobbly wheel, a wet seat and a dirty old bit of bread lying in the bottom. Lovely, it would be so nice if they cleaned them occasionally wouldn’t it. Oh, yes, I forgot, if all their customers don’t get Swine Flu they wont make so much in the way of profits from cold and flu remedies.

I strolled around the store, having to wait for minutes at each item as there was inevitably someone else blocking it with their trolley full of booze. Not to worry, its not like I don’t have all day or anything. I mean, babies don’t need feeding, toddlers don’t need picking up from pre-school, I don’t have any other sort of life.

To the tills, I approach one and start queuing up, a middle aged woman with a basket comes along pushes in front of me with a smile. Let it go I think, t’is only a basket. Then her husband comes along with an over flowing trolley. What to do? I’m British. Oh, god the clock is ticking. I’ll just go to another till. I move away from where I am standing and head directly at speed to the next till. Quick as a flash a couple of pensioners moving faster than I have ever seen the elderly move barge in front of me. I think I am either going to cry or scream. Hold on a minute. I don’t have to, as Fifi is doing it for me. Then I notice all the looks. I say loudly that I am ‘JUST GOING TO LEAVE THIS BLOODY TROLLEY’. People look at me knowingly. Then I think, why should I? I wait and wait, then ‘pushing in’ pensioners then finished their shopping and pay and STAND THERE CHATTING for five minutes. I think, primarily, to hold me up further.

At that moment, the till supervisor comes over, I explain what has happened and how cross I am and how this seems to frequently happen when I shop here. It has never happened at Tescos. ‘It’s this time of year love, nothing we can do’. Well actually, yes there is something that you can do. YOU CAN OPEN ANOTHER TILL.

So anyhow, I have been thinking on this and I am going to start a new campaign. I am dammed if I am going to pay for food deliveries from the supermarket when you don’t end up with half the shopping you wanted. No, supermarkets should install Mother and Baby Tills during the peak hours for Mother and Baby Shopping. These tills will have dedicated staff, no pensioners to poke prod breathe on babies, there will be no sweets lining the way, the staff will not engage in chit-chat, but push the stuff through as quickly as possible. Anyone else with me on this one?

Claire Walsh

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15 Comments

  • Muddling Along Mummy 10th December 2009 at 1:59 pm

    Ouch – that sounds horrid<br /><br />Am impressed you didn&#39;t do what I would and unleash your inner fishwife when barged in on – am not very good at being British about things like that

  • Vic 10th December 2009 at 2:59 pm

    Totally behind you! M&amp;B spaces should come with one of those lockable bollards, keys to be provided to all mothers upon the joining of the points card&#39;s M&amp;B club. <br /><br />In Brasil they have dedicated tills for OAPs/disabled people/pregnant women/parents with small kids. You still have to queue but the queues are never quite so bad.

  • The Dotterel 10th December 2009 at 4:25 pm

    And another thing (I&#39;m with you all the way, incidentally)… why do they <i>always</i> want to go shopping when it&#39;s busiest. I mean, these people have all day, every day and yet they&#39;re there on Friday night and all-day Saturday as well as Wednesday market day. Oh, comfort and joy…

  • SnafflesMummy 10th December 2009 at 4:26 pm

    I am surprised you didnt poke them in the eye! <br /><br />I think they should move mother and baby car parkine spaces as far away from the shop as possible. I dont mind having to walk as long as I can get my child in and out of the car. That might shop the lazy and the disabled parking in them. <br /><br />As for tills I am sure they could do more. At this time of year i would hope they had

  • Heather 10th December 2009 at 4:30 pm

    argh, sounds like a nightmare shopping trip. I&#39;d have gone for the jugular i think if anyone pushed in front of me like that.<br /><br />Mother and baby isles sounds great!

  • Karin @ Cafe Bebe 10th December 2009 at 4:49 pm

    Oh dear…what a miserable shopping experience. I think you should write to Sainsbury&#39;s with the link to this post and explain how many visitors you get EACH DAY. There might be compensation in it for you!<br /><br />In the US, they have started doing checkouts with NO SWEETIES in them…in support of the parents who don&#39;t want to contend with children grabbing at the goodies. Perhaps

  • iCKLE 10th December 2009 at 4:57 pm

    i think we&#39;ve all been there! drives me nuts!!! i just shop on-line now, not a pensioner in sight! i will be supporting your campaign tho, brilliant idea xxx

  • Insomniac Mummy 10th December 2009 at 5:07 pm

    I like a bit of trolley rage. <br /><br />I almost got rugby tackled out of the way by a pensioner one Christmas in Asda. I wouldn&#39;t have been so bothered had there not been THOUSANDS of carrots left. Sigh.<br /><br />I think dedicated tills at peak hours could be a good idea. Would save alot of those rolly eyed critical stares you get for deigning to take your offspring to the supermarket.<

  • Suki-Lou 10th December 2009 at 6:55 pm

    Omg, I am so with you…I don&#39;t think I could have kept quiet when the old folks pushed in…I probably would have lost my rag tbh! I recently found some &#39;secret&#39; m&amp;b parking at my local tescos, which are normally filled with White Vans…grr…tempting to park behind them &amp; block them in! Saying that, my local sainsbury&#39;s have widened all their spaces &amp; therefore m&

  • Geriatric Mummy 10th December 2009 at 10:01 pm

    Sounds horrific. I&#39;m afraid I just couldn&#39;t cope with this sort of situation so I sit at home drinking tea whilst waiting for the nice man from Ocado to know on my door. I&#39;ve never had anything out of staock and i pay £10 a month for unlimited deliveries – so I have two a week ! This is not a sponsored comment by the way 😉

  • Metropolitan Mum 11th December 2009 at 10:21 am

    I have to say, the Sainsbury&#39;s in Islington is absolutely fabulous. PLenty of tills, not a long waiting time, very helpful shop assistants. Same thing for IKEA. Went there on Tuesday and expected mayhem, but nope, all went well and smooth.<br /><br />If you should ever want to come my way, let me know. We can rock Sainsbury&#39;s together and go for a stroll on Upper Street afterwards.<br /><

  • Laura McIntyre 11th December 2009 at 10:20 pm

    I find online shopping great :)<br /><br />We use Asda and never have problems, honestly i will never go back to shopping in actual shops again lol

  • april 12th December 2009 at 1:04 am

    brilliant idea – with you all the way on that one. Am still grumpy about how difficult shopping was with little ones and my littlest is 7 now 🙂

  • Brit in Bosnia / Fraught Mummy 12th December 2009 at 7:35 am

    I&#39;ve now spent long enough in a country that has not heard of queues to have sharpened my elbows sufficiently to cope. <br /><br />But what is it with pensioners, whichever country you are in? They are ALWAYS the worst!<br /><br />So with you on a till that has no sweets. Why do they do that to us? You have to take your eye off the children, you need to unload the trolley so you can pay for

  • Sandy Calico 13th December 2009 at 2:23 pm

    I&#39;m with you, where do I sign?<br />I shop online quite a lot. Ocado always deliver everything you order. I figure it&#39;s worth £3.50 not to have to go to the supermarket!

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