Lorna at Vicenza

Plenty of evil eyed little Italian ladies too.

I'm working on my own evil eye ....... practising it on the kids

Domino

does this evil eyed little old lady thing come with age, practice or both ??
do they have evening classes like WeightWatchers ??

lynnxa

I have mine off pat - my kids, OH & now even my dad know when I mean business

lynnxa

from practice I reckon - that & having kids to practise on...........

Lynn R

The whole "Quien es la ultima" thing does my head in. We have noticed, though, that Spanish people seem quite capable of queuing in the accepted sense of the word, ie in a line, when there is something being given away for free, though - I wonder why that is?

As for bus queues, the worst offenders for pushing in are the Germans, if allowed to get away with it - if my OH is with me he is very rude about them, very loudly!

In general I find the Spanish really nice, but why is it that they don't seem to have any sense of space, in that they like to walk 3 or 4 abreast or stand about in groups chatting on the pavement (or in the middle of the supermarket), oblivious of the fact that no-one else can get past?

bil

Yeah, that gets my goat at times too.

Ray51

For queing disciplinedly , Belgians ( a very ageing population ) are among the world's worst , least civilsed and selfishly ruthless - I prefer Zulus to them in that respect . If they can they'll cut in unfairly , wherever : parking spots , trains , trams , post offices , shops...!
Most better supermarkets now have self-scanner hand-held apparatus ( but the old people don't grasp that system ) , so , for me : no need to queue behind some fuddy-daddies who forget to put their goods on a moving belt , then they get reminded to do it ( slow motion ) , then observe hawkishly how every price is input , then the stuff gets packed into bags and then ?
Oh , what a nasty surprise ! someone is expected to pay , even !
That's when the search starts all over the punter's body , with females : rummaging and digging throght their bags forever ;
eventually , a wallet or purse gets produced , so then the inspection starts ...aargh , not the right money ? O.K. we can negotiate ways and means around this , a bank card , a cash-back , whatever ; and they just love to talk for as long as poss. , as the shopping is more about social intercourse , than about gathering the stuff ! it can and does often take forever and I can doze off there...knowing full well that in that time I could have had my breakfast and driven half way into Germany or France or to Knokke on our north-Atlantic coast .

bil

So very true. When we hit the supermarket belt, by the time the cashier has finished and wants paying, most of our stuff is bagged away and ready to go.

I watch the ones like you say, for whom it comes as a shock to realise that yes, you do need to pay, you do need to put your things in your bag, you do need to engage brain.....

Domino

the English do that all the time, knowing full well they are taking up alot of space
No Problemo - I just push through saying "'Scusi" loudly
works every time, the OH normally walks the regulation 3 paces behind me to get the maximum benefit

Ray51

Maybe , but when I get to any of my local supermarkets , at 8-8.30 in the morning and over 3 lousy items ( 1 fresh crispy croissant , some orange juice and a bit of skimmed milk ) , if I have forgotten the self-scanner then I have to waste half-an-hour , I don't find that funny ; too many people are just too unspeakably difficult , act as if they just arrived from Mars or generally don't give a damn about anyone else's time and space .
( Doesn't happen in Germany or north Switzerland or Austria , but there they don't sell a great croissant and good fresh orange juice with pulp in it ! Doesn't happen in Waitrose or M & S either , except that the pastries there are heavy thick rubbish , don't know about the OJ ! )

jonboy

I have found that some older people only get to interact with another human in their daily life at the point of making a purchase, as a result they are inclined to prolong the experience, causing those behind them to become agitated. It is a sad fact that as we get older we often lose more than we gain.

Regards
jonboy

agoreira

I could just see you trying that on in some of the less desirable areas of London! You'd be brown bread, man!

Lynn R

And when you do finally make it to the front of the supermarket queue, the cashier dashes off to kiss and coo over somebody's baby - that's the signal to light blue touchpaper and retire as far as my OH is concerned!

Domino

I know, have considered walking off and leaving it all on the conveyor, but I wouldn't be there if I didn't want the damned stuff.

jackytoo

I once left mine on the belt in Supersol. Only one till open as a quiet time. 2 people in front of me. When it got to me she said "till closed" The other member of staff had decided to open another till while she went off for a break. I asked why she didn't tell me she was going to close but just got a shrug. So I left it. I then had to go to another shop and waste some more time, but it did make me feel better