Not the other customers. It is FREEZING in the store, year round, but of course, worst in summer. I avoid going there as much as possible.

Not only do I hate the clueless people who block the aisles, but I hate all those display things stoes put in the already too narrow aisles which make it even more crowded.

People reaching into bulk food bins with their dirty hands to snack... Nothing gets me out of there faster! I shudder just thinking about it...

I usually go to the grocery store at 8:00 am on a Saturday--it makes for a very enjoyable shopping experience.

Also not having enough cashiers in the check out line! I often have to wait upwards of 20 minutes to pay for my items.

Being out of (or I can't find) ONE CRUCIAL THING. Happens to me all the time, and necessitates a trip to a different market.

1) Not having enough check out lines open either early on a weekend morning or early after noon and getting stuck behind an Elderly Citizen who insists on writing a check. Who writes checks?

2) Digging through bags of lettuce to find one that won't expire in two days.

I have lots of pet peeves, but blocking the aisles is by far the worst. It's compounded by the fact that my grocery store is too small (in terms of shopper volume, not square footage) to even have full sized carts; they need to switch them out for those mini-carts that they have at Whole Foods (with basket on the top and on the bottom). This adds to my pet peeves such items as "people who use a cart when they could get away with a basket."

The temperature! I'll grocery shop with my gloves on. Does it really need to be so cold?!

The check writer!!!

oops, I saw choice 1 as the very slow check-out person!

Strangers who want to start up a conversation when I'm just wanting to get food. (I'm a shy person.)

People, especially kids, who want to touch my hair while I'm in the check out lane. I have long hair and people seem to think it's ok to touch it and go "Oh your hair is so long and pretty!" suddenly and without permission. I've had people even hold up their kids so they can grab a handful. (Ouch.)

I need a hamster bubble sometimes when I go to the grocery.

My biggest pet peeve with some of the local food stores: over-packaged produce (vegetables placed on a styrofoam tray, then wrapped in several layers of plastic wrap). So sad! I vote with my wallet and never buy them.

People on their cell phones! They're either a) on their blue tooth and it takes you a minute to figure out if they're crazy or just on the phone b) having a personal conversation that the ENTIRE aisle can hear... usually blocking aisles at the same time c) trying to pay while on the phone... always takes longer. Just put your phone down for the 20 minutes you're in there people!

Definitely the general grossness of my fellow shoppers. I stood in line once as a little girl sucked on a pint of ice cream (lid off, plastic cover in place). Then I watched in amazement as her mother put the lid back on and instructed her older kid to go put the ice cream back in the freezer. Disgusting! Another time, I parked my car and stepped out only to have my foot land on a dirty diaper there in the parking lot.

Beyond that, I'm mostly annoyed by slow cashiers. I rue the day my local grocery store took out the self-serve checkout lanes. Also, telling them twice that I brought bags and still having them start to put my groceries in plastic!

I feel like the grocery store is the one place you can't complain about people's kids. Complain about people bringing them to restaurants, the movies, airplanes whatever, but people NEED to buy food and getting a sitter for a weekly trip to the grocery store is too much to expect IMO.

anyway. I don't like when people aren't aware of their surroundings and like leave their cart in front of important things or decide congregating in front of the chobani is ok >:I

Baggers who put the gallon of milk in a bag. IT HAS A HANDLE, I don't need an extra plastic bag (especially when I brought my own reusable ones)

@ WHALERMEG: Just because people "have" to shop, doesn't mean they don't have to pay attention to/control their children.

I'm with whalermeg about the kids to a degree- kids in the store are fine. I've had a screaming baby in the store with me and its part of life, but I have issue with the kids throwing cereal boxes on the floor or manhandling all the fruit because mommy won't teach her child to act like a human in public.

My biggest is definitely the cart aisle blockers. I swear it doesn't matter when I go to the grocery, but especially during daylight hours-maybe its a dallas thing (cause rich stay at home moms seem to rule this town) its the moms in workout clothes who've probably never set foot in the gym with the stroller with screaming baby, cart, giant purse, coffee, on her phone standing around with their cart and crap diagonal in the lane chit chatting on the phone rendering it impossible to move past and give you snotty looks when you do or politely say excuse me and try to get by. Or worse, you see their cart with baby stroller and all just sitting ther...no mom in sight! I've waited in an aisle looking for the parents of an abandoned cart and child and maybe a minute or so later had yoga pants mama come sauntering up texting with yogurt in her hand that was on the other side of the store. Then I get weird looks when I'm waiting with your kid worried you abandoned them for some yoplait.

@earthy cruncher: i agree completely.

parents with little kids at the grocery store (or target, or anywhere): if your child is screaming, please don't ignore them. yes, i understand that children scream, and yes, i understand parenting is stressful, but at least ask your child what is wrong. see what the issue is. help everyone to be able to shop in peace.

biggest grocery store annoyance...aisle blockers. groups of people who have no idea that others are around them.

My wife heading for the freezer and refrigerated items before the paper and dry goods so they melt or heat up during our grocery trip.

Those little kiddie-sized shopping carts with a flag that says "shopper in training". Put the kid in your own cart or leave him with a neighbor. He'll figure out how to shop like the rest of us did and there'll be more room in the crowded aisles for the real shoppers.

Another vote for displays blocking the aisles.

Anecdote! Last time I was at the grocery store there was a couple with a toddler in front of me in the 12 items or fewer line. They had a basket full of groceries and decided that now would be the best time to teach their little dear to help out. So, they had her removing items from the basket on the floor and walking them to her mother 5 feet away at the checkout station. Of course, this took repeated asking and every time she would pick up an item and just throw it on the floor first. This included a package of meat, a head of lettuce, a box of cereal, etc. Not only did it slow the line down, but it left a mess for the employees to clean up. At least one employee was staring them down making sure they actually bought the items she dumped on the floor.

Anyway, with a few extreme exceptions kids aren't too bad. I get much more annoyed by the clueless slow shoppers blocking the aisle. Just pull to the side! And take you headphones out so you can hear when I say excuse me!

Forget people who still write cheques - there are grocery stores that still accept cheques?!

My biggest pet peeve is certain shoppers at my local grocery store who choose to ignore the line and cut in front. I just can't bring myself to get into an argument with short elderly ladies, but when it's 6pm on a weekday and I just want to get the hell out of there, it's hard to feel charitable.

I second Nannypoo, and we're really talking Trader Joe's here, which otherwise I mostly love. But it's bad enough to have to deal with adults leaving their carts all over the place, THEN we have to navigate around "little shoppers" who have no sense of direction or speed-appropriateness. I don't blame the kids for this (I'd race carts down the aisle if I was 5, too, given the chance), I blame the parents and I blame, mostly, Trader Joe's.

Rude people. Just rude people. Be nice to each other, goodness!! And return your darn cart!!

It is a toss up between rude hipsters and cell phone isle blockers.

A combination of space cadet parents and their screaming kids that they ignore. Taking up the entire aisle on a Sunday afternoon when I am trying to briskly do my shopping with just a handheld basket and you cant get your kid to respond to me saying "excuse me" is obnoxious.

People who get argumentative when their coupons are expired, invalid, etc. and argue with the checkout person. Read the fine print before!

I think these will fall under convenience or laziness...

People changing their mind on frozen / chilled goods and leaving it on a random shelf. If not buying, please put it back. Don't spoil perfectly good food which all customers pay for in the end.

People parking shopping carts behind other vehicles! It's really not that far to put it back in the coral. My car has been dinged by people leaving them behind.

My biggest pet peeve: people who block aisles, shelves, and self-check out registers, totally oblivious to the fact that there are OTHER PEOPLE shopping too.

Running second is shopping carts that are too big for the aisles in the store or vice versa, aisles that are so jammed with stuff that you can barely get one cart down the aisle (Asian supermarkets, I'm looking at you here).

My pet peeve are those massive plastic shopping carts that are 2 times the size of a regular grocery cart. They take up an entire aisle and the people pushing them can't control them when they're loaded with kids and groceries to feed the entire family. I've been rammed more times than I can count (as both a shopper and former cashier). I blame grocery stores for carrying them, not the parents forced to use them because their toddlers think they're awesome.

Biggest peeves are grocery-store displays in the aisle -- I've (accidently, I swear) taken down one filled with glass jars of jelly. I'm also aggravated with sackers who can't sack. Seriously, bread doesn't go on the bottom, meat/poultry should be laying flat so it doesn't leak, don't mix dry, paper/cardboard packaged goods with wet produce or frozen foods. I've given up on watching the prices I'm being (mis)charged because I'm so focused on how my food is being thrown in the bag. And yes, I do actually "organize" my groceries on the belt so similar items are together, thinking I'm actually helping out.

There is nothing I hate more than the obstacle course resulting from dodging running, screaming children. The grocery store is not a playground. Mothers needs to watch their children, make sure they behave, make sure they are out of people's way to a reasonable extent, make sure they talk at appropriate volumes, or otherwise, take them home.

Wow. Just Wow.

I thought this question would be directed at the stores themselves, not fellow shoppers. I may now never be able to go grocery shopping outside of the 2 AM slot at my local 24/7 for fear of all your judgements.

The grocery store and farmers markets are among the few true agoras left in this society of ours.

I like bumping into my neighbors, I don't mind if someone uses a check (it's none of my business how you handle your finances), and people with unruly kids? Well, I'm not a parent and I don't know how their day is going. A little patience with our fellow humans might not be remiss here people. For shame.

Oh, 3CULPRITS, I so agree with you too. The baggers that don't know how to bag drive me insane too. I separate my items into categories on the belt to encourage proper bagging techniques, but it doesn't always work. There's always a cantaloupe crushing my tomatoes and cilantro, a canned good with my bread, or my cereal with a bag of frozen shrimp.

Dear sweet MARYWYNN, it is not unreasonable for people to want parents to pay attention to their children. I will not be shamed for believing that there are proper ways to behave in public, and it is a parent's job to teach their children what that proper behavior is.

people who don't bag their own groceries!!!!!

Empty shelves. x2 weeks of something I really need. When people talk about the economy and how people aren't buying, maybe it's because the products aren't there.

I hate abandoned shopping carts in the parking lot! Especially when you half-way pull into what you think is an empty parking space and realize there's a cart there!

Let me just say that I hate aisle blockers and when people ignore their children (my sister does this and it drives me nuts). But as someone who's been accused of both, I think a bit more empathy would go a long way.

When I block an aisle, I need to be told. I have Asperger's and it makes it 300% harder for me to know when I'm in your way or not.

Also, just because my daughter is making noise and I'm not hushing her or in her face, doesn't always mean she's being ignored. Sometimes all she wants is to not be looked at and to keep walking. I'd love to leave the store with her every time she gets like this, but it doesn't always work out.

People who touch bulk bin food with their bare hands = hands chopped off at wrist (or whatever the reasonable equivalent is)

It's funny how I don't notice the behavior of other customers; that's not something the grocery store can control, nor can I.

Y'all are making me appreciate my small-town grocery store, where they just remodeled so that aisles are wider (even for the shopping carts with little cars on the front for kids), the restrooms are accessible, and the produce department is lovely.

I like that the employees who are doing midday stocking duties always politely say "Excuse me" if I'm trying to get through, and always ask if I'm finding everything okay. If they don't carry something I'd like to have (ex: steel-cut oats), I have asked the manager about it and he follows up to let me know when they have it.

They don't have a lot of organics, and they don't sell wine. There's no gourmet section or fresh sushi. But they're polite, they value my business, and they double coupons. The baggers usually offer to help me out to my car with the groceries as well (unless they're swamped or there's a senior citizen or mom with more kids who clearly needs help more than I do).

Missjulia - I love to bag my own groceries, but the fact is that I live more than 30 miles from the grocery store and there's a mountain pass in between, so when I go for my grocery shopping trip each week or so, I'm buying a lot and self-bagging is not an option. If I'm busy bagging, than I'm not unloading the cart. Also, many of the stores here have check-out stations where it's almost impossible to bag yourself (that includes you Trader Joes, who seems to think it's ok to put items for sale ON the check-out counter).

DD Lizzy, thank you.

I'm perfectly okay with kids in stores, yelling, screaming, tantrum throwing, whatever, because yes, kids have their bad days and people need to eat.

BUT I draw the line at kids destroying store property and unhygenic behaviour. Is it too much to ask that parents make sure their kids aren't knocking down store displays, breaking things, or grabbing produce with their filthy diseased ridden booger encrusted hands? I once watched a pair of runny nosed siblings grabbing apples and throwing them on the floor and kicking them around for entertainment. The mother turned back to them after leisurely picking out her own apples, picked the apples up off the floor, and put them back in the box for other shoppers. That's DISGUSTING. If your kid is having THAT bad a day, then they should not be in the store, because they are endangering the health of others, and last time I checked, it is still a crime to destroy other people's property and the parents are liable if the kid commits a crime.

Foodefafa - ha. My peeve is similar - the parents who think it's adorable to let their kid count out the money for the cashier, usually in small change, for a little math lesson at the register. When there are 5+ people in line behind you, it is NOT the time.

My other peeve relates to bagging - why is it that if I bring my own cloth bags to the store, the cashiers will shove 30 lbs. of groceries in each bag, even if I have plenty of extra bags they could have used? Meanwhile, if I use their plastic bags, I get two items max in each (double-bagged) bag. I try to bag my own, but when I can't this always mystifies me.

I just hate the stores that have the check-yourself-out option, but only 1 other lane open with a real person checker. The machines to check yourself out are super slow, designed to exacerbate even the tiniest user error, and just, in general, suck. I've just stopped going to grocery stores where the only options are 1) take forever to check myself out or 2) wait in line for the one checker they have working.

I'm unemployed at the moment, so I've been going to the store in the morning, when all the moms are there. What drives me nuts is when they see someone they know and they both stop in the middle of the aisle to catch up, completely blocking the path and totally oblivious to everyone around them. Then the kids they have with them realize that mom isn't paying attention and start acting up. Yikes.

Ugh, bagging totally is the worst! I already feel guilty when I forget my own bags, but then when the cashiers bag my food, they use 20 million more bags than I would! I understand they are trying to minimize damage to the food, but my milk jug doesn't need its own bag, the BAG of bread doesn't need it's own bag, and the 6 pack of beer that already has a handle DEFINITELY doesn't need 2 bags! Why?

Beyond that, I swear they treat some items like bonus secret items, hiding them in totally illogical places. Usually it's my fault for forgetting time and again that they put certain things I buy regularly in unusual places, but still. I need a treasure map.

This is going to sound really sexist. But if you want to get out quickly, get in the line that is mostly or all men. I swear, they ALWAYS pay in cash.

Rude cashiers. There is a grocery in my neighborhood that I refuse to go to because the cashiers don't address you or make eye contact, and in the off-chance that they have to for some reason, they roll their eyes. I went there once, walked out and then went back in because the cashier forgot to bag my baguette. "Oh its there," she said. And it was. She folded it in half to fit it in the bag.

I am 100 percent with the bag issue. I almost voted OTHER for that reason - it's new day and age. People are going to start using their own bags to be responsible. Yet many baggers look at my totes as though I handed them an alien. Seriously people, retrain your staff. Almost 100 percent of the time they try to slip in a double plastic or paper bag even though I very clearly say "everything can go in my bags, yes, even the meat and leaking stuff. They're cloth. I wash them".

Oh and (sorry for yet another comment) about 50 percent of the time the baggers refuse to bag my stuff if I bring my totes. Yes, I've worked many service / minimum wage jobs but I would have been fired with that attitude. What the hell are they getting paid for?

Dear Grocery Store Bagger,

Please - I've done you a favor by grouping like-items together on the belt. Really, the frozen yogurt shouldn't go on top of the hot rotisserie chicken and I sort of have a problem with my fresh asparagus tasting like drain cleaner. Honestly - I'd bag my order if I could, but the lady behind me in line is pressing me to "move on" and run my card through the reader while she breathes down my neck. So if it's all the same to you, I'll take those eggs right here before put them in the bag under the potatoes. And no, I don't need a double bag, just make them about 83lbs each and I'll be fine.

Thanks, Your grateful customer

This is unrelated to what many have said, but I get irked by my local grocery seemingly every week having a "make a donation to ____ cause" when you checkout. I'm happy to donate here and there but then the next day when I come in and get a loaf of bread and check out and say no thanks I don't need the judgmental looks from the cashier not making there "get donations from customers" quota.

The very slow check writer. WHO WRITES CHECKS?
The space cadet blocking the aisles. Nah
The parent ignoring their misbehaving children. And kids should behave how?
The grocery cart abandoner/nonreturner. I guess the staff should be mad...
The running off to grab one last thing while checking out maneuverer. GUILTY AS CHARGED.

I witnessed a near perfect storm of bad grocery store behavior recently. It was early on a Saturday morning, so the store was mostly quiet, but only a couple of registers were open. The couple checking out ahead of me were almost comically smug and obnoxious. They had a ton of items and were taking their time, talking loudly, giving their toddler impulse buy items to play with (that they had no intention of buying) and finally telling the cashier to wait so they could guess the total. "I think it's $180" "I'm going with $168." "No way, it's more than that." And on and on...

Meanwhile, the man behind me, who just wanted to buy his coconut water and cereal, was losing it. He was muttering loudly about their behavior, dropping lots of f-bombs and slamming his cart up and down in anger. He paced back and forth between our aisle and another one before eventually stomping over to the other. The couple was, of course, oblivious to all of this, but I was honestly a little afraid for a second!

The people who stop to talk to another person in the middle of the isle like it is Happy Hour! I mean, yes, I'm [generally] thrilled to run into friends and neighbors while out, but I don't think the bread isle is the best place to carry on hour-long conversations about your job, your sister's wedding, or your bunyons either.

Gosh I would really love for ALL of the people complaining about older customers in the stores, to truly spend a day with an older person. Understand their everyday lives. Sometimes it is an great act of bravery just to get out of house and get to the grocery store! I live for the day when they are part of the older set and some youngster behind them is them is thinking... "I can't believe that person is using a debit/credit
card!" Believe me that day comes sooner than you think!
If you bring totes in to carry your groceries home in, good for you
but make sure they are clean, replace them every once in a while
I use to bag groceries, I hated those things I have seen everything from
trash to cat poo in them... yuk.. no wonder clerks don't want to deal
with them!

Having said all that.... I hate when there are no windows in a grocery
store... I just can't get out of these places fast enough...probably
a reason I love Trader Joes.. nice big windows!

Emmi, I'm so glad someone else has gotten the same poor attitude from checkers when bringing in your own bags. It's funny that most chain grocery stores around here will give a small discount (5 cents per bag) for bringing your own in, but they don't seem to have trained the cashiers that this is something they want customers to do.

I would say, maybe they need an empty bag caddy thing for cloth bags to make them easier to bag. Oh, if I ran a grocery store...

Oops, I almost forgot a peeve...people who let their little kids run all around the store! I HAVE two little kids, and I'd never dream of letting them roam like some patents do. Grocery store does not equal a playground. Mine stay in/on the cart or right next to me, or they don't get to come. I can't tell you the number of times I've almost ran over a wandering kid with my cart full of groceries. They're too short to see coming!

Aside from misbehaving children (which I don't see much at the grocery store, but see constantly at just about every other store), my main pet peeve is the "I decided I don't want this and I'm too lazy to walk to the other end of the store or wait until I get to the checkout counter and allow a clerk to put it back, I'LL JUST PUT IT RIGHT HERE." What. The. Fuck. Way to be a lazy idiot. I knew someone who worked at the grocery store, and while restocking shelves they found a ROTTING CONTAINER OF CHICKEN on the shelf tucked back behind some other things. If I saw someone putting raw chicken on some random shelf because they just changed their minds about buying it, it would take every ounce of strength I had to resist the urge to cut them in the face. I don't know how some people manage to be so braindead/self-absorbed/horrible, but if I could wish them out of existence, I would.

I work at a Whole Foods and yes, all of the above irk me, both as an employee and as a customer. In addition, people who talk on their phone throughout the whole transaction, people who repeat they're in a hurry but never help to bag, people who watch over + complain about how I pack their bags (which is do very precisely + carefully!) yet never bother to bag themselves, definitely the folks who stick their hands in bulk bins, parents who place their infant on the conveyor belt, and strangers who yell at me for issues that have absolutely nothing to do with me. The list is endless really. Honestly though, most customers are great + friendly. As for the others with nasty, gross or rude quirks, I am probably not going to be the person to draw light to + fix their issues, so I've learned to simply smile + nod at the awful folks then laugh it off later with coworkers. I'm a lot happier this way.

Also, where are y'all shopping that cashiers are acting bitchy about reusable bags? It's so bizarre to me as probably 60% of customers at my store use them. I'm happy to bag in them + actually find it easier than bagging in our paper ones.

Nothing with customers, but I hate store-wide poor service (it usually indicates MANAGEMENT is disrespectful, not only of customers, but staff); narrow aisles; and "no-pointing" policies. I might have things I want to do between here and there; I might want to compare prices in peace; and I feel like a kindergartener being frog-marched to the principal's office--- quite aside from feeling embarrassed to interrupt people who are trying to make a peaceful and orderly shopping environment for me because I didn't remember to call ahead to see whether garbanzo beans are considered canned produce or "ethnic" in that particular store.

It also works out that I shop about two hours from closing time at my usual grocer's. I almost stopped shopping when the (thankfully now-transferred) manager used to harangue his staff about closing procedures over the PA at uncomfortable volume, and did stop when they started barricading the door an hour before closing. I understand the urge to go home on time, but an hour? Come on.

When people who aren't very technologically advanced try to use the self check out lines. I love the self check out lines because as a former cashier, I am very fast and I like to bag my own groceries (I'm faster and bag my stuff wayyyy better than most baggers). But, I hate when I get stuck behind someone who can't figure out where their barcodes are or that they need to put the item they just rang up into a bag in the bagging area, otherwise it won't let them ring their next item. Then when it comes time to pay, they get all confused about what to do there too. Grrr

Realted to the space cadet in the aisles is the space cadet in the parking lot or doors. I actually had a man stop to examine his receipt in front of my stopped-and-attempting-to-exit car the other day. Had to stick my head out the window and ask him to move!

Oh! And people who put their child on the belt/counters. PLEASE, for the love of everything sanitary, do not put your child's feet or butt where my food it going to go!

My pet peeve is when you can't find what you're looking for, and there is no staff ANYWHERE to help you. Every store should have those nifty red phones that Target does: and help is just a call away. Excellent Customer Service marks for Target.

I swear I have never seen anyone bag their own goceries at the market. How do you bag your items when you are consumed by the several questions the pay machine needs you to answer- payment type? cash back? donation to charity? verify amount? signature? do you want a discount card? etc. That said I'd be more than happy to bag my own groceries if there was a space to do so after I finished paying. When I lived in Germany as a kid, I remember the check counters being quite long so you could push your items down to the end and keep them separate as you bagged them up and the cashier could start ringing up the next person.

Sprinklers on the produce!

Even more than the "space cadet blocking the aisles" is the two dumb women that stand there holding things and yammering about them but then don't by it and ignore your "excuse me"

Its too cold and I am never able to find things

Hahhahaa... Man, all you people without kids are going to rue those comments the day that you find yourself a parent in a store with a tantruming toddler or crying baby and you receive looks from childless youngsters (or oldsters). There are some days that your kid is going to cry. Because you said no to things like touching the fruit, taking the boxes off the shelves, or Christ - because the wind blew the wrong direction that day. Cut the parent a little slack. They don't want to listen to their kid cry or tantrum anymore than you do! But sometimes you can't or won't fix the problem, and a little crying never killed any kid, so sometimes them's the breaks. I'd love to be able to not disturb my fellow shoppers, but I have to buy food and I'm hurrying as fast as I can, trust me.

I HATE the space cadets...and what just kills me is that people in Minnesota don't really say "excuse me". They either just try to awkwardly slip by or they'll go to the trouble of turning around going all the way down the next aisle and then back to the original aisle to get around a person. This culture is all about not causing other people trouble or drawing attention to yourself, but COME ON! Manners make others around you comfortable! You'd make your mother ashamed!

Also, I hate stores where you have to bag your own groceries. I know it may sound lazy of me, I don't mind doing it, but I hate that there are only two little "lanes" to separate customers' groceries, and often times this can clog up the line and slow things down if the two people in front of you bought a lot of stuff. At least have a clerk there to help people out! I just feel so rushed to get out of there because other people are waiting!

Oh, I knew right away what I was going to say.

Sloppy baggers drive me CRAZY. I load my food onto the counter in categories -- (usually freezer, vegetables, other), and most batters intuitively understand that the freezer items should go in my cooler bag and the other things should be bagged like with like. Sloppy baggers are clueless about this, and mix everything up, putting ice cream with baking soda with lettuce. Grrr... And then there are baggers who put your stuff in plastic bags even when you have your reusable bags on the counter. And of course there are others who put just one or two items per bag (I live where we drive to the supermarket in cars -- it's not so difficult to get a heavy bag into my house).

I think bagging is one of the most under-rated jobs around. When I get a decent bagger, I make sure to say thank you. When I get a GREAT bagger, I make sure to tell them how much I appreciate them.

I'm generally pretty understandable when it comes to people doing their thing in the grocery store. I'm probably guilty of many of these myself. However, I was in the store pretty late one night when two college kids rolled into the check out, with two overflowing shopping carts (we're talking $500 in groceries here). There were only two registers open, and the traffic was piling up at the express lane, wanting to avoid waiting for this big order to ring through. There were no baggers (it was 10:00 at night). What did the kids do? They stood there, talking to each other, then on their phones, while the poor cashier not only had to ring up their order, but then had to bag everything. Then, when it was time to pay, they realized they didn't have enough money. They then called a friend and waited for him to come pay the rest. Apparently, orders can't be put on hold at this store. I was in no hurry, so I waited while others got in line at the other lane, which had an overwhelming number of customers waiting in line and was no longer express. I could not believe how oblivious these customers were to their rude behavior (not helping out when it was clear the girl was overwhelmed) and that they did not even apologize to the customers waiting behind them!

To all the child haters out there, ...we parents have to ignor our screaming children or else we might kill them. ;-)

@COOKCOACH101, LOL!!!!!!!!!!

other - people that take frustration out on grocery store employees. i don't care how much your life sucks at that particular moment. i guarantee you that the cashier is not to blame.

How interesting that some people get mad when their milk is bagged -- because I get mad when they DON'T bag my milk. I guess everyone really does have their own way that they like things.

For me, I know milk has a handle, but when I want to carry all of my groceries into the house in one trip, it's so much easier to do when I can load up my arms with bags while keeping my hands free. You can't do that when you need to hold the milk by its handle.

hyacinth, i completely agree. every dang time i stick my hand in the vegetable cooler i get a cold shower, and then don't know where to dry off so i usually just wipe it on my pants!

No one mentioned the person three people behind you that swoops in and takes the spot in the just opened check out lane. How did you suddenly get ahead of everyone else? So very important! I suppose my biggest pet peeve of the situation is that the cashier doesn't acknowledge the wrongdoing and allows it to happen. I love the cashier that goes specifically to the next person and offers them the spot in the new line!

Biggest pet peeve: when people can't put down the little black thing that separates your groceries. I don't know why but it makes me crazy... I always have to reach over to grab it... the only reason I care is that where I shop they seriously will just keep ringing up until they see it... grrrrrrrrrr...

The person who hops in the express (10-15 item aisle) with 45 things in their cart.

I work in a grocery store, and I can say that a lot of these things drive me bananas too.. Kids running around (aside from the ear-piercing screeching, I'm scared they'll smash into a display with glass jars and get hurt). Slow customers at the check out or staring off into space in our tight aisles, when I've got an armload of products to re-stock. The giant SUV-baby carriages, especially when mom giggles about how big they are and feigns embarrassment, rather than just use a snuggly. The people that need to taste everything before making a decision with a ton of ppl behind them. The people who take handfuls of samples, touching all the rest.. or those that keep talking to you as they eat samples, one by one by one x 30...

As a shopper in other stores, I also hate bad baggers. The Trader Joes in NY don't really have counters, so I cant separate things.. they just reach in my cart and bag as they go.. I suppose I should organize in my cart before I get up front.. but they still look at me like I'm nuts for suggesting ways to bag.. like the frozen items do NOT go in my purse so they can condensate all over my stuff...

But to those who complain that it's too cold.. well trust us.. it's freezing for us to stand there for 4-6 hours straight in that temperature ..we don't need to talk about it. But if you want your food to stay fresh and not sweat or wilt.. if you want butchers to cut fresh meat rather than cryo'd food from a distribution plant, or cheese that looks appetizing, you want the room to be cold. It's hardly as cold as the movie theaters, and you sit in that for 90 minutes! Bring a sweater.. we do.

Rude people in general. If you run into someone please say "sorry." I had a bruise for someone running into me with her cart and she acted like I wasn't there, I knocked over a display!

I am shocked that I am the first to mention being seriously frustrated with people to think it's ok to bring in their DOGS grocery shopping with them. Don't get me wrong, I totally support legit service animals but I'm sorry, your toy poodle that you've set inside the cart, hardly qualifies as a service animal. It's a health code violation (at least in my state) but employees are not trained and are too afraid to ask if it's a service animal so people get away with it. Drives me crazy how inconsiderate people are.

I also work in a grocery store, and there are many - and I mean MANY - aspects of it that irritate the CRAP outta me! But my number one pet peeve has gotta be the one mentioned in the very first comment: THE TEMPERATURE. Holy good God, does it REALLY have to be so friggin' cold?!?! Every store I've worked in has felt like the Arctic, and you can only dress in so many layers when you're required to look somewhat professional (I'm a nutrition/supplement consultant at a natural foods store). I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way!

The self-service machines at my local supermarket. They. Just. Don't. Work. There's usually at least three staff members around - for FOUR MACHINES - to attend to all the error messages popping up!

And yeah, uncontrollable children. Reign in your spawn, please, and tell them to stop slobbering over the fresh produce :| Have you considered a leash and muzzle?

<rant>
I hate the grocery store for the following reasons:
1. People who have brought their entire families of 5-8 people (seriously. 8 people. seen it more than once). Talk about blocking the aisles! Grandpa obviously doesn't want to be there, and neither do the teenagers. Leave people at home.
2. If I'm looking at something and someone shoves or rudely reaches or leans in front of me. Dude, just come back in a minute or so. Or who stand behind me creepily.
3. People who take too long looking at things. If I come back 10 minutes later and you're still there, just commit to a bottle of ketchup.
4. Children running around.
5. People blocking aisles, and I say "excuse me" like 5 times, each time louder, get ignored, and then finally I just try to push my way through and then they get mad.
6. People who don't say "excuse me." I WILL be passive aggressive and yell "excuse me" after you.
7. People who run into me with carts. Seriously, I seem to be a target.
8. Conversations of friends and neighbors in the most highly trafficked areas/intersections. Pull off the road, peeps. The soap aisle is a good place to chat. Go to there.
</rant>

@Marywynn, it's not a commons or agora. You pay to be there.

People getting in my way is annoying, but it's NYC so you have to expect that pretty much everywhere. What bugs me especially at the grocery store is bad baggers - it's like they have no common sense. Sure, put my canned goods on top of my lettuce, good idea. Is it really that hard to think to put harder, heavier things at the bottom and lighter, squishable things on top? Also, I'm tired of the checkers looking at my like I have two heads when I give them my reusable bags. You'd think I'm the only person in the city who uses them. I have gotten many wondering/admiring comments from checkers on my crocheted produce bags however.

hyacinth: yes!

I don't care if someone writes a check. My peeve is when they don't prepare the check ahead of time (like before they leave their car). Why can't they fill it out before and complete the total on checkout? Another thing that I find very irritating is when people stand there while the items are been checked out and wait until it's time to pay, then search their purses for their wallets, then search for money or credit/debit cards. Don't they realize ahead of time that they'll have to pay? Why not have your wallet/cash/card ready to pay?

@ihateacrylic yes Whole Foods is great, most small local markets are too but there ARE local health food stores with very snotty baggers. One cashier / bagger made me bag my own, then while I was struggling with the groceries, with fuming customers behind me, she SHOOK THE CHANGE IN MY FACE instead of helping me with the 3 bags of items I had to pack.

I so sympathize with people dealing with awful kids. One 9 year old child was tearing through the store and actually whammed into my knee. Mom casually called the kid over and kept shopping after he ignored her. I swear. Parents, it's your choice to have these little monsters. It's not rocket science. Watch Supernanny if you need guidance.

**I meant shoppers dealing with other people's awful kids, obviously.

For about 10 years now, I have done most of my shopping at little independent natural foods stores, and I've noticed they tend to attract a much more civil and polite class of clientele. I've NEVER encountered slow check writers or screaming children - not even once.

The one and only problem? Aisle blockers. Small stores often have extremely narrow aisles, and sometimes it's just not possible to simply say "excuse me" and grab the item I need while someone else takes 10 minutes hemming and hawing over whether to put something in their basket.

That said, my relatively good experiences may have something to do with the fact that I live in clean-scrubbed, behave-or-else suburbia. My friends in LA and SF have recently complained about people putting their grimy hands in the bulk bins...

It bothers me when people come to shop during busy times (after work) and stand in line and complain about it being busy. There are just some times when you have to be patient. Also, I don't like when people are nasty to the cashiers.

#1 - The FREEZING temperature esp when it's 100+ outside
#2 - Idiot baggers who ignore my pre-sorting
#3 - The cashier who insists they don't cash payroll checks when I present a
company check when shopping for the office....2X a mo for 14 years....
so *I* get the ugly looks for holding up the line when I insist on calling the mgr

People actually don't bug me when I'm at the grocery store. I might get a tiny bit irritated, but I'd hardly call it a pet peeve. Most of the time, if I'm already in a good mood, I won't notice any of those people.

And then, the chatty Cathy happens.

I roll up to a checkout line, cart groaning with goods, and start unloading. The belt is moving really slow, though, I focus on the checker and... dammit. The checkout lady is chatting away with not only her current customer, but the one that's actively trying to get away from her, and the checker in the next aisle. She's crawling, getting stuff into bags. I'm blocked in, at this point, so I can't even more to another aisle.

God, freaking, dammit!

I'll admit, I'm a horrible person. I will give her the look of death while she refuses to speed up. I will give her the most pointed, hateful look when she asks me how I'm doing today and tells me that she's heard so much about Greek yogurt and asks me if I like it. I will not respond as she tries to guess what I'm going to do with my mess of groceries. I am too busy willing laryngitis on her.

Kid story:

The only time I had a kid screaming in the store, it was my eldest (who was three at the time). He saw a cake on sale. It was, apparently, the cake to end all cakes, and he NEEDED that cake. He asked for it. I said no. He begged for it. No. He threatened to tell grandma. Go right ahead, kid. I started to wheel away from the cake, having now found the bread I wanted. He panicked, looked around, and began to yell:

"HELP ME! SOMEONE, HELP ME! HELP!"

That's right. The stinker tried to convince people that I was kidnapping him over a cake. :facepalm:

My biggest pet peeve is with baggers. I always bring a bunch of reusable bags, inside another reusable bag. I don't know how many times baggers have dumped all the bags out of the "holder" bag and then used that bag for groceries. Then after bagging my stuff, they hand me back the unused bags, which I now have no way of containing. Why not just take one bag at a time out of the holder bag, (which some baggers do)? Also, they seem to think that because the reusable bags are bigger than the plastic bags that they can fill them with more stuff. The last time I went grocery shopping, the checker/bagger filled one of my bags so full I seriously couldn't lift it. He then apologized, and moved some of the stuff into another bag. Usually, at my regular store, I don't find this out until I get to the car, because the baggers put the bags into the cart. I then have to move some items into another bag, to ensure that I'll be able to carry them up the stairs to my second floor apartment. A little common sense and courtesy would go a long way in these situations.

On a positive note: the thing that makes grocery stores enjoyable is good music. I love being able to swing my hips while reading ingredient lists.

And as to the child issue: when I was a kid my parents had no control of my in grocery stores. I ran wild. To this day I remember the adults who would scold me for poor manners in the grocery stores and it instantly changed my behavior. Corner the kids and tell them why what they're doing is wrong. It'll shock them into behaving better. Maybe.

Since no one has mentioned it yet, I HATE when I am buying ground beef and every single package is dropping with meat juice, the nearest roll of bags is at the end of the aisle, and there are NO paper towels available to at least wipe the juice off my hands. I have to walk to the entrance of the store to grab some of those grocery cart sanitizing woes to clean my hands.

Wipes*

a slow deli! I do not understand with all of the great innovation in the world today, no one has figured out how to make the deli faster.

Yep, I hate children. No sarcasm, I seriously, honestly am annoyed to the point of anger by children. They're cruel, mean, selfish little undeveloped people. If for some reason I someday have one (assuming that my attitude has changed), I will completely understand when other people hate my screaming little bundle of snot. I will not be bullied into hiring a sitter just to go grocery shopping, though, and I don't expect other people to, either.

But yeah, it's really freaking cold in big supermarkets.

They have a terrible selection of mushrooms.

There are never any children in my supermarket now that I think about it. We also have self-service checkouts and single queuing for multiple lanes so the slow people are not such a bother.

There independent supermarket closer that I'd love to shop at by every time I buy something there they stop carrying it. I found a milk brand that I love and they stopped carrying it, same with feta, labna, quark, yogurt, cream, on and on (I only really buy mushrooms and dairy at the supermarket). They also have a terrible mushroom selection.

My grocery store (a Texas chain) is one of my happy places. The store closest to us is much smaller than most of the "regular" or "jumbo" stores. I recognize several of the cashiers and baggers over the course of years (students and such). Very good service and selection. It's great. However, no one has touched on my newest foe at the grocery store, the extreme couponer wanna-be.

I have an anecdote that includes several instances of bad grocery store etiquette: One evening (8pm) during the week, I pulled up and unloaded my cart onto the belt. The couple in front of me had a stroller and were buying what appeared to be the entire store's worth of a type of powered baby formula, plus 10 or so other items. Near the end of the transaction, the male customer hands the cashier a WAD of coupons for baby formula. The cashier attempts to ring up the coupon and it's for a different type of formula (same manufacturer) and is limited to 3 coupons per cystomer. She explains this nicely. The couple begins to argue that another store accepts those coupons, etc. The manager is called and agrees to override part of their purchase. They decline (rudely) and stand there as the cashier voids their purchase and begins scanning mine. They are still standing there and the cashier asks if there is something else they need. The female customer then says, "Well I still want some of the other stuff." And then picks and chooses 6 or 7 other items from their pile (none of which are baby formula).

All while the wife preens in a matching velour tracksuit, with a huge leather Coach bag. I'm sorry, ma'am? If you can dress like that with your expensive stroller, you can afford $100 in baby formula.

Time wasted watching this spectacle: approx. 22 minutes. I was luckily able to warn some people approaching our line to the batshittiness of the couple in front of me so they were able to go to other aisles, but I, I was not so fortunate.

#1) People in the Express Check Out (12 items or less) who obviously have more than 20+ items. Sorry people, 30 cans of cat foods does NOT count as one item.

#2) People who race their carts toward the check out when they see you coming. Rude!

#3) Baggers/cashiers who have to analyze and opine on every item I buy. "Ooh, is this good? I haven't had it yet but it looks good". This is me being quirky, but it. drive. me. insane.

Also, my kids can be horrors in the supermarket, but I have been known to leave without buying anything because of them. Nobody wants to hear them ask for every third item on the shelf - supermarkets are a nightmarish place to shop with children.

Several peeves:
- Ill-behaved children. And if you call them on it, the parents give you a ton of grief.
- Cashiers who won't bag when I bring (clean) reusable bags. I'm busy watching the prices of the items scan through - major chains are notorious for incorrectly priced/scanned items, so I'm watching (the cashier isn't). Each time I shop I catch a mistake.
- Baggers who overpack the reusable bag
- Carts that are too large for the aisles
- People who don't return carts to the corral
- Wanderers who don't move to the side when they're lost/looking at their list
- Cashiers who insist on starting conversations with children/parents who let their children "help"
- When a new line opens, people at the end of other lines swoop in, instead of the next person in the closest line. I love it when a cashier singles out the "next" person and says, "I will help you over here" - specific, and prevents the mob rush to the open line
- The huge superstores that take 30min to navigate for 3 items
- Too few cashiers for people standing in line

Longer list than anticipated, sigh, all that said, I generally do feel fortunate to be able to go grocery shopping and buy just enough healthy food.

I can't believe MEGA COUPON LADY hasn't been mentioned yet. Recently I pulled into a lane behind this woman who had clearly just bought 6 months worth of armageddon rations for her bomb shelter - BUT, she was almost done (or so it looked) so I thought it would just be a sec. Of course there was no bagger, so the poor cashier is trying to bag everything and somehow fit it back into her cart, along with her two children. Only THEN did she pull out a binder and proceed to hand the guy no fewer than 100 coupons. Which she then watched him input every.single.one and complained if she didn't think she got the proper discount.

I have noticed that the elderly ladies who write the checks and only start filling out the check AFTER they groceries are totally rung up and bagged also do so because they watch the scanning of said groceries like f-ing hawks, and wave their canes in the air if the price that shows up is not what they think they were supposed to be charged with their club card discount.

Cashiers and baggers who don't know how to properly bag, even if you pre-sort everything for them!!

And from my experience on the other side of the cash register, I have to say, people who ignore the express lane item requirement, and who abandon their groceries on the conveyor belt without saying anything.

My worse experience however was someone who had $400 worth of groceries, but had less than $100 to pay for it. That was a huge waste of my time, as I had to stand there and wait for her to decide what items to put back.

The store either doesn't have what I want, or I know they have what I want, but I can't find it.

I try not to get too stressed about it, because at least we don't have to queue up for a head of cabbage.

What gets my goat is people who walk down the middle of the driving portion of the parking lot, pushing their cart full of groceries, or their kids in a stroller. Like suddenly all the cars will disappear now that they are on foot.

And while were on the subject, too many parking lots are poorly designed, with too little spaces too close together. I'm talking to you, Trader Joe's.

Defective self-scanners. I'm helping the store by checking out my few things myself and using my own bag, you can at least not annoy the everloving hell out of me by scanning things incorrectly, misreading the weight on the packing site, and generally being loud, slow, and annoying. Now, even if the line is longer for a person to check me out, I'll wait in it. I can always read on my phone while I wait, but I can never get that spent rage back.

I actually like grocery shopping which probably puts me in a minority and gives me a bit more patience with the experience. I also now have a 22 yr old child who always went with, grocery, restaurant, airplane etc and was very well behaved. We never had her with her own toy cart, or in one of those aweful giant racecar cart things. She wasn't asked to "help" while others waited in line. All that was expected and taught of her in grocery trips was manners.

Kids are unpredictable but parents should deal with it, not ignore it. The world is a classroom, but the teacher should always be vigilant.

So, my peeve is oblivious shoppers in general. Oblivious parents, Oblivious aisle hoggers, Oblivious checkout dalliers... Just be alert and everyone gets along much better in places of congregation. Even church.

Not much bothers me about how people behave in grocery stores, but grocery stores are so cold in the summer. I always take a jacket when I have to go into one in summer. It's ridiculous.

Also I hate it when things I'm used to getting there are out of stock for more than a week.

The temperature - too hot in the winter, too cold in the summer. Some grocery stores' aisles are too narrow.

Bad indexing.

The parking lot.

I am annoyed when people abandon their cart in the space right next to a corral. I am also annoyed when, people, mostly women, park in the family spaces when shopping alone. Neither is illegal, but quite selfish. sigh.

Wow! Lots of grocery store issues. Don't bash the slow elderly people. I mean it, YOU won't always be young. FYI I am 61 and don't write checks nor do I consider myself elderly. The older folks are doing the best they can.

PEOPLE!! The middle of the aisle is not a good place to leave your cart. It is also not a good place to stand and talk on the phone, review your coupons or any other loitering. In fact, doorways, tops of escalators, middle of sidewalks, driveways, etc. are not good places to stand around spacing out.

I am 5'10" and I can't reach products at the back of the deep shelves, especially the high shelves. I have had to get on my hands and knees to reach for products at the back of bottom shelves.

I hate when the checker and bagger toss around my produce, bruising it. Morons!

This is not a peeve, but my all-time favorite grocery store story, highlighting the wonders of human behavior...

I worked in the grocery pharmacy but this day was simply in shopping for a couple things. I had the items in my arms and approached the checkout, and I glanced across to the pharmacy and noticed two cops speaking with a frequent pharmacy customer (and by frequent I mean an oxycontin fiend). Things got out of hand, she was cuffed, her two children led away by the other officer, and then she was dragged away writhing and screaming in handcuffs. I guess when you're high on god knows what you feel pretty invincible... As she managed to wiggle free from the officer just enough to dive into the checkout lane impulse buy cake table. I barely avoided being covered in fudgey chocolate cake by ducking in between the checkout lanes... People amaze me.

And here's another employee perspective on peeves I suppose. When you come through the grocery pharmacy drive thru, no, I absolutely will not walk out of the pharmacy, across the store to checkout lane coolers and get you a Mountain Dew!!

I try to not get upset at all those things beyond my control. But I do get mad at myself - usually for forgetting the one thing that made me drive to the store in the first place!

Hmm, I must be in a patient mood today - all those other things usually piss me off - all of 'em!

in the uk we have online shopping and delivery. its fantastic- i get to see exactly how much i'm spending, buy things that are on sale, no crowds, no waiting, no parking and no traffic. it gets delivered to my door and if i put make up on and flirt a little- to my fridge. i'm gloating i know- but for once I can!

Biggest peeve? Stores that are designed to be as incomprehensible as possible, so that you are forced to go up and down every aisle. Designers must use an algorithm to make the stores so horrible. Stores that cram the milk into the most distance corner of the store.

Deli counter clerks that cannot/will not slice up the amount of product that you asked for, and try to give you all of it. I no longer accept this practice and refuse to take it.

As for misbehaving children: I perfected the death-ray stare a long time ago (in church, on my own child), so I now I use it on other children. If they stop what they are doing and try to hide behind Mama, then you have done it correctly :)

I go nuts in a poorly merchandised store. "Why is the pasta sauce nowhere near the spaghetti? Here's the PB, do you see the J?" If I'm buying hot dog buns, I don't want to walk every aisle for mustard.
Also, I haven't seen cart thieves mentioned. Sometimes accidental, but a new level of jerk if you ever deal with the one who just had too much to carry.

At Whole Foods, space cadet shopper talking to space cadet employees about the paranoia du jour.

In defense, sometimes the employees are trying to escape.

My biggest pet peeve is the self-checkout counters. The two times I've tried to use them they didn't work properly. I only tried them out of curiosity, though, as I strongly favor dealing with people over machines any time. The only advantage to all the automation seems to be a larger profit for the store, unless you count those people who actually LIKE to avoid human contact

Mine is also the isle blockers. I always end up annoyed and when squeezing past them I say "excuse you". Someday I know I'll say it to the wrong person on wrong day but I can't help myself. There is also a cashier I try to avoid, she is slow in checking the stuff out and then always says something just strange enough that I feel uncomfortable. Regardless of the once in a while annoying pet peeves I actually enjoy grocery shopping!

Geez -- I appreciate our local store so much more now. The staff are efficient and cheerful, and, on the rare occasion that I bring my preschooler, she is regaled with samples, stickers and smiles. Early on Sunday morning, armed with a list, I can be in and out in 20 minutes. The check-writing old ladies must be either asleep or at church at that hour.

The traffic flow in the parking lot sucks, and sometimes I forget to bring my own bag and have to pay 10 cents for a paper one, but otherwise, I think I have it pretty good.

I'm not unusually short (5' 2"), but often can't reach items on the top shelf. I will ask a store person for help (if I can find one) or another customer, but after a while this gets annoying...

I can't stand when the person in front of me at the check-out won't put their groceries on the belt. What the heck they are waiting for? I just start putting mine on, which annoys them and the finally unload their cart.

My biggest shopping pet peeve in the grocery or any store? Children standing in shopping carts. Really parents? Have you no sense of physics? Can't you see that your child's adorable but too-big toddler head make him/her very top heavy and likely to tumble out headfirst.

I have actually seen this happen and it is not pretty. The EMT team strapped just such a toddler into the stretcher, head secured by the board and into a waiting ambulance. He couldn't move people!

I am really disheartened by the attitude of many posters toward the normal behavior of young children. It seems to me that perhaps you'd *expect* to find a wide cross-section of ages and abilities at the grocery store -- everybody's gotta eat! Instead of scorn, you might try a dose of compassion for the glazed-looking mom in yoga pants, guzzling coffee ... she probably got 3 hours of sleep last night, thanks to the toddler screaming in her cart. I can guarantee she's doing her best, though, and she'd really appreciate you giving her the benefit of the doubt, rather than the stink-eye. And go ahead and move her cart to the side, if it's blocking your way. Just don't touch the kid. She doesn't want him getting your germs, any more that you want to get his.

Oh SWANN---I wish you hadn't mentioned the music. I can't stand being blasted by the music. Why oh why can't I shop in peace, without having Rod Stewart screaming Maggie at me? Or worse. On more than one occasion I have stopped in the middle of my shopping and checked out. It is a terrible distraction, and it leaves me in a filthy temper by the time I am done.

@KRISK hahahahaha!!! but yes..worst is the damn COLD COLD COLD INTERIORS...

@KRIS K above...

People who can put the cart in the corral but don't.
Unsanitary practices - staff and shoppers.
Overpackaging.
Baggers who pack my bag from home in another bag! (Do they think I brought it along just for the ride?) Or worse, the bagger who threw my nice cotton bag in the trash before I could stop him. Clueless.
That's all.

No, one more thing: Giant vehicles park beside me. (Do you really need all of that space and fuel consumption?) I have to inch out of my space without knowing what's driving down the lane. Idiots drive by and don't watch for me inching out of my space.

Loud, annoying music! I find it impossible to concentrate on my purchases when the loudspeakers are blaring "Born in the USA"...

Biggest grocery store pet peeve: Stickers and/or price tags on produce. Please leave my fruit and veg sticker free!

hahahah @joanna - OMG I would have been doubled over laughing - slash scared. Great storytelling - love your role as the observer.

I am annoyed by most of the things already mentioned, i.e. things or people that block the flow.
- when having to park your buggy in an aisle, is it that hard to NOT leave it in the middle?
- little kids throwing tantrums while their parents pay no attention
- people who assume I am a child hater because I don't find your offspring's tantrum charming
- not so much the people writing cheques, but why do they always wait until the cashier announces the total and only THEN they start fumbling for the chequebook and the pen
- people (typically women, I have to say) who don't move a finger if there is no bagger and wait for the cashier to start bagging their groceries after she had to ring the whole purchase in (I always start immediately bagging myself). And I ALWAYS say thank you to the cashier and another thank you to the bagger (no matter how clumsy and unorganized he was) but I think giving a tip is taking it a bit too far
- and yes, the grocery stores are always horribly freezing

hands down, like many have already said: baggers who do not bag properly!!! i had a guy once who was so busy remarking on every item (oooh, is this good? oh... i don't buy this brand. really?) i was buying casually toss canned kidney beans right on top of a loaf of bread. that was when i stepped in with a firm, "excuse me, i'll take it from here, thanks." and proceeded to finish bagging the rest of my groceries.

another time, a girl who looked like she just looooovvvvved her job, threw the bag of grapes i had so carefully picked out into the bag and then started piling stuff on top!!! that's when i had to interject and say, "don't bruise the grapes!!!" then she just walked away and i bagged the rest of the groceries myself. granted, i probably made it sound like, "DON'T BRUISE THE GRAPES, BITCH!!!" but still.

and lastly, i AM the stay-at-home-mom in the yoga pants and $300 leather bag with my toddler out shopping. BUT i time these outings right after feedings or naps, never go when school gets out around 3 or when people get off work around 5:30/6, i get in and out as fast as i possibly can, and if you couldn't tell by now, i bag my own stuff. so far, we haven't had any tantrums or meltdowns... *knocks on wood*

Big peeve... other customers commenting on the specific items I am buying, as in "do you really need those Dove bars?"

Other: No index/map to where everything is located. I hate wandering down aisles. Why are canned tomatoes put with pasta instead of with other canned vegetables or canned fruits?

Aisle hogging with their shopping cart in my own bubble people

I read every comment (yes, even the spam by @fanfan113), obsessively looking for myself.

...I didn't find me in there, but I'll tell you who I am anyways. That person who drops into the grocery at 10 p.m. after soccer or fitness practice, doused in sweat (as in my light gray T-shirt is about 80% dark gray now, front and back). I'm always super self conscious about it, and would expect that others find me incredibly offensive. But I DO have to eat too.

I guess the screaming children and aisle blockers are more offensive (or at least more common) than my kind. But at the end of the day, we all have to eat, eh? It would be great if parents could teach their children proper manners but I've never parented so I can't really speak to that. I was a pretty darn good kid though, if I do say so myself. I never loved going to the grocery with my mom, but I did because she needed help. She would assign items to me and my sisters and we'd fan out throughout the store and bring them back to fill the cart at a faster rate. So we were all always on a mission, and engaged (of course we were older at this point). When we got to the checkout, we'd always load the groceries into the bags, even if there was a bagger there we'd give her a hand to speed up the process. At times there'd be three of us bagging. It just made sense. None of us wanted to be there, it just sped up the process so we could go home.

Oh, and our local grocery back home had a recycling center attached to it, so once we were a certain age, my mom would drop the three of us kids at the recycling center to return bottles and cans while she shopped. The prize was we got to keep the money, but even as a kid, it never seemed enough for the sticky work.

SOLUTION: for the shopper that leaves their basket on the counter then goes to get something...and takes FOREVER to return..while you stand there like a putz.
Take a couple items OUT of their basket and toss it elsewhere. OR put a couple of random small items in it like a couple packs of gum. They'll then need to waste their time arguing about the items they didnt want..or spend more time returning to the store to get what was removed! Next time..theyll take their basket with them! May not be so nice..but it's Karma...and Karma wears a denim jacket.

OMG I shop at the whole foods in philadelphia....its super tiny and talk about space cadets, aka yuppies just standing there staring at the milk blocking up the aisle. I only go at 8am now to avoid people.

I find it mildly irritating when people leave things on shelves where they don't belong, but I understand how it happens sometimes.

What REALLY gets me is when people leave their trash on the shelves - plates or napkins from samples, Starbucks cups (often), used tissue (REALLY?!) or the detritus from someone's deli/on-the-go meal. Ugh.

I forgot...I am also a tiny bit obsessive of how I bag...I hate when people try to bag for me.

OH, and another one is the person who goes into the express lane with obviously more than the limit - soooo you're so much busier and better than those of us who follow the guidelines/rules? Or are you illiterate?

To all who complained of old check writers taking too much time, might I remind you that if you're lucky enough to live long enough, you won't be using the most up-to-date technology either. Yeah, I'm old but I charge all my purchases just so I don't hold anyone up from their more important errands. If someone even older than me takes time to write a check, I try to be thankful the person is still lucid enough to write a check and have money in the bank to cover it. And no, I do NOT intend to learn how to use a smart phone just so I can make YOUR life easier. Slow down. Maybe you'll end up living as long as I have!

A real annoyance for me is the many times over the years that various cashiers have commented on or questioned me about my grocery items. Is it any of her business why I buy "so many carrots" (I juice them daily) or what I'm going to do with "all the fresh greens" (eat them), etc. etc.? I pleasantly say as little as possible, but feel that my privacy is violated to have to justify my purchases.

I can only assume that they are so used to seeing vast quantities of packaged/prepared and junk food/snacks rolling down their belt that my mostly natural foods are a real wonder.

I'm so pleased the times I get through the check-out lane with a simple "thank you, have a nice day" from the cashier, and nothing more.

Crying or even screaming children don't bother me, but kids who are blatantly disrespectful of the property of others, who curse their parents and others yet the parents completely ignore or even encourage their poor behavior. Sorry, but I've dealt with ADHD meltdowns. Being a parent or guardian means you've accepted a responsibility to teach a child how to act properly in public, even if that child has health issues. Your child takes precedence over your errands.

They keep moving things around! The reorganize the entire store every year or so. Just when I know where everything is, they move it.

Trader Joes - PLEASE get rid of the kids' carts! My Trader Joes, in Wayne PA, is a nightmare to negotiate at the best of times. And you know the parents who let their kids push a mini cart around a crowded store aren't the ones with the most common sense, so they are uttlerly unconcerned about when their kids are in everyone else's way. And I'm a mom of two small kids. I loves TJs but the carts are your worst idea ever!

For some reason, grocery stores and supermarkets seem to be the places where people can say/do inappropriate things and feel like they can get away with it?

I've had people start combing through my hair with their fingers while I was waiting in the checkout line because they said they thought it was pretty. Awkward.

I've had peope poke my pregnant belly and ask when the twins are due. Seriously? I have two children, but they're not twins. Pregnant women already feel like walking cruise ships, you don't need to confirm this feeling for us. Thanks.

Also, and I don't know if I'm alone here... but I really don't like it when people get all up in your baby's face and start cooing at them and pinching their cheeks while acting like you're not there. For some reason it just drives me crazy. As grateful as I am that you think my offspring are cute, I don't know you, so I don't really want you trying to cuddle with them. Especially during cold and flu season. Just saying.

Biggest pet peeve at the grocery store: when you're checking out/paying and the person in line behind you is standing right next to you, practically breathing down your neck. Uugh it's the most annoying thing ever. I actually had to tell this woman to back up from me a bit because her shoulder was rubbing against mine while I was paying. IGNORANCE.

I always give the people checking out in front of me at least two or three feet.

Anyone ever shopped at Super King market in Glassell Park (in Los Angeles)? THAT PLACE is seriously the biggest grocery nightmare. You will get injured, you will get cussed at in several different languages and no one knows where anything is (or even knows WHAT anything is). But the prices are AMAZING and i can get groceries for a week for under $40.

And the TJs parking lot is the biggest suck-factor for TJs.

When stores are busy, I often leave my cart in an uncrowded area so I can wind my way down crowded aisles. It is amazing how often people walk off with my cart - I guess they didn't think to get one of their own on the way in. Some people will even take my stuff out of my cart and leave them on a nearby shelf. I have caught people red handed - some are embarrassed but some are not. Sociopaths.

Easily my biggest pet peeve is seeing 20 plus checkout lanes and only 4 open with long lines at each. (I'm looking at you, Target, including on some of the busiest shopping days of the year) What's the purpose of having all those checkout lanes if they're never all going to be used at once?!?
My family has a running joke that you can't leave certain stores without hearing a kid have a meltdown somewhere, but children running around the grocery store doesn't bother me as much as it would at other places. Every family has to get groceries even if a kid's having a bad day. But I hate those gigantic carts with the kid-size car on the front. Find a way to entertain your children that doesn't involve taking up the whole aisle, please.

I have two: 1) Sopping wet produce from those blasted sprinklers! 2) Large displays blocking precious maneuvering space in the aisles. Why do they block the aisles so only one cart can move through at a time. Really dumb.

Oh, and I am particular about bagging my items. I have to trek from our parking garage about 3 blocks and get up to the 3rd floor. Groceries get heavy rather quickly, they must be evenly distributed and packaged properly to keep items from bruising. If I cannot check out and bag my own items... I will repack everything in the car before I leave to come home. Maybe I'm anal, but it's so hard to carry poorly bagged items while trekking through the city... did I mention I'm awesome at Tetris? :)

..I have two. Same as NICCRU, space people, space. AND people who freak out if there isn't a divider for your stuff of the conveyor belt. It's ok people, I don't want your groceries i will stop the checkout operator when it comes to your stuff.

I can't believe all the complaints. If you're going to a grocery store at peak hours to buy a crapload of food, expect long waits and lines, that's your own fault. Paying with a check is an easy way for old people or people who are not good with money to keep track of their finances. Parents bringing children to the grocery store is a fact of life and a great way to teach children about finances, thrift, nutrition, and responsibility. Granted, not all children behave appropriately but the great majority do. It never takes longer than 20 seconds for someone to move their cart away from where you need to be, especially when you ask them nicely. If you don't like the way the baggers bag your groceries then bag them yourself, are you worried you'll break a nail?

The only problem I have with the grocery store are shoppers who cut in line at self check-out. Yes, there are four check out stations, but there is ONE LINE. Wait in the big line, then when a spot opens up, the first person in that line goes to the open station. Common sense and common courtesy.

Never venture into them. Do you people in the US not have home delivery from your supermarkets? All of the major supermarkets here in the UK offer internet shopping and delivery to your home at a suitable time - this has to be way forward! (for ease they also keep your "most regular purchases" on a virutual shopping list for you) - simple... all of the above issues cancelled out.

Twice I have witnessed an older shopper clipping his/her fingernails in the produce aisle. Makes me want to hurl just thinking about it! Groom at home, people!

My friends refer to me as 'the tapper'. When I come across someone blocking the aisle and they ignore my 'excuse me"...then my 'excuse YOU"...I start pushing my cart into their's to get it out of the way...THAT gets there attention...I then smile and keep on going.

Now lets move on to the checkout: I live in a city without parking...and have to walk up stairs to my Apt...so sometimes I do need some things double bagged...because when the person jams 100lbs of items in one bag the handle will always break when I'm a block from my place and everything goes flying.

Everyone should ban together and use the 'tap" method....it really does work.

@JENFER MARIE - Being poked in the tummy by a stranger, while pregnant or not, is amazingly rude!! :(

I also agree about not wanting the general public touching or breathing on my baby. Ick! Shopping early in the morning, at a store that's open 24 hrs. a day, is a great way to avoid annoying people and germs.

I have a European pet peeve.... because no one bags anything for you here, nor do they give you bags - bring your own, or pay for the bags (which you can then reuse. It's mostly a very good policy). This doesn't trouble me much when I go to the store by myself to buy just a couple of things, but if alone and buying large quantities, chashiers keep scanning everything at warp speed, not allowing time for bagging by one person only, which is so, so annoying because, look at me, I only have two arms. And then they'll look at you, a kind of "I don't have all day" type of look - but do they then actually help out? No. They just keep staring, trying to make it that much more uncomfortable. UGH. I am fine with doing my own bagging, truly, but come on, if you help a little your arms won't come off.

I also hate how cold it is in some supermarkets.

I just thought of another one or two. When the person in line in front of me either leaves their cart in front of the area where the next person would unload their groceries. Or when they place their cart sideways at the area where you bag your groceries leaving no room for the person on the other side. These pet peeves don't happen every time. Like I said before, I like grocery shopping and think of it as putting culinary possibilities together or finding some really great treasures because I have to go down every isle.

My issue has to do with the store itself - I shop at Wegmans, and lately they have been replacing variety with their own brand of foods. For example, in my area, if you want black beans, they no longer sell Bush's... you can either choose from Hanover (bottom shelf) or Wegmans Brand Black Beans (hundreds of cans at eye level). I just realized they did this with Panko, too - I can't find any panko except for their own brand... which they place in the INTERNATIONAL isle. I hate being forced and/or tricked into buying their brand because they don't carry other options, especially when their brand sometimes isn't cheaper than the others. It pisses me off because it strikes me a jerky, sneaky way to extort money from me.

Behavior experts agree, the best way to deal with children's tantrums is to ignore them. There was even an NPR story recently on how the time a tantrum lasts is shorter when it's ignored. If a parent isn't responding to their screaming child, now you know why. They are doing their darndest to hold it together and ignore the bad behavior. Most moms I know hate having to take their kids to the store with them, but it's a necessary evil. A little compassion and understanding would go a long way.

I take time to choose my food and select the best of the best...ONLY TO HAVE THE CASHIER THROW IT DOWN THE RAMP AND BAG CRUSH MY BREAD UNDER THE CANTALOUPE!..some day the 16 year old cashier will realize how expensive food is *sigh*

"Talking on the cell phone during the transaction drives all cashiers nuts. They don't like it and you will have your tomatoes thumbprinted and your bread squished intentionally." Really, username26? There's a difference between being rude and having the food you're paying for ruined. I definitely don't check out while on the phone; I agree it's rude, and I like to be nicer to other people than that. But holy crap, intentionally destroying commodities should be a fire-able offense.

@ADEANAMCN haha you stupid loser cashier

It bugs me that this one grocery I go to sometimes has the frozen section in the MIDDLE of the grocery. That means if I go in a linear pattern to shop and get my frozen things, I still have half of the store to shop, meaning my frozen items will thaw. I hate to skip the section and then come back, cause then I forget about it. Really, all the cold/frozen stuff should be a the front of the store, or in the very back.

These were hilarious! Needed it..haha..good head's up on Wegman's...and it's always a treat trying to shove that huge head of kale all drippy, into those plastic veggie/fruit bags..isn't it? : ) You all forgot about THAT!

WAXING fruits and vegetables. Think of the grime caught under that wax! Yuck.

ok for a different point of view, I am a cashier and let me tell which one I hate the most! well its hard to say the most I hate a lot of the things people do, 1 is just sitting their full shopping basket up on my belt as if I am their slave and looking at me as if I put the groceries in the basket! I mean really cant you take the stupid items out of it? some of the other girls just pick it up and dump it over I dont but not because I dont want to! Please dont be lazy unload your own basket its not my job, also grabbing the bags off the carousel before I am done filling it. They take and spin the stupid thing and grab a bag that only has 1 or 2 items in it. then they have the nerve to look at me hold the bag open and say " you can put some more in this bag" OH REALLY? maybe if you would put your things up on the belt in order boxes.cans, cold things , meat ect then I would not have to spin it and then spin it back again ryoing to get everything in the bags properly! But most of all I hate like hell to see people com ein month after month paying with EBT and buy the most expensive food in the store while the people who pay with cash have to cut corners like me! the poor people eat better than the rest of us. I work at a grocery store but thanks to my husband we are middle class but foodstamps peopel eat way better than us they eat steaks we eat porkchops and chicken! we buy a basket full they buy 2 or 3 buggies full! I could go on all day about what erks me about the grocery store

oh yes also dum dum customers who think a cashiers hands should be clean! lol are you kidding me? I could scratch my mare butt and they could not get anymore dirty tham they get from handling money! the only way that they could be clean is to disinfect inbetween handling money and checking and how many times have you seen that? and oh yeah the whole cashiers/baggers bruising produce complaint or any other picky customer that lives in the fantasy world that consists of your groceries did not exsist before you saw them on the shelf, uuuhhhh I doubt that the truck driver and all the low paid hourly workers that handled your produce or any of your other groceries before you put them in your basket gives a hoot if your apple has a bruise! I had a lady once actually tell me to be careful with her dr pepper because when I was bagging it , it fell over she said it will make it flat! HEY DUMMY do you think when they are loading and unloading the trucks that they carry that stuff ever so gently! give me a break!