Why does this happen?
 

It is typical, I enter a store to make a quick purchase, such as ice and bottled water for the fence crew, upon approaching the check out counter it appears that a woman whom has 37 pennies gets there just before me. She has to count out each and every one to satisfy the clerk. Or its a guy whom has never yet been successful in using his debit card, he has had it for 8 months but does not yet understand a PIN number.

Why am I living in such a world of mental infidels? 'Have patience', well yes, once they get beyond kindergarten stuff. Why are these inadequate people trespassing into my lifetime? I will not ever see them again, why should I be nice to them for this occasion? Their a hindrance of my progress.

I live about 200 hundred yards from any paved road, but yet I hear the approaching vehicles shatter my serenity. So those whom have to attend their early morning requirements disrupt my serenity. Am I born 200 years too late?

Its about 4:30 am, a treasured time for me, not much stirring; this soul is at peace with the currant situtation, except for the above mentioned sounds. I will strive to separate myself from them in the future, total silence is very desirable for me. Being able to hear and identify each and every sound is very important to me, its part of the PTSD thing. The saturation of the outside sounds are not welcome within this existence.

Have you considered moving to a less populated, quieter place? People will always be an issue as long as you're "trespassing" in their part of the world.

Moopups, I know you have issues, but the human condition is part of living. Too soon we will be gone and not part of the hustle and bustle of the world. I too like my privacy, but being alone all the time isnt healthy. I love to people watch. I find it funny and interesting. Life doesnt always have to be so serious. It can also be amusing and fun. Live moopups, live......

It is a fact of life for me that no matter which line I get in at any store on the planet something will go wrong. The register will break, shift change occurs, an item won't ring up, the credit card machine will break, someone won't have enough money. It happens almost every single time. My solution is to resign myself to waiting. I assume I will have to wait so it makes it better!

Last week I ran into the grocery store for a few items. I had 30 minutes before I had to be at track practice to pick up Brady. It takes less than 10 minutes from the store to the school, so having 20 minutes should have been plenty of time. I did not even take a buggy as I had so few items to pick up. I ran into my friend, Roy and talked to him for only two minutes, told him I had to hurry so I would not be late to track practice. Got in line, he got in line behind me. I warned him that everything always goes wrong in my line and he should get into another one. He just laughed. Well the older lady in front of us had to fill out her check. First she had to find the check-book, then fill out each line in excrutiatingly slow detail. Finally, I have five minutes before I am supposed to be at track practice and it is my turn. But wait, it is time to change shifts. Old girl has to punch in all sorts of stuff on the register (now the only register open in the entire store!) and take her money drawer and leave. New girl finally arrives and does her thing then I can check out my six items and race out the door 10 minutes late with my cell ringing, Brady calling wanting to know where I am as he is standing in the rain. No wonder I hate to shop! Welcome to my world...

Is it always someone else ?

Now let us look over and analyze the situation, and see just where the problem really is.

If you had not stopped to talk to Roy for only two minutes, you would have been ahead of the sweet little old woman and the son Brady would be in the dry warm car on time.

How women love to talk. :rolleyes:

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moopups, I can relate to what you are saying. Yesterday went into the supermarket to get 1 onion and 4 tomatoes. Should be quick, right? Wrong! Went to the express lane, 14 items or fewer and two lanes were open. Eyed the situation, 3 people in one line and 1 in the other. Of course I picked the short line, little old lady. Just as I walked up noticed she had about 35 items!! Turned to go back to the other line.....to late....2 more people in that line. Had to wait, the teller ended up taking most things out of her cart for her. Then the teller had to explain the debit card thing and do that as well. Meanwhile I realized it would have been faster to go back as all the people in that line plus a few more had been checked out.

But life is to short to let it bug me for that long. I should have helped get the things out of her cart instead of complaining, maybe I'll do better next time! Oh by the way the burgers were good with the tomato and onions!

Well actually I was talking and picking out ice cream at the same time! Does that make it better? LOL

You need a PIN number to use a debit card!??!?!? Why didn't anyone ever tell me that! No wonder mine never works at the check-out line. Thanks, Mitchell!

BTW, I wonder what the PIN number for my card is?

G O O F ??? :shrug:


:p

moopups,
Regarding the noises, they have invented ear plugs recently. :)

I'm right there with you, Mitch. Aside from the PTSD anyway. I never minded the noise till I moved away from it, now Lord help me if I had to move back to the city or even an average subdivision. And as for checkouts? Yikes! I actually like the self-checkouts, because I figure I'm more competent than most checkout clerks, and at least I have nobody to blame but myself if things go wrong...right? Hardly. It never fails that the MACHINE screws up and tells me to "put the item back in the bag" when it never left said bag, or inexplicably says "wait for cashier assistance."

I have very little patience for slow people. Unfortunately this includes my beloved mother. I love her dearly but she's one of the slowest people on earth - always was, even when age was no excuse. I think that must be one of my life lessons, to learn patience and empathy for others. In the meantime, I usually can fake it pretty good. :)

'Cause honestly, some day it may be ME slowing things up. Or YOU. :shrug:

My gripe at checkouts? When the cashier stands there mid-scan chatting to the bag boy or another customer that happened to walk by instead of quickly ringing up my order. This always happens when I'm in a really huge hurry. Oh wait, I'm always in a hurry. :p

Each time you tell yourself (the lie) that you HAVE to be able to identify each and every sound that entered your hearing range you give more power and strength to that belief. How many examples of non-identification have you had in the 35+ years you've been out of the military, isn't that evidence that believing you have to know isn't correct? Do you have PTSD or does PTSD own you?

Just a shared thought.

Hugs,
Marlene

Well I guess that could be over looked
if it was Creamy Rich Butter Pecan.

I could :1pig: out on that one.

As long as you did not talk to long, and it melted. :nono:

I own the body, PTSD owns the soul and its thought patterns. Theres a vast many cases to prove this.

What you most likely don't realize is that PTSD is an adrenalin rush that you get when the lead starts flying, there is an instant destruction of the synaptic pathways, they are completely destroyed. You have maybe 1/4 of a second to restore them if you are to survive.

Everything within your past is gone except the most deep seated memories. Your emotional age freezes at that point, never again to grow with your bodies maturity. I am an 18 year old with a much more mature body. I have been combat alert since 1970, without relief. Silence is my best friend. Every sound is instantly categorized, placed, recognized, understood, or I prepare to be defensive. Its not pleasant to live this way but there is no shutting it off. There is not a switch available. If you do not or cannot experience this first hand, there is no way to adequately describe it that you would understand.

This is why they invented the self-checkout lanes....I'm in love. In and out in a jiff....just need to be sure everything has a bar code....and hey, one person watches over the 4 machines and hops to your rescue if it doesn't work....no more standing behind the lady with four screaming children that should have been in bed for their naps an hour ago....or they one who is waiting while DH goes and fetches one more item...or they one that wants to put alot of stuff back 'cause they don't have enough or they thought they were still on sale....well,we all know these types!!!! DEE who is not the patient sort...but is always willing to donate a buck or two if it will get you thru the line in front of me faster!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

well, lets see!

I never have those problems... If I dont have time to shop, I dont go into a store. That certainly has freed me up from anxiety in the check out lines. Actually, if you are standing behind me and are obvously anxious about time, I'll let you go ahead of me.

Occasionally, I have a child acting up that causes me anxiety... I havent figured that one out yet... But I rarely feel like I have to be in a hurry.

I try to show patience.....when I place my items on the cart I try to put all the like items together so that she/he can scan and bag them quickly....I try to get it all on the belt so that I can pull all the full bags off of the 'carousel' and get them back into the cart....

if I buy alcohol I make sure that my ID is out so that they dont have to wait on me.....

if there is a frazzled mother with her toddler in line ahead of me I try to entertain the young one

in a nutshell I try to expect and alleviate any delays I or others may experience!

Rachel

I honestly don't mind waiting at all, I am never in a rush and always assume everything will take forever. It is lovely to walk out of a store and say "well that didn't take too long" BUT yesterday we had to nip into Toys R Us so Jack could order a new game. We pull into the parking lot and the customer parking bit has only one car in it - yippee! We walk into the store and it is deserted - great! We go to the electronics department and there is one other customer (presumably the one driving the only other car in the parking lot). She has 4 children with her. They are at the register. We pick up the pre-order card we need and walk to the register knowing this will only take a minute or 2. Ha! Each of the lady's 4 children are buying things with their own money. None of them seem to be able to count. Mother just asks "Do you have enough?" every few seconds so the child loses count. I looked at DH and he just grinned - he is the one that taught me to slow down and enjoy thevjourney! lol

Adventures in public transportation:

Bitterly cold morning, bus pulls up to a stop and opens door to let passenger board. Passenger places one foot on the step and suddenly realizes Hey-! I'm going to ride a bus! I'd better find my dollar or bus pass! and halts right there, searching their 50 or so pockets, zippered purse, whatever, as the door stands open and all the passengers freeze.

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Well what do you all you country people expect, when you want to be Homesteaders, farmers, ranchers, etc. and live out in the boondocks where you have to pipe the sunshine in.

Your nearest store only has one check out lane that keep there money in an old cigar box to make change with, and the people are so slow because they are in no hurry to get back home where all they have is the animals to talk to.

Move back to town and put up with Super WalMart with many super check out lanes, to get people through quicker so they can make more money.

And feel the wind in you face as you wize by the cashers, and drop of your pay check, and swipe your credit card, and fly out the door and back to the modern Homestead in town where you can't have any thing that breathes and poops, except quite children that do nothing but watch TV.

And sing ... take me to Disney World or The Zoo.


bumpus
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here in the Ozarks its the men who stand around talking all day. You see them parked in the middle of the road talking, in the coffee shops, in the minimarts, in parking lots....

and then in pool tournaments in the evenings....

and it takes forever to leave church... same story... its the men :)

Yeah, I quit going to one feed mill as the guys were always too busy jawing to load you up...now I go to one owned and operated by ladies and no waiting around while the geezers spit and chew....priceless. When I go to town I wanna be done and return to my hermit house. DEE

Ear plugs might help.

Speaking of ear shattering shopping!!!

We were at the grocery yesterday... and while we were shopping we heard a baby squalling (and I don't mean fussing!!) ... DD3 says "momma, that baby needs our help!" I just laughed and told her, yes, that baby needs some help!!

Fast forward to the check out line... we are checking out when that squalling baby and his frazzled mother with two young boys (2 and 4) comes up behind us... she is hauling a FULL cart and the two boys are being very well behaved... but the baby was just SOOOOOO Upset... nothing would calm him in his car seat....

So, the grocery store is where you unload and bag your own groceries... so she is unloading her cart with one hand trying to hold that baby... and then racing to the other end to bag as much as she can before she goes back to unload it some more....

After we checked out, I offered to hold the baby while she unloaded, and my two older children bagged her groceries for her with her help... my DD3 loved seeing the baby and making him laugh....

You would have thought I had given her a million dollars the way she thanked us for our help....

It felt good to help her out!!

It may be annoying to folks, but counting out pennies and spending them is okay by me. It's money, and it's not good for anything else. I try not to go shopping unless I have plenty of time - and someday I may be that little old confused lady that has trouble making change someday. At least she's not living in a nursing home.

The one thing that annoys me in check out lines is the delay caused by the cashier chatting away with the person in front of me, or the bagboy or whatever. Now that is poor customer service. I got behind someone yesterday that had THREE FULL buggies of groceries. They unloaded two and paid cash for those. The last buggy was paid by check. The poor cashier looked harried, and no wonder - because there was no one bagging groceries for her. The folks buying the groceries were bagging them, which I think is perfectly acceptable (I do it myself to speed things along sometimes.)

I had a garage sale and remember a tiny little old lady that chose to buy a set of Christmas ornaments I had marked at ten cents. She very carefully took out her wallet, took off the two rubber bands holding it together, and counted out ten cents slowly and precisely.

And I felt good! Because she obviously was of limited means as far as income goes. This was a great bargain for her, and I just didn't mind waiting for her to count out the change. I could see there wasn't much money in her wallet. (This was in England, and it was actually ten pence. And they don't do Garage sales, they do car boot sales - where everyone drives to one location, pays for their spot, and sets out their stuff- it's like a flea market)

I have to work to be less impatient.. I'm not saying it doesn't start to wind me up, but I really DON'T mind, when I stop and think about it.

well, we have filed some complaints on some of the conversations the checkers and boxboys were having.... if my children are around, it needs to be *G* rated....

They are there to teach you patience Moo!

You dont if you do the credit thing instead of debit. I never have to use my pin......Do I even remember it?????