Couple things that have been bothering me.

[ArcticChicken]

I Am Not the Information Desk

What makes people think that just 'cause I'm at register one that I can answer all their questions, and am somehow in charge?
The guy from the Tribune constantly hands me receipts for the paper, the propane guys ask me for the keys to the cage, and various other folks tell me to do things only managers can do.

Then there're the customers who expect me to know where everyone is and who's working today.

The other day I was ringing up a customer, and there was a man over a customer service, not ten feet away from me. He picks up the sign with the hours on it and waves it at me. "This says Customer Service opens at 8 o'clock."
"Yes, it does."
"It's 8:04!!!!!!"
"Perhaps she's running a bit late, Sir."
"But it's 8:04!!!!!!!!!!"

Seriously, it took everything in my power not to walk over and slap him silly.


I'm Not Sure How I Feel About This One

Very nice woman, my last customer of the day. She has a huge order ($300+), and winds up needing a second cart. She was very nice to me throughout the process, she helped to pack, she put everything in the cart herself, and she didn't kick up a fuss when I had to get a manager to confirm that she did this every month, and I didn't need to get ID. You see, she shops for a bunch of handicapped people, which I think is very nice.
So, because she was so pleasant, and because she was my last customer, I decided to take her second cart out to her car. Which was parked in a handicapped spot. Yes, she did have a tag, but I'm nearly certain that this woman was in no way handicapped herself, and that the car belonged to one of the people she shopped for. (No way should someone physically handicapped enough for a tag be able to handle that many groceries by herself.)
All of which leave me feeling very ambivalent towards her. No matter how nice she's being, it doesn't entitle her to use a spot that other people are likely to need more.
Don't get me wrong here, I do understand that people can be handicapped without looking like it. My dad's ex-fiance had permanent tags on her license plates, but if she was feeling well enough to do a grocery shop that big, she damn well wasn't going to park in a handicapped spot and potentially take it away from someone who needed it that day.

[myswtghst]

I'm Not Sure How I Feel About This One

I know the feeling. My best friend in college has spina bifida, and is in a wheelchair. He often would give me rides to class, or let me drive his car, as parking on campus was horrendous. If at all possible, I would drop him off, then go park the car. I always made a point to abuse his stickers (he had parking from campus police to basically park ANYWHERE) to park in professor spots, or faculty spots, the like, that were usually empty anyways. The one time I wound up parking in the only spot in the lot, the farthest out handicapped spot, so we wouldn't miss an exam, I felt guilty the entire time I left the car sitting there.

Granted, the lady in your story may have been handicapped, or may not always get enough help getting everything out to the car, and used the spot so she'd be able to get everything out.

I guess, to me, it depends on how many spots there are - if there are only a few, and the place is busy, I'd be grumpy. But if there are plenty, and more than one open spot, it's probably not going to get me riled.

[Whyme]

Register #1 is our unofficial "info desk". Despite the fact that customers have to walk by customer service, register 2, and CSM's milling about, they seem to think that only questions can be asked and answered at register #1. I LOATHE working register #1 for that very reason. We can never put someone new there either. The poor things could never answer all the questions that get asked of the register #1 person.

[TryNotToBeThatOne]

I can't remember what the ailment is called but it's one that drains your energy & your ability to do things; randomly. So people with it learn to ration their efforts. Sort of the 'Today I won't take a shower so that I have the energy to go grocery shopping' kind of thing. Maybe that's what she has.

Or maybe she's mostly fine and rationalizes using the handicapped spot 'well, I'm shopping for handicapped people.' It could go either way.

[Rubystars]

I used to hate how people would constantly come to me instead of a manager for things they needed a manager for as well. Of course, when I would offer to page a manager, about half the time they'd let me, and about half the time they'd say "oh, nevermind."

[rvdammit]

I can't remember what the ailment is called but it's one that drains your energy & your ability to do things; randomly.

Fibromyalgia probably. I think MS is similar too.

[hopie144]

Maybe she has a handicapped tag because 'she shops for handicapped people.' Maybe sometimes they go with her to the store. Or just because it irritated you that she's got a tag, doesn't mean it's not legit. In order to get one, you've got to have an Dr's note. My dad has one, but he's not 'handicapped' in the least. He was having back and leg problems and can't walk far without it causing alot of pain. He goes to stores and sometimes has alot of stuff to bring back to the car. Ok, so she had 2 carts full of grocery bags. They're not that heavy....I'm sure that if something's wrong with her to warrant a tag, doesn't mean she's not capable of loading/unloading grocery bags.

[wagegoth]

My first husband was diabetic and appeared to walk fine, but he had disabled tags because of foot issues. He would go shopping with me on the big shopping trips, so we would have a huge cartful of groceries and stuff a couple of times a month. Otherwise I went by myself, but I did not use his tags.

He looked fine, but he wasn't. I'm sure a lot of people thought he might be misusing the tags, but his doctor issued them because he wanted him to limit the amount of walking he had to do.

[Andara Bledin]

I have a friend who used to have Handicapped tags for his car. He had a major heart condition to the point where he had to wear a monitor at all times, but just looking at him, you'd never know. He looked like your typical computer geek type person. He used to joke that having sex would probably kill him and "what a way to go." The only time it really came up when we hung out was the time we went to Magic Mountain, and he and another friend with vertigo had to not go on most of the rides. We must have hit every single low-impact ride at the park that day.

He doesn't have the tags anymore, however, since he made lots of money being a certified computer geek and got a heart operation to correct the problem.

^-.-^