Saved by an incompetent cashier

So today I went to pick up some popcorn kernels to settle a bet (but that's another story) and went to the express lane. This took forever since they were trying to cancel an item or something, and it took the teenage ditz at the counter a while to tell me what was going on. Anyhow once I got to the sammy and pulled out of the parking spot, another woman pulled out in front of me in a Yaris (Echo). As she got to the end of the parking lane an old dude in a Terios started reversing towards her back bumper. He wasn't slowing down. She leaned on her horn. He wasn't slowing down. I leaned on my horn. He stepped on the gas.

BAM! The Yaris crumpled more like an 80s car than a late model. It's illegal (but unenforced) for a witness of an accident to leave the scene here, so I went to leave my contact info. I was stretching my lunch break after all the traffic problems and now this. She was already on the cell phone.

"Yes, in the same corner. It was an OLD guy standing 8ft away Yes an OLD guy. I was on the horn the whole time, he didn't hear me.This time it's crushed all the way in. An OLD guy."

The old guy was probably around 70 with most of his teeth missing. He never turned his head around while reversing, and apparently didn't hear the symphony of horns going off behind him.

So I left my name and number and went on. Now if that ditz at the counter hadn't held me up, that could have been me. I should thank her for her mediocre customer service some time.

And whoever you're settling a bet with over popcorn...you can tell them to buy the darn popcorn next time!

;)

Clem

The grocery store is a strange cosmic coincidence-y place. Last night I grabbed an unattended shopping cart that was hurdling through the parking lot. The guy parked next to me was loading his groceries while I was putting my cart in the bin thingie. He was fumbling around in the back of his truck and the cart got away from him. He was super appreciative in a really funny kind of way, like there was an infant in the cart or something.

Conversely, a couple years ago, there was an "incident" with a big fat obnoxious mercedes driving E36 M3 head (I'm not calling Mercedes drivers E36 M3 heads, just trying to paint a picture) and his pilled-up wife. I sat behind this jerk in line while he berated the cashier for god-knows-what, not intervening for fear of embarrasing Mrs. the Poo. A few minutes later, I was walking past his double parked (in a handicapped spot no less) Mercedes, just as he PURPOSELY PUSHED his empty cart across the open space and hit an SUV with it. While I probably shouldn't divulge the details of the rest of the story, let's just say "Bad E36 M3 happens to bad people."

poopshovel wrote: While I probably shouldn't divulge the details of the rest of the story, let's just say "Bad E36 M3 happens to bad people."

Yes you should. Divulge away.

AND I want to hear the popcorn story too.

I had a history teacher in high school who told the story of a grocery store. His dad was a car collector, and Kevin's favorite was a 50's DeSoto. When he was 17, he took it to the grocery store to buy somethin or the other, he had parked it in a space away from other cars. He is walking in, and heres a giant crash behind him.

Sure enough, a Corrolla had backed into him; it totaled the Corolla and the Desoto had a scratch on the chrome bumper. They just don't make em like they used to.

Yes, yes, please divulge. Maybe I should go make some popcorn while I wait for the details.

I was headed to the Grocery store last year the morning after a generous snow. Lane markings are buried under the hardpack and the person in front of me was taking it out of the proverbial middle.

I had my then-4-year-old with me and wasn't really to worried about it. But the guy behind me was about to blow a gasket. Honking, swerving, you name it, he was driving like a butthead. I turn around and fly him the bird (conveniently behind the view of my 4-year old...who'd have probably just though I was "pointing up" anyway) and hope that that's effective enough.

Nope...Mr. Courteous stands on it and drives around me with spectacular flare. The car in front of me promptly takes a left and before you know it we're at the next stop sign and Mr. Courgeous is now in front of me. (At this point I do NOTHING to provoke him). When it comes time for this guy to make a left turn at the same place I was set to turn, I make a decision to go another way to the store and just keep going straight.

Mr. Courteous decides, as I'm going by, to drive halfway INTO my lane (he's supposed to be in the left turn lane) and honk. Well...I know where the boundaries of my car are, so I just did the 3" fly-by and went along my merry way.

A few blocks later, who should come down a side street but Mr. Courteous, who decides to follow me to the grocery store and "block me in" to my parking spot (like I'm real intimidated). I step out of my car and help my Daughter out as this guy approaches and asks if I have a problem.

I look at my daughter, who's hand I'm holding, and then at him and say, "Yes. I want you to step away right now."

He looks at my daughter, looks at me and says "I understand but..."

I say, "No, you don't understand. This conversation is not going to happen. Step away."

He says something about me driving crazy and going straight in a turn lane or something when another person in the lot informs him that he's blocking traffic. The guy mumbles and gets in his truck and drives off. I waited inside the front of the store to make sure he left the lot. Serious adrenaline rush...in a bad way.

Why don't people understand that you don't get road ragey with guys in $200 '82 Corolla Station Wagons? Seriously!

Clem

You cannot pop popcorn with cellphones.

GameboyRMH wrote: [Old guy not paying attention backs into small car.]

I was on the receiving end of the no-look-reversing old guy a couple of years ago in my Miata. The guy was already in the aisle/driveway of a parking lot, and I was behind him waiting to pull out into the street. For no apparent reason, this senile citizen (in a large Buick) starts backing up. I lay on the horn and nothing, back he comes.

When he finally smacks into the front of my car (with his back bumper) he steps on his gas--hard. I'm still laying on the horn, and now putting all the force I can into my brake pedal so I don't get pushed backwards into the car behind me.

Once he realizes what he's done, he gets out of the car, checks his back bumper, and without even acknowledging me or my car gets back in and drives off. I'm sure he's driven into a house or school bus or gaggle of nuns by now.

Fortunately, he was going slow enough that the only damage was bending the hell out of my front license plate and frame, and scratching/gouging the front bumper cover. This was finally fixed this summer, along with all the other rock chips on a 12 year old car's front bumper.

I drive a "not new" car (a 17 year old Japanese sedan) and I 'll never cease to be amazed by the nitwits who think I'll be afraid of them as they swerve towards me in their new car or truck.

I was in my MGB in a fast food drivethru line and these guys in a big ol' pickup with one of those toolbox bodies on it start to back out of a parking spot. I hit the horn button and the gods of Lucas rolled their intermittent operation dice which must have come up snake eyes. They backed straight into me. It boogered the right front fender up bad enough to require replacement instead of repair and that was my second MGB windshield frame R&R practice session. It served to remind me why I detest that particular task.

SupraWes wrote: You cannot pop popcorn with cellphones.

Yes, but not everybody knows that ;)

A friend of mine (lets call him Ed) had a similar confrontation with the bug man. It was in his front yard, Ed was holding his daughters hand and told the bug man to leave. The bug man approached in a “threatening” manner. Ed told him to leave again he kept coming. Now, Edward is a large guy. Id say about 6’2” 250+ pounds. He physically threw the guy out in the street and wouldn’t even let him come on the property to get his truck and leave. The police had a supervisor from the pest place come and remove the truck. No charges were filed.

I'm embarrased to say I nailed someone's toolbox backing out of my parking spot in the Lotus a while ago. In my defense I CANNOT see out the back window with the top up, and he put the toolbox down there while I was clearly getting into the car to leave (he was parked next to me), but I still felt like a schmuck for doing that.

Luckily, plastic toolbox + plastic car = no damage. I did stop and help him clean up the mess though.

J

Many moons (1977)ago I was at work when I hear a crash from the parking lot. As we all ran out fearing the worst, I realized that it was my car that got hit. Young boyfriend of a coworker had just bought a new car less than 1 mile from work and brought it by to show off. Platform shoes got a little tangled and he hit the gas or some such excuse.

My 1958 Ford was rearended by a brand new Corvette. Guess who won that battle??!! The most damage to my car was when the TWO winch trucks lifted the back of my car by the bumper to sweep the remains of the Corvette from under it.

Bruce

My friend once rear ended my 1990 full-size bronco in his lumina. My bronco had a hitch reciever (with no hitch ball in it) and it cut a nice little square hole in his front plate. I also had a 1984 econoline that I backed into a bollard with while dumping some stuff in a dumpster. The van won.

You can probaly thank corprate loss prevention policies for it taking so long to cancle an item, it seems that it puts too much of the companies money at risk to allow a cashier to void an item once it is scaned, instead they would rather make all the customers wait while a manager comes up to do it. I hate loss prevention people, there are so many things that could save the company alot of money that they totally ignore, and stupid stuff gets made into a huge deal.