The Costco Shoppers

They are a species of their own. And they drive me batty!

Never in my life have I had to shop with people who are so self absorbed, like children in a candy store, that they have no consideration or awareness of the other shoppers around them. I don't know if it is just because they are so amazed at all the stuff that is there, but they consistently stop in the middle of aisles with eyes glazed over looking at the objects around them. They then abandon their shopping cart (which is still in the middle of the aisle) and go over to look at the treasure that costco holds for them. They don't pull over, they don't check to see if there are people around them who might want to walk past, they just drift off, leaving a road block in an already hectic store. And I know I'm not the only one who feels this way because I have heard many people mumbling the same thing and have friends who have had the same experiences.

Now, anyone who knows me knows I don't shop well. I don't like crowds, I don't like all the noise, I like to get in and then get out. But I do understand that others (like my husband) like to peruse the products, savor the deals, make lists for the future. And I can live with these people in my world. What I find it very hard to live with are the people who road block, and after several attempts of me saying "excuse me... excuse me could you please move your cart over?" , these people bet mad at ME when I move their cart over for them!

Just like toddlers.

And I know, because I have one at home. I understand how toddlers get totally absorbed in the new thing they are investigating. I totally understand that it is hard for them to hear when others speak to them because they can really only concentrate on one thing at a time.

I can understand when my son stops in his tracks to look at the latest bug, fluff, leaf, clump of dog fur, toy car, piece of paper etc in his path and trip me up, because he doesn't understand the space he takes up, or that he can actually make mom drop all her nicely folded towels by stopping in HER path to pick up that sticker he couldn't find last night, but has spotted from ten feet away today.

He doesn't understand that because he can't understand that. Developmentally, toddlers haven't yet learned how to judge the space around them and how much room they take up in it. So I can understand that behaviour from a toddler.

But not from an adult.

I know that sometimes, it just happens, and people graciously move their cart and apologize for the inconvenience. And to those people I smile and say no problem! I know that not everyone is totally self absorbed. But to get angry at me and tell me to go down another aisle because you can't take the two seconds to move your cart over? That's just poor social skills and a lack of common courtesy. And I really feel that this is a reflection of society today.

What are we teaching our children and young people when they see others respond in this manner? It used to be that we set good examples when out in public so that our behaviour could be a model for others (or at least keep us from looking like total and complete asses! ). But now we are all about us. Me, me, me. And I worry about the children, because I see so much of this type of lack of respect and courtesy for others already in the youth today. It makes me sad, it truely does.

We as a society are too self absorbed for our own good. And it is glaringly evident in Costco.