Shopping Cart Wars!

Is it me, or do people have no etiquette when it comes to shopping with a cart? I am constantly telling fellow shoppers in as nice a voice as I can muster "Pardon Me, S'il Vous Plait". Our local grocery store is swarming with people every minute it's open and all of these people place their carts in the middle of the aisle and walk away. Do you move the cart? Or wait for them to return? Or turn around with three other carts right behind you?

Craig as often told me to calm down when I've just returned from grocery shopping. I tell him my stories of people cutting in front, long lines, and the dreaded cart in the middle of the aisle -and he always says, "It can't be that bad!" He has since experienced grocery shopping with me here in Montreal, and now never questions my frustration levels when returning from shopping.

Today, I was almost side swiped by an older lady who just had to go ahead of me - I stopped let her through and continued behind her. The carts here in Quebec are double layered with a top and a bottom section. It's really is too much for me to handle - especially when the girls are with me. The bottom section protrudes much farther than those I was used to pushing in the States.

Unfortunately, I haven't quite grasped this concept and my cart got to close to her and nearly took her shoe off. I'm sure there was some rough language used, but since I'm not fluent in french cuss words - I simple said "I'm sorry". Maybe if I had said "Je suis desole", she would have been a little less angry at me. It was an accident and one she wouldn't let me forget whenever we crossed paths.

Do you have any cart war experiences? What did you do?

When I lived in Lancaster, CA, a friend recommended that I should check out this Ross type store that had just opened up. As I was shopping down an aisle, a young lady came up close to me and with her cart bumped into me. I assumed it was an accident and moved over a little bit. Her cart hit me again and that's when I said "your cart keeps hitting me!" I just assumed she hadn't noticed it was getting so close to me. I decided to take my browsing to a separate aisle and began looking through the clothes. Out of nowhere, she comes and bumps into me again and looks at me without saying a word. I knew that I had must of started something with her and whether through a language barrier or just plane bad manners - I wasn't going to stick around to see what her plans were for that cart and me.

Unfortunately, this is not my only experience and probably not my last. Tell me about your experiences, do you have shopping cart etiquette you use when you shop? Email me at candmalley@juno.com and I will post your stories. Than we can all vote on who has the best shopping cart war story!