Etiquette Friday – Supermarket Manners

It’s Friday and the day I request you join me in my campaign for 2012 to change “Casual Friday” to “Etiquette Friday”, to get people and companies involved. If we consciously make an effort every Friday then hopefully it will become a habit every day. I challenge you to make one small change a week and by the end of the year let’s hope we have a more pleasant and positive society.

It is surprising how badly people can behave when they shop in the supermarket and have little or no consideration for others. Ask yourself how good are you when you go to the supermarket?  What happens if you get stuck behind a trolley?  Do you go to the Express counter with the appropriate number of items?

Here are some reminders:

1. Don’t block the aisles – avoid occupying aisle space; push your trolley against the selves where possible.
2. Meet people you know – don’t stand chatting by the fresh food counters or in the aisle space when you bump into friends or family. Think about moving closer to one side of the aisle or  move out to the wider part at the end.
3. Use tongs and scoopers – avoid touching items when utensils are provided or touching vegetables and fruit without need.
4. Keep children under control – Be responsible for your children’s behaviour; avoid them eating and touching food unnecessarily.
5. Express Checkout – ensure you only use when you have the correct number of items or less.
6. Mobile Phone – Avoid talking loudly or walking around the shop on your phone, resulting in those people around you feeling you are shouting at them.
7. Be ready to pay – have your card or money ready to pay at the till.

By considering other shoppers it makes their shopping experience more pleasant for them and in turn this will hopefully become the norm and thus make it more pleasant for all of us.

Picture credit: http://www.waitrose.com/bf_home/bf/195.html