But not all of it! For A DELIGHTFUL DEMONSTRATION of courtly behaviour, before you read my waffling, PLEASE click on Dr FTSE's Spoon in my right hand side bar! There's a Right Royal Tale waiting to be enjoyed on the other side of the logo!
As I studied clues, and weighed up which desk would be free by my turn, the right one cleared, and First Gentleman stepped up to it.
Now it was a race against time. Would the Old Lady at the left counter fumble with her purse for a longer time than First Gentleman with his wallet?
(Second Gentleman was still standing bang center in the aisle, to make sure he could dive towards the next free cashier. I shall now call him SG, for brevity.)
After due consideration, I decided the Old Lady, despite fumbling, would be next to exit, so, assuming SG would take her place, I moved across towards the right hand till.
But the stentorian voice of said SG boomed "Do you mind?" as he raised quizzical eyebrows at me, and nodded to each desk in turn so that I couldn't mistake his meaning. I was proud of my instant reply. With a sweet smile, I looked him straight in the eye and spoke in my best soothing voice.
" The lady to our left is just paying for her groceries, and will be finished before the gentleman on the right. I realise you are next in line, that's why I was moving across to the other desk, because it will clear later."
"Lets just wait and see, shall we?"
His words boomed at me again, as if he were a schoolmaster abrading a wayward pupil. Still smiling sweetly, I halted in my tracks, and remained center aisle to prove I was not intending to 'queue jump', while I prayed fervently to all the powers that be for my prediction to come true! It did! I resisted the urge to poke my tongue out at SG and say "I told you so! Perhaps I should have avoided using the word Gentleman...
excellent! i love that game and i really like that you won!! steven
ReplyDeleteHe must not have had a Mother. Mother's tend to teach their sons to be Gentlemen. Perhaps he was hatched or is an alien? Then again, perhaps he was a GENTLEMAN and thought it was his right. Ptuii. You won! YeeHaw!
ReplyDeleteHopefully his bag of supermarket goodies riped on the way out. One can only hope.
ReplyDeleteHA HA I congratulate your mighty restraint to stick out your tongue, etc.
ReplyDeleteI occasionally play the "good Samaritan" If my buggy has the 20 items for the fast checkout, and another person has two items. Note I said occasionally.
Men Who Shop - bah! humbug!
ReplyDeleteI admire your restraint. I might not have been so pleasant. I love the word "queue." Is there another word in the English language where a difficult consonant and four vowels line up in a row? [oooh.. line up! Hah!) And then are pronounced, at least by me, as if there were only a "q?" I see an etymological search coming on.
ReplyDeleteAt least you thought of something clever to say Jinksy - so often in these situations one doesn't think of it until afterwards.
ReplyDelete"Yah , Booh , Sucks ! " can be quite satisfying , sometimes .
ReplyDeleteOr simply "Nernernehnerner " , if busy packing one's shopping in one's bag .
Dear Jinksy,
ReplyDeletethat was funny! Though I think a few Gentlemen - and a few Ladies - still exist!
What I always find so ennervating at a counter is that a person (sorry to say: more often a woman) is - when its her turn - utterly surprised that she has to pay - meaning: THEN they start to look for their purse, after the shop assistent told her the sum. Or those who try to be really helpful and start with: "Let's see - I might have just have the right coins, wait, I'll have a look..." (Though I saw that in Great Britain you pay much more with cards than in Germany)
Time for a poem about curmudgeons. There was a point when I might have sworn at him.
ReplyDeleteWe all do it, but it's funny how we try so hard to find the quickest lane when we're probably only talking about a minute or two.
:-) Well told!
ReplyDeletePearl
What a twerp. Glad you & your best soothing voice were on tap to outfox him.
ReplyDeleteOY! Just looked at that soup of terrible mixed metaphors, but guess I'll have to let it stand!
ReplyDeleteWell I think I wouldn't have been as patient as you. But it's fun that SG turned into BF... blog fodder. ;)
ReplyDeletewhat's it with queues that brings out the worst in people...
ReplyDeleteYes, the use of the word *gentleman* did seem very generous.
ReplyDeleteHe got there in the end. I wonder why he was so impatient?
Maggie X
Nuts in May
What an ass!
ReplyDeleteJinsky, thank you so much for mentioning my Belle and Sundance story over at The Smitten Image. I just found out about it. Very nice of you. It was quite a story! Captured our hearts that winter. Now I am worrying about the horses caught in the floods in Australia, swimming and tired. So sad. And OH MY GOD re Second - "Gentleman???" Argh.
ReplyDeleteI hate when people are rude! Here's my Z poem
ReplyDeleteHahaha, you British are far too polite for your own good. I wouldn't call him a gentleman.
ReplyDeleteOh, there can be, sometimes, nothing nastier than A Sweetest Tone Of Voice. Good for you.
ReplyDeleteI might have been unable to resist a loud "HAH!" when the prediction proved true.
Well done for your restraint Penny! He actually had no right to claim both lines. But you saved both of you further embarrassment. - Dave
ReplyDelete