Christmas Shopping...

Okay, I'm going to go over the list of shopping rules again... If you are heading out to the store, please stop and think about your actions before entering a store!!

1. There is no need to act like a child: Yesterday, I went to Christmas Tree Shops in Williston, VT. This store seems to have some means for turning people into raving lunatics. It's not even after Thanksgiving, yet the store was shoulder to shoulder. People were rude, flat out rude! Is the $4.99 boot container really worth acting like an imbecile?

2. Watch for others! I can't state this one enough. To the mother with the two teenagers was it really necessary to ram your cart into the side of my 10-year-old's ankle while she stood tucked against the counter where we were checking out. She has bruises on that ankle bone from the cart. You didn't stop, you never apologized. She was crying and you turned and looked at her and then kept right on walking. If you were embarrassed-whatever. If it was an accident, that's fine. But you could have stopped and apologized. You are what makes me shop online!

3. Move out of the way. If you are looking at an item before purchasing - that's great. Do you really need to leave your cart blocking an aisle and then an aisle away away to look at something else? Then when I moved a cart, the "owner" yelled at me for touching her stuff. Get over it. If you don't want your cart to be moved out of the way, then take it with you. To the woman who was on her hands and knees looking at pajamas. TWO PEOPLE asked you to move so that they could get through, you opted not to, you looked right at them and then continued digging. Why you acted stunned when one accidentally bumped you with her cart is beyond me.

4. Parking... If you see a car waiting for a parking space, it is rude and obnoxious to then whip your car into that parking spot. The woman waiting had her directional on. You came out of no where - too fast at that - and took the spot. You laughed after doing it. You are the reason parking lot rage exists.

5. Check outs. This one always gets to me. At the check out counter is not the time to decide you wanted something after all. I think it should be declared "illegal" to then tell the cashier that you will be right back after grabbing some item you'd decided you didn't want. If you do change your mind, get out of line and then get back in after you're retrieved the item. We had a woman decided after half of her order had been rung through that she wanted a bird feeder after all. She was gone for five minutes (other side of the store) while everyone in that line had to sit and wait for her to return.

6. Using a cart... Okay this one always fails to surprise me. When driving a car, there are two lanes correct? Why do shoppers always insist on pushing their cart side by side when they are shopping with a friend? Single file!!! If the store is empty that's one thing, any where else - traffic heading to the back of the store is on the left - traffic heading to the front is on the right. It's that easy!

7. Parking Lots - back to the parking lots. This is the store's/architect's fault and I still don't get it. I was hit a few years ago backing out of a space. The truck that backed into me couldn't see my car because his truck was too high. He admitted that he didn't see anything parked in the space behind him through the rear view so he backed up. He told his insurance company that he was to blame - he also told police that he was at fault. So knowing that a sedan and a truck are vastly different, why can't they segregate parking lots? Have trucks and vans in one half and sedans in another. It would save a lot of parking lot accidents from happening. If a sedan is sandwiched between two huge trucks, that car driver's visibility is seriously reduced. I'll get out and direct my husband out in that situation. But not everyone has a passenger with them, so parking larger vehicles with other large vehicles makes a whole lot more sense to me!

8. Sale items - there was a mad rush on these silly plastic boot trays yesterday. Sure they were a great price, but to watch people push each other out of the way to get to them was absurd. Is a boot tray really worth the injury that could happen to someone else. A raincheck guarantees you get the lower price and most stores offer them.