Thanks for Understanding...

It's nice to have a blog where I can vent sometimes.

I went into an unnamed store today, with the baby in the carseat, and the carseat in the cart. I left that store and went into a neighboring, smaller store to quickly look for something I wanted to get from that store. I kept the baby in the cart because it was easier than carrying the carseat with 22 pounds of weight, plus my bag from my purchase. I knew that this other store does not have their own carts available to customers, but I went in with the cart anyway.

No one said a word to me while I was in the store. I did not knock over anything. I was extremely careful to get in, get what I needed, and get out, while avoiding blocking pathways as much as possible. I paid for my purchase and was leaving the store when the manager-looking lady walked in the store. I was literally there for 5 minutes or less. As I was walking toward the doors to leave, she opened them for me (which I could have done myself, but I accepted her help of opening the doors as a kind gesture), and said "Sorry, we're just not set up for carts."

I responded, "Thanks, it's fine. We managed to get in and out and not knock over anything."

I knew that she had been alluding to the fact that she'd rather I didn't bring a cart in the store. I'm not a social ignoramous. But were I not savvy to social cues, I may have just assumed she was apologizing for not being set up for carts. I may have thought, how nice of this lady to open the door for me, and to apologize for not having more room for a shopping cart!

However, what she said next is what really ticked me off. She didn't even give me a chance to respond to her next comment. It was timed just right so that I couldn't respond without creating a scene. It's as if she wanted to make sure to get the last word in - as if these three magic words were relaying an entire discourse on how customers shouldn't bring shopping carts into this store, and leaving no room for any sort of rebuttal or reply. Just as I was leaving and the door was beginning to close behind me, she said, "Thanks for understanding."

Huh? At this very moment all of my acquiescence to social cues went right out the window, so to speak. Yes, I can understand social cues, and even play along with them. I would have been fine had the lady's last comment had been "sorry, we're just not set up for carts." I knew that, and would not have brought a cart in again. But somehow this comment just irked me. It would be one thing if she, or anyone, had actually asked me to leave, and then said, "thanks for understanding," or if she had asked me to leave my cart outside while I did my shopping, and then said "thanks for understanding," but what does it mean when you say "sorry, we're just not set up for carts - thanks for understanding."

Am I supposed to understand that you are sorry? Or am I supposed to understand that you are just not set up for carts and that it's ok? I know what she meant, but if she wants to be clear that she doesn't want carts in her store, she needs to be clear in how she says it. "We prefer not to have carts in our store, maam, would you mind leaving it outside next time you shop here?" would have been a far more clear way of making her point. What if I were that social ignoramous who didn't catch on? I just might be back tomorrow with my unnamed shopping cart and lots of shopping to do.

Besides, is the store just not set up for carts? Or is it also just not set up for things like wheelchairs? They could have a huge lawsuit on their hands if they aren't set up for things like that. Maybe I had better report them, and that they're "just not set up for" wheelchairs.