About spatial awareness

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Earlier today I wandered into my local supermarket to stock up on essentials. You know the kinds of things – beer, cream buns, chocolate, magazines and things.
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So there I was minding my own business when I suddenly got poked in the eye! Honestly! This little old lady was gesticulating wildly and was presumably blissfully unaware of the other people around her.

And that’s not all. I rounded a corner and a girl, who was looking over her shoulder and nattering at the time, barged her trolley into a delicate part of my anatomy. And did she apologise? Did she heck! – she just put her hand over her mouth and sniggered.

Well, that got me thinking. Why is it when pushing a supermarket trolley, most people suddenly lose their spatial awareness? Why is it they suddenly become oblivious of everyone around them?

I watched for a while. Walking backwards is a popular phenomenon. They inadvertently walk past the item they want, so they engage reverse with no regard whatsoever for anyone who may be behind them.

Then you get the swingers! They suddenly, and without any warning decide to head off the opposite direction and swing the trolley around like a whip collecting anyone who may be within its arc.

And why is it some people just have to push the cart sideways? Or drag instead of push it, which leaves it wagging like a dog’s tail?

And what fun when a guy comes charging backwards toward you with a cart piled with stock? He always seems to be in a world of his own. And the cleaning person wheeling her mops, buckets and bin liners along. .

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Here's another one. Is it really necesaary to talk on the phone whist trying to push the trolley with one hand? Why can't it wait until they get outside. When in a deep conversation, everyone else in the area may just as well be invisible.

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Another thing. Why do people have to cling on to the trolley no matter what? There are pinch points in any supermarket. Places like the ‘reduced to clear’ section where I buy all my food. Now I, being a considerate person, park my trolley a distance away so as not to block the aisle, or prevent other people from peering into the display. No one’s going to steal it! After all you haven’t paid for it yet.

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Okay, I did once head off with someone else load of groceries. Actually it was quite funny. I realised what I had done after a few minutes when I spotted a pack of Tampax between the eggs and the bread rolls! I abandoned it! I glanced back to see a confused woman standing scratching her gyrating head!

I must tell you! I did something silly the other day. I was plucking a few bargains from the reduced display, and without looking properly, popped them into the trolley behind me. I picked up a short dated pizza and I thought I had deposited it into the trolley, but it went plop onto the floor instead. I looked around and the trolley had gone. Then I realised I’d been adding my bargains to someone else’s shopping and it had been wheeled away!

If you are one of the spatially challenged, it’s best to rehearse a few excuses. For instance, when I hit someone I usually go ‘tut’ and blame it on a wobbly wheel. Or I peer over their shoulder and explain that I left my white stick in the car. When I run over someone’s darling child I say I didn’t see him, even though I deliberately run straight into them if they are being little shits!

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Anyway, to go back to the beginning, I completed my purchases this afternnon and headed off toward the check out. I was suddenly distracted by the site of a young lady reaching down to grab something from the bottom shelf. As a result I barged into a mile high stack of corn flakes which came tumbling to the ground and into several people’s trolleys! I had to laugh especially when I realised that the cause of my accident wasn’t a girl at all, but a young man in rather tight fitting jeans , a top in a fetching shade of pink, and a penchant for mascara!

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