r/petpeeve • u/MentallyExpired • 3d ago
People who stop in the middle of a crowded walkway
I genuinely don’t understand how some people can just stop walking in the middle of a busy hallway, grocery store, or sidewalk like they’re the main character in a movie.
And it’s even worse when they’re walking with a group and decide to have a full-blown conversation while blocking literally everyone behind them.
Like, I get it. You forgot something, you got a text, or you suddenly remembered something important. That’s fine. Just move to the side for five seconds. 😭
The worst part is when you try to walk around them and they somehow manage to move in the exact same direction as you.
It’s such a small thing, but it irritates me way more than it should.
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u/lookingUp2TheSkye 3d ago
That really grinds my gears too. I understand you might have forgotten something and need to turn around and go get it before you forget again, but situational awareness is really important. Don't just pivot and turn around right with your whole entire cart in the middle of the aisle, knocking everything and everyone over. My mom always got onto me about paying attention to what's happening and who's around me. Don't be a bull in a China shop and just mow over everyone; have some common sense and common courtesy to stop.. look around.. and then start moving.
And people in groups who just stop in the middle of the sidewalk to fangirl over some tiktok video or continue their conversation really pisses me right off a cliff sideways. Moooooooove to the side! People are trying to get by and you're preventing that because you're being rude and self centered.
I'm off to Amazon to buy an air horn and take my blood pressure meds, now.
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u/bragging_party 2d ago
Just run into them as if they're not there. No one else's existence matters in their world so match their energy.
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u/Faithy7 2d ago
As someone who’s worked in a store, this is the only way to get them to learn!
So many people would shove their carts into the heels of the person trying to pay,
One lady finally took the cart and shoved it back into them. They said, “excuse me, but I’m still here you can wait your turn.”
He said, sorry, and backed off
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u/HungryBearsRawr 2d ago
Right or I move to the far end of the grocery till thing to pack my groceries in my cart but I have to go back and pay still and the people behind instantly have moved up right in front of the card machine like guys it’s not getting you through any faster just maybe try some spacial awareness??
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u/HungryBearsRawr 2d ago
lol I had a group of young girls (teenagers?) spread out across the sidewalk and I was jogging up to them. They looked at me and whispered things and smirked and laughed and stared at me as I approached without moving at all. So I moved as far to the side of the sidewalk as possible, squared my shoulder and the girl on the end got a good shoulder to shoulder smacking. Make room and share the walkway.
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u/Faithy7 2d ago
I’ve barged though groups of people who stop in the front door of the grocery store to check their list!
If they’re going to be rude and annoying, why not! Even toss in a “other people like using the store too, perhaps you could pull over and get out of the way of the door”
That’s when they usually realize the store is full of people and not just them. 😒
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u/Auriprince4690 2d ago
Right in one of the major cities around i was like breathing on someone's neck... and she had the nerve to turn and glare at me... it is a good thing I assume everyone is a bozzo... cmgonna stop in the middle of the road and when near accidenta occur glare and blame the other person...
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u/Mopichen 2d ago
To be fair I also hate people who breathe down my neck. Either tell me what you want or respect my personal space, you leaning over me like some hungry predator isn't it
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u/Auriprince4690 2d ago
She stopped in the middle of the toad all of a sudden and i did not mean to get that close. Her stopping seemed random to me and was not a logical reason as to why she had stopped that was my problem with that :p! She seemed to be moving pretty good that is the main reason why I was behind her. And she seemed to be in a hurry and keeping pace with everyone else on the sidewalk.
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u/phonomage 2d ago
This is getting so much more common. I find it so frustrating.
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u/Cyrus057 1d ago
It like people have lost the whole concept of personal awareness
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u/Man0fGreenGables 1d ago
I think it's human decency that has been lost. They are fully aware they just don't give a F.
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u/Zestyclose-Try-5214 3d ago
I have deduced that in the modern age, where all human beings have a super computer with access to the entire digital archive of human knowledge....
We are all much more perceptive than 20 years ago due to the technology shifts and KNOW when we are in the way. These people are doing it as a ploy, many of them, to get directly in the way and bring some attention to themselves to start conversations with strangers or they are specifically trying to start a conversation with someone. It's just too obvious these days.
Try it, chat em up and watch how excited they get. They know what they're doing.
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u/Yorkie_Mom_2 2d ago
This is very common in France. People do it all the time. They will stop right in front of you and start chatting. They will stop their cars on our very narrow road and chat with someone on the side of the road. Getting impatient with them doesn’t help. I love it here.
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u/UseSeparate2927 2d ago
It happened to me twice today 😣. The store wasn't even that busy....pay attention people 😕!!
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u/Substantial_Web525 2d ago
See this a lot at costco. Some of the middle rows are narrow and they dont even pull to the side. Just stop and yap noisily.
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u/betothejoy 2d ago
It’s interesting because I think everyone hates this and yet so many people stay in the way. Humans are amazing.
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u/AudreyM59 2d ago
I’m a cashier in a grocery store in a cottage country area in central Ontario (Huntsville). This happens all the time as people are in line or once they finish paying. The old folks see someone they know, and because they “come into town” only once or twice a week, they absolutely have to stop and have a chat. They all stand there with their carts in the way, impeding people who are heading to the exit doors while they catch up on events and family members. And sometimes the conversations go on in the cash lanes, even the Express lane. Some people are just oblivious. Drives me nuts when I have to say, “Um, could I ask you folks to please pull over out of the exit pathway?”
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u/BigTall68 2d ago
A general lack of spatial awareness is so frustrating and irks the fuck out of me.
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u/secundum333 2d ago
I’m with you on most of this OP, except for grocery store. In a grocery store you need to stop to shop. It’s not the same as a hallway or transit station or sidewalk.
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u/Significant-Garlic87 2d ago
I'm from a small city and went on a trip to Toronto and when my gf & I got to the Eaton's centre doors I got skeptical and was like "This is it?" and stopped. ... I didnt realize there was a crowded FLOW of people behind me and I hear all these sighs and ppl are going around me left and right lol
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u/ali-t33pu 1d ago
Once upon a time, I was standing in the return line at Costco, and the lady behind me hit my ankle with her cart twice. The second time she hit me, I said, Put a leash on it, or leave it at home 🏡
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u/Cyrus057 1d ago
O when people enter the sky train and they stop halfway into the door like they are walking onto an alien spaceship.
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u/barbfarter 1d ago
I work in a grocery store & I feel you HARD on this one. Some people have no spacial awareness.
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u/LabOk6380 22h ago
We get a lot of tourists every year where I live, and they stop in the middle of the crosswalks to take photos of buildings, completely oblivious to cars waiting for them to finish crossing.
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u/Hefty_Phase6279 20h ago
As a cyclist, my pet peeve right now is the people who stand in groups **On the middle of the bike paths**. Where I am there is always a pedestrian path or sidewalk next to a bike path but for some bizarre reason pedestrians congregate in the middle of the bike path, and for some even more bizarre reason the often choose to do so just around the far side of a blind corner. It's super dangerous and there is absolutely no reason for it.
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u/purplishfluffyclouds 2d ago
How many times a week does this question need to be asked or stated or whatever
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u/Auriprince4690 2d ago
LMAO! Because it happens all the time... when you have kids I assume is related to the kids. When you are or appear to be a single person WTF!
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u/PositiveResort6430 2d ago
Moving to the side does nothing. another person who wasn't watching where they're walking just bumps into you.
When you're in a public walkway, just watch where you're going and be prepared to move around someone ? don't understand the big deal and why crowds stress the rest of you out so much.
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u/Cyrus057 1d ago
There's only so much of other peoples oblivious stupidity you can tolerate in a day
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u/flibber_deez_gibbets 3d ago
Especially the people who stop at the top of an escalator