March 13
...serving up your daily dish.
Ok, we weren't there. But word is that somebody blocked the cart ramp (which is also a fire lane) at Whole Foods yesterday, completely obliterating the well-honed zen of the place. And she was talking on her cell phone the whole time. Hey lady, take your bad karma to KFC's parking lot, ok?
Details below.
In a very un-Montclair-like way, someone parked directly in front of the cart ramp to the Whole Foods yesterday evening (around 5:30pm). Folks started out nicely tapping on the passenger side window to let the passenger (who was very busy on her cell phone) know that the car was not only parked in the fire lane, but that it was completely blocking the sloped area of the sidewalk, preventing anyone from getting a cart in or out. The passenger turned away very quickly, which only angered the WF customers. I managed to jump my cart off the curb after the guy ahead of me did the same, but even after I had unloaded my bags in to my car, she was still sitting there. At that point, a rather irate man was hollering as he dialed his cell phone, saying he was calling the police. I called the store from my car and asked that they send a manager out, but left because someone was waiting for my spot. Any word on what finally happened? It was an incredible display of selfishness and rude behavior; all she had to do was move the car up 3 feet and she would have just been illegal and a MINOR annoyance.
March 13, 2005 in A Friend Writes | Permalink
Too bad no one got a picture of the offender. Then we could shame her into not pulling a stunt like this again. Sheesh!
Posted by: Richie | Mar 13, 2005 1:47:50 PM
The Whole Foods lot is anything but a "well-honed zen" area. It is without a doubt the most aggressive, dangerous supermarket lot I have ever experienced. Perhaps it is all those low blood sugar vegans desperately pursuing tubs of tofu, I am not sure. But it is a nexus of evil...perhaps if the lot were level it might help, I am not sure. But often when I park there I see incidents like the one described above.
Posted by: jerry mosier | Mar 13, 2005 4:31:39 PM
Not to mention the irony of such aggressive parking posturing. Gaia Forbid one has to walk 20 yards to the health food store!
Posted by: Right of Center | Mar 13, 2005 4:53:51 PM
Not to mention the irony of such aggressive parking posturing. Gaia Forbid one has to walk 20 yards to the health food store!
Posted by: Right of Center | Mar 13, 2005 4:53:51 PM
i think it sounds like a scene from "curb your enthusiasm" whereby larry berates the woman, justifiably, and then finds out she is his new producer or something.
Posted by: fran | Mar 13, 2005 5:14:03 PM
"Nexus of evil"? Good Goddess, Jerry, should we be searching for WMDs behind the plantings?
Posted by: latebloomer | Mar 13, 2005 8:38:38 PM
I'm glad to see other people get as irate as I do over this kind of thoughtless behavior. PRobably a Republican. What kind of car was the offender driving?
Posted by: walleroo | Mar 13, 2005 9:06:26 PM
I am thrilled to see so much attention to the WF parking lot. Thanks for the support (a WF, Madison, not Montclair) team member ;)
Posted by: foode | Mar 13, 2005 10:54:08 PM
WHOAAA!!! I generally find the biggest idiots in the WF lot are driving a Volvo and sporting a (now well worn) Kerry sticker. I park in the back (when there's not a giant 18-wheeler making a delivery taking up half the lot.)
Posted by: RiviousEbb | Mar 14, 2005 7:12:25 AM
I say we use eminent domain to acquire the surrounding houses and build a bigger parking lot!
Seriously, though, isn't this whole discussion something of a Montclair cliche? Manhattanites move to Montclair and use their large-bore hair-trigger peevishness on the poor lady on her cell phone frantically trying to call the guy with the keys (who is hurriedly buying baby formula for their screaming tot) to come out and save her from the overwrought, momentarily inconvenienced mob?
There's much more stress here than I expected.
Posted by: Lex | Mar 14, 2005 9:06:08 AM
I bet Lex is right on this.
My theory is that when you are paying $14 for a smallish hunk of Parmigiano cheese and $5 for a Red Paper one expects the whole experience to be effortless. I guess.
I would not have been snippy with the lady in the car, mostly beacuse I don't have the time. I would need to rush back home to be snippy online instead.
I suppose the real lesson is that Lex should make sure Mrs. Lex has a copy of his car keys!
Posted by: Right of Center | Mar 14, 2005 9:15:11 AM
Wasn't me! My wife only lets us shop at Shoprite. I have to go to WF on the sly for the American paddlefish roe.
And when I am at Shoprite I just park on the lawn. Then I put on my pads before I join the fray.
Posted by: Lex | Mar 14, 2005 9:44:41 AM
> I would not have been snippy with the lady in the car, mostly beacuse I don't have the time. I would need to rush back home to be snippy online instead.
I think that's the dynamic in many cases. Anger and passive-aggressiveness will find an outlet! The computer just so happens to be a safe receptacle. Used to be you'd just wish them into a field.
Posted by: Chris | Mar 14, 2005 11:02:11 AM
This sort of thing is very common in Montclair. This town is overflowing with minor aristocrats who feel exempt from courteous behavior.
Posted by: Joe | Mar 14, 2005 11:09:10 AM
Joe -
Are you referring to the person in the car or the people knocking on her window? Or both?
I'm getting a little confused...
Posted by: Lex | Mar 14, 2005 11:24:08 AM
RiviousEbb, okay, I would have to admit that rude behavior knows no party affiliation.
However, I'd have to side with the cart walkers in this case. Blocking access to the parking lot cuz you don't want to park your SUV (I prefer to think it was an SUV) 20 yards away is unforgivable. The person obviously had no good excuse (or at least I prefer to think so) and was blocking the way just to be bloody-minded. And whereever she is now, I just know she's laughing maniacally, which really makes my blood boil.
Posted by: walleroo | Mar 14, 2005 11:38:54 AM
"I just know she's laughing maniacally, which really makes my blood boil."
Probably not, Walleroo. She sounds totally clueless to me, a breed all too common these days. I would have alerted the store manager or called the police.
Posted by: Miss Martta | Mar 14, 2005 12:27:06 PM
Walleroo – I AGREE with you. My wife and I actually considered moving from the area a year back b/c of the “affected” Montclair/GR people we have no choice but to encounter every day. I seriously chalk this up to the “yenta” attitude in MC/GR – these are people (women mostly) who have never worked a day in their lives and therefore simply do not understand the “rules” governing courteous behavior (the same generally unspoken rules that govern how things get done in a place of business on a daily basis. I try not to walk around the office pissing people off, you’ll be needing those people’s help someday soon.) They have an entitled attitude b/c that’s how they spend their useless lives – running from the Whole Foods to Dem Two Hands or some other asinine store in town to burn their allowance before their kids get come. It burns me to know that my wife’s and my tax dollars are sending their kids to school while they’re sitting in their Volvo’s holding folks up at the Whole Foods. It’s truly indicative of a much larger issue in town. No joke!
Posted by: Rivious Ebb | Mar 14, 2005 12:49:20 PM
Show the woman a little compassion, please. She was probably calling up her 13th friend of the morning to ask "Did you read Thomas Friedman's column today. Oh, my god this Bush is a bad man." Either that or she was desperately trying to schedule a massage for after her 2 hour (3 times a week) private tennis lesson.
Posted by: commentguy | Mar 14, 2005 2:10:25 PM
My bet is that she was probably talking to her kid(s) for the umpteenth time that day. What DID we do before cell phones?
Posted by: Miss Martta | Mar 14, 2005 2:34:54 PM
My favorite name for the joint is "Whole Paycheck".
Posted by: latebloomer | Mar 14, 2005 4:45:12 PM
just a little aside--dem two hands is a really nice store and the lady who runs is it is a sweetheart.
Posted by: fran | Mar 14, 2005 6:26:34 PM
To all-
The bottom line is, this person was obviously violating the safety of all who were there. How did this finally get resolved? It makes me sick that we have to deal with the inconsiderate, selfless person who tries to ignore people's objections,especially when it's pretty damn obvious to them. I would feel horrified that someone was growling and tapping on my autoglass. But it's simply a common sense issue. I feel that my upbringing has instilled deep ingrained respect for others. Thanks Mom. I did like the reference to the "Minor Aristocrat". Kinda says it all. And what makes this a bad experience is the person who acts like the spoiled brat that they are. I guess that's the way they were raised. It's very sad for the future of humanity, if this is what typifes the standard behaviour of adults nowadays. And it does prevail, because they do get away with it.
Posted by: john | Mar 14, 2005 9:06:53 PM
rivious (envious???) Ebb wrote: My wife and I actually considered moving from the area a year back b/c of the “affected” Montclair/GR people we have no choice but to encounter every day. I seriously chalk this up to the “yenta” attitude in MC/GR
==============================
and why, exactly is this a YENTA attitude? Do you mean "too many rich Jewish women live in town?" No matter how you try to explain this comment, it is an anti-semetic, biggoted comment. Perhaps you SHOULD consider moving.
Posted by: Joyce | Mar 16, 2005 11:54:01 PM
