Have you ever had this experience? (Funny, sort of )

[Indigo Blue]

Where the same person/ family seems to be, well, in your way for the entire duration of your grocery shopping outing? 
 

Like this:

You park but don’t get out of your car because someone just pulled in beside you,  and they open their door and you can see children getting ready to jump out. So, you think, I’ll let them get out first. Then, you walk into the store behind them. The mom (or any person) stops in the entrance, oblivious, to do something. There is no room to walk around them as they are blocking the whole entrance. You wait patiently and finally walk in and get to shopping. But it seems at every turn, there they are. In the middle of the aisle. Standing right in front of the freezer door you need to open. Over and over and over. You head off to personal care, browse for a bit, then head to check out. You are behind them again. You are now very aware of this and wanting this strange experience to end, but there you are, behind them again, as they walk out. You think, if I just make one last ditch effort, I can outwalk them once outside and get to my car first. I can pull out without having to wait forever for all the kids to get safely in the car…..so you do. You are loading your stuff and they catch up and do the same. You get into the driver seat, but the family is still outside the car. You don’t want to move your car. So you wait. What is taking them so long? Finally they are in, and you can go. 
 

It’s weird. The exact same person in the exact same space you want to be in over and over through the whole store. I guess she was thinking ,”I wish this strange woman would stop hovering around me!” Tell me this isn’t just me, lol. 

[Katy]

I’ve had this happen again and again except for a family with kids it’s an older woman wearing that immunity blend essential oil that I’m told smells like currants to most people but I have the gene that makes it smell strongly of cat pee. And it triggers a migraine immediately. And I cannot escape the store without the smell following me everywhere. 

Thankfully it’s more rare than it was 5-10 years ago, but it still happens frequently when I go shopping instead of using curbside pickup. 

[Pawz4me]

It's not just you. I usually shop fairly early in the morning to avoid crowds. But still I often get in sync with another shopper going in the opposite direction. So we come around the end of an aisle and almost run into each other. There's nobody for miles around but there we are, almost bumping carts. We say excuse me/sorry/we need a traffic light here and go on our way. And then the same thing happens at the end of the next aisle. I have a policy that after that happens twice I skip an aisle or two so we get out of sync (and hope I remember to go back and get anything I need before I leave).

[skimomma]

It happens all the time where I shop because it is a super small store and you are pretty much all one happy family once you are inside.  But I also have this happen on errands in general.  I tend to save up errands and do many all in one shot as I don't always have a car available to me.  It seems like I will get into the same errand loop as another person and we find each other over and over.  First the post office, then the co-op, then the regular grocery store, etc.....  This happens as frequently as once a month and I often actually know the other person.  Like, just today, I got on the same errand loop as my dd's ex-boyfriend's mom!  I figure there are finite variations of the routes between things in my small area and that most people have optimized them the same way.

[gardenmom5]

23 hours ago, Indigo Blue said:

Where the same person/ family seems to be, well, in your way for the entire duration of your grocery shopping outing? 
 

Like this:

You park but don’t get out of your car because someone just pulled in beside you,  and they open their door and you can see children getting ready to jump out. So, you think, I’ll let them get out first. Then, you walk into the store behind them. The mom (or any person) stops in the entrance, oblivious, to do something. There is no room to walk around them as they are blocking the whole entrance. You wait patiently and finally walk in and get to shopping. But it seems at every turn, there they are. In the middle of the aisle. Standing right in front of the freezer door you need to open. Over and over and over. You head off to personal care, browse for a bit, then head to check out. You are behind them again. You are now very aware of this and wanting this strange experience to end, but there you are, behind them again, as they walk out. You think, if I just make one last ditch effort, I can outwalk them once outside and get to my car first. I can pull out without having to wait forever for all the kids to get safely in the car…..so you do. You are loading your stuff and they catch up and do the same. You get into the driver seat, but the family is still outside the car. You don’t want to move your car. So you wait. What is taking them so long? Finally they are in, and you can go. 
 

It’s weird. The exact same person in the exact same space you want to be in over and over through the whole store. I guess she was thinking ,”I wish this strange woman would stop hovering around me!” Tell me this isn’t just me, lol. 

I had that happen when shopping downtown years ago.  We kept passing each other on the street.  I do think it was just coincidence.

[QueenCat]

It drives me crazy when that happens. My husband is the master at getting around that kind of thing... I'm not.

[kbutton]

Once in a while, lol! It can help to just go to the other end of the store and work backward.