On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 at 10:49:40, Martin Underwood
wrote:


Sadly many people seem to be congenitally incapable of finding their ticket
in advance of needing it (eg as they are walking up to the barrier), in the
same way that a lot of people (a large proportion of them being women) don't
start to look for their cash or credit card in a supermarket queue until
they are presented with the bill.

This is because we - I, at any rate - are far too busy packing up our
shopping while it is being passed to us, rather than requiring the shop
assistant to put it down in an increasingly unwieldy pile and causing
immense delays to the next person while we try to sort it out.

Once the shopping is packed, we pay for it.
--
Annabel Smyth
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/index.html
Website updated 8 March 2004

On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 21:02:48 +0100, Annabel Smyth wrote:

This is because we - I, at any rate - are far too busy packing up our
shopping while it is being passed to us, rather than requiring the shop
assistant to put it down in an increasingly unwieldy pile and causing
immense delays to the next person while we try to sort it out.

I've always been impressed by Aldi's approach - throw it back into the
trolley, then you move away and pack it at your leisure at a separate
"shelf" provided for the purpose (or into stack boxes in your car, thus
saving bags). They are *very* quick.

That said, in "normal" supermarkets I tend to find my credit card while
approaching the till, and place it on the handy shelf bit (while making it
obvious to the shop assistant that I have done so) such that payment can
be being processed while I finish the packing. OK, someone could nick it,
but it's unlikely.

Neil
--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK
Mail me on neil at the above domain; mail to the above address is NOT read

"Annabel Smyth" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 at 10:49:40, Martin Underwood
wrote:


Sadly many people seem to be congenitally incapable of finding their
ticket
in advance of needing it (eg as they are walking up to the barrier), in
the
same way that a lot of people (a large proportion of them being women)
don't
start to look for their cash or credit card in a supermarket queue until
they are presented with the bill.

This is because we - I, at any rate - are far too busy packing up our
shopping while it is being passed to us, rather than requiring the shop
assistant to put it down in an increasingly unwieldy pile and causing
immense delays to the next person while we try to sort it out.

Once the shopping is packed, we pay for it.

Interesting: I get my wallet out while I'm waiting in the queue (God knows,
I've got long enough!) and put the card loose inside the folded wallet. Then
when I start to pack, the wallet goes right next to me by the "wall" that
stops the goods falling on the floor as you're packing them, so it's right
where I can see it and it won't get nicked. Now I can pack, safe in the
knowledge that when I'm asked to pay, I can hand over the card immediately,
go back to packing while the card is swiped, and then interrupt the packing
again briefly while I sign. Who said men can't multi-task? ;-)

I wouldn't dream of *starting* to locate my wallet only when I was asked to
pay. Maybe that's a man thing.


PS: Next week's rant... drivers (especially of automatic cars) who sit with
their foot on the footbrake (instead of slipping the car into neutral and
putting their handbrake on) when they're stopped for ages at traffic
lights - this blinds the driver behind (eg me) at night!

On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 21:27:51 +0000, Martin Underwood wrote:

PS: Next week's rant... drivers (especially of automatic cars) who sit with
their foot on the footbrake (instead of slipping the car into neutral and
putting their handbrake on) when they're stopped for ages at traffic
lights - this blinds the driver behind (eg me) at night!

Way off topic, but I agree. Also, it is a safety risk - with the
handbrake off, a car which is rear-end shunted is much more likely to go
into the car in front of it as well, as the shock will cause the driver to
release the footbrake. Even worse, if said driver is at the front they
could be shunted into the path of oncoming traffic, making an already
unpleasant accident even worse.

Mind you, I'd rather they used their footbrake than held the car on the
clutch - apart from wearing their clutch out, this particular breed of
driver tends to roll disconcertingly back and forth, totally oblivious to
the most useful handle that can be found to their left. Said people tend
to use the excuse that overuse of the handbrake will stretch the cable -
but I'd much rather pay for a new handbrake cable than the small fortune
it tends to cost to do a clutch on a modern front-wheel-drive car...

Neil
--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK
Mail me on neil at the above domain; mail to the above address is NOT read

On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 at 21:27:51, Martin Underwood
wrote:

I wouldn't dream of *starting* to locate my wallet only when I was asked to
pay. Maybe that's a man thing.

Well, I don't need to "locate" mine, since I know precisely where it is!
And if I don't have much to pack, then I have it out, but otherwise, I
get it out when I need it, and not a moment before.
--
Annabel Smyth
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/index.html
Website updated 8 March 2004

Nick Cooper wrote in
article ...
Detrained at Lambeth North this morning. Lanky bald ******* got into
the lift just as the doors opened, and then stood there repeatedly
punching the operation button until they closed again. When he went
through the barriers, it flashed up "child" on the display. He even

"child" can be legal, check "Fares for 2004"

"child fares == child 5-15 and 'New Deal' photocard holders"

You have to be unemployed for 18 months I think and Jobcentre Plus
issue them.

--
Mike D

Neil Williams wrote:
On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 21:27:51 +0000, Martin Underwood wrote:

PS: Next week's rant... drivers (especially of automatic cars) who
sit with their foot on the footbrake (instead of slipping the car
into neutral and putting their handbrake on) when they're stopped
for ages at traffic lights - this blinds the driver behind (eg me)
at night!

Way off topic, but I agree. Also, it is a safety risk - with the
handbrake off, a car which is rear-end shunted is much more likely
to go into the car in front of it as well, as the shock will cause
the driver to release the footbrake.

I disagree with that. An unexpected forward movement is more likely to
cause the driver to press harder on the pedal in order to stop it.
Anyway, if the vehicle in front remains stationary, the shunt will have
more severe consequences for the vehicle behind and its occupants, so
why is it safer?
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 23:25:51 +0000, Richard J. wrote:

I disagree with that. An unexpected forward movement is more likely to
cause the driver to press harder on the pedal in order to stop it.
Anyway, if the vehicle in front remains stationary, the shunt will have
more severe consequences for the vehicle behind and its occupants, so
why is it safer?

I suppose it's a toss-up between greater damage/injury on 2 vehicles only
versus lesser damage/injury on a larger number of vehicles. That assumes,
as I said, that no vehicle is shunted through the lights/onto the
roundabout into the path of oncoming traffic[1], which could prove a *lot*
nastier. It also assumes that sufficient space is left between
stationary vehicles such that it will only involve 2 of them; a lot of
drivers don't realise the value of doing that and simply pull up to within
6" of the bumper in front.

[1] I've had that (almost) happen to me once - was hit from behind by
someone doing about 50mph who didn't see fit to brake for a roundabout
just as I was releasing the handbrake to set off. Nothing *was* coming
(otherwise I'd not have been setting off) but it was quite scary. Not fun.

Neil
--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK
Mail me on neil at the above domain; mail to the above address is NOT read

Stuart wrote in message

snip

1) Walk to barrier
2) Realise what that little piece of card they were given half an hour
later is for
3) Open handbag (because it usually is a woman)
4) Rake around in handbag for a bit
5) Get out purse
6) Find ticket in purse

Or then decide to use the next barrier, the one that I had decided to
use a few seconds earlier, and so walk straight in front of me.

In fact I find the most annoying thing about these barriers are women
(invariably) who will try to race you to the barrier and then, when
you've decided to use the neighbouring one (no need to fight over a
barrier when there are two), will stop you doing so by moving straight
in front of you.

We don't need the bloody barriers in any case. Penalty fares and
inspectors would speed things up a lot.

7) Try to insert ticket in top of machine
8) Realise mistake and insert ticket in the front of the machine
9) Stand there for a bit wondering why gates haven't opened
10) Take ticket from machine, gates open
11) Stand there for a bit wondering if it's safe to go through
12) Pass through the barrier

I can tolerate this one because it's more predictable

Paul

"Richard J." wrote in message
...
Martin Underwood wrote:
As I said earlier, I wonder if
left-handers generally are more polarised to left-handedness and
less ambidextrous than right-handers for non-precision tasks?

This seems to me to be rather unlikely, as left-handers have to adapt
continually to the right-handedness of everyday objects, and should
therefore become more ambidextrous than the average right-hander.
Possibly resentment about this can lead to some left-handers
deliberately (or subconsciously)limiting their apparent ambidexterity?
--

There are far more buses in London than ticket gates but all the buses I use
have the Oyster card reader on the left! If Richard is right, this will
cause chaos and confusion for the right handers who don't normally have to
adapt to left-handedness. Then, of course, there's the bit about
resentment....

Personally, as a right hander, I don't find it a problem

Terry