By Paul Goldfinger, culture warrior @blogfinger
This is a conversation without words—in other words a case of body language.
Setting: Wegmans. I just finished checking out some groceries. I pushed my cart to the right and down the narrow aisle which leads to the exit. Most of the time, the people traffic there is one way, but sometimes customers come the other way to hit the bathrooms.
This time, I found myself on a collision course with a tall, young woman–no cart, just her. She seemed determined and she was moving quickly. She sought eye contact, and I sensed danger as I locked onto her line of vision.
Normally my instinct would be to step aside for a woman, but this time I could not read the situation or predict what the best course of action might be.
My instant interpretation was, “This is trouble and I had better move over.” So I did as I pushed my cart in between checkout stations.
She breezed by me without a word or a smile. I wanted to say something, but it all happened too fast. Basically it was a momentary wordless clash in a culture war where, I thought, this is a modern woman who expects nothing from men in terms of courtesies but instead she aggressively won a battle that would make feminists proud.
Is this really what women want? Manners and courtesy always favored women, but I thought, having done the right thing, I had somehow lost the game.
I need to see Mel Gibson’s movie again “What Women Want.”
LADY GAGA AND TONY BENNETT with their duet version of “I Won’t Dance.”
I have recently suffered a few similar experiences at Wegmans. Halfway down an aisle that is too crowded for two to pass, I see a woman with a cart approaching. I do as my parents taught me long ago, and step aside. Without fail there is no nod, no smile, and no indication that I am anything but invisible. I’ve decided that many of the clientele who shop at Wegmans have an outsized sense of entitlement. You might want to try Shoprite. The shoppers are much friendlier and so are their prices!