No Turn On Red - I am coming out of a shopping center on Saturday night, and making a left turn onto the road. There are signs next to the traffic signal and at ground level clearly stating that right turns on red are prohibited. So what do I see? A large black pickup truck blow right past me, totally fail to even make a full stop, and make the illegal turn. Despite being fully aware that any protest would have no effect, I screamed at the guy anyway. It impugns not only his skills as a driver, but his literacy. Additional irony due to the location - the New York State DMV has a branch office in the same shopping center.
No Merchandise Past This Point - Less than half an hour later, I was in Book Revue in Huntington Village, and had to use the facilities. There was one unisex bathroom; it was occupied, not to mention adorned with a sign asking patrons to kindly leave all intended purchases outside. After a minute, the door opens, and out walks a middle-aged woman with three books under her arm. I waited until I was securely inside the restroom (and thus she was out of earshot) before visibly reacting.
10 Items or Less - Sunday night, Wal-Mart, Commack. I'm in the line for the self-checkout stands. It's a bit long, so I start checking the item counts of the people in front of me. One looks too high, but it ends up being exactly ten. As I'm doing this, the one girl overseeing the self-checkouts does something amazing - she actually enforces the posted rules. The lady immediately behind me clearly has more than ten, and she is asked to move to a standard line. She protests that the limit is actually twelve, because the closed express lanes to the right have that limit. But on every self-checkout there is a clearly legible sign with a large number "10" upon it. The displaced customer was not happy, and even made mention of punching the employee. Thankfully, she vacated the line without further trouble.
Please Return Carts Here - This is a Long Island classic, and it was noticed again during that same Wal-Mart trip. Many large retailers have designated areas, usually the size of a parking space, for the return of shopping carts. In some places, like Ithaca, they are effective. In my ancestral home, not so. Just about everybody leaves their carts right where they parked, blocking spaces and creating the potential for vehicular damage. On top of that, it adds to the inconvenience to the employees who have to retrieve those carts. I have felt this first-hand, having worked at a supermarket in 2000. Seriously, how difficult is it to wheel the cart to one of the drop locations or the front of the store? Are Long Islanders so self-absorbed that they can't take a minute or two to help out the next customers? Wait - on second thought, no need to answer that...