Supermarket Bigotry

Supermarket (n) A large self-service store selling foods and household goods.

Bigotry (n) Bigoted attitudes; intolerance toward those who hold different opinions from oneself.

I know lots of people, myself included, who live quite near to a supermarket. Supermarkets attract traffic to an area, and there is a particular action as a driver that seems unique to the entrances of supermarkets and large shops. I refer to this as 'supermarket bigotry', and I will explain.

You are driving along a main road. There is a turning to the left, into a supermarket. You don't want to go to the supermarket, and intend to continue straight on past the entrance. Consequently, you do not indicate to turn, you're not planning on leaving the road or altering your course. There is a vehicle in the entrance to the supermarket, intending to pull out onto the road on which you're currently travelling. The driver of this vehicle, having just done his or her shopping, assumes that the only possible reason anyone could be on that particular road is to visit the supermarket, and therefore, despite the fact that you are not indicating left or making any attempt to slow down, assumes that you must be turning left and pulls out in front of you, causing you to slam on your brakes. This is supermarket bigotry. The driver has failed to explore the possibility that you might be on that road for a different purpose to their own, and in doing so, nearly caused an accident.

I live near a Sainsburys where this happens all the time. I have a friend who lives in a cul-de-sac which also contains a Tesco, and it's near impossible to turn into said cul-de-sac without some moron pulling out in front of you, completely oblivious to the fact that there are things other than the Tesco in the road that I may wish to access. My parents also live next to a large out-of-town shopping area and I'm forever having to brake on a roundabout because of people assuming I'm turning into the shops and pulling out in front of me.

People - not everyone is going shopping all the time. In fact, if you're pulling out onto a main road having done your shopping, there is actually more chance that the oncoming traffic isn't on their way in; the hint is usually in the indicators (or lack of). When exiting a supermarket, believe it or not, normal road rules apply, meaning you should give way to traffic already on the road you intend to join. It really isn't that hard.

Rant over.