The Big "I" in "Aisle"

"Out here at T4Texas ranchette," Angus Brangus says, "we be hillbillies, but even we know that good manners don't cost a dime.
"Even us po' folk can afford them," he says. "Yessireebob!
"But lately I've noticed that some shoppers in small towns have the manners of shoppers in the big, wicked city."
The other day Angus read in the newspaper that physicists say that space is infinite.
"Infinite?!" Angus bellowed. "I reckon them there physics boys ain't never been in a supermarket frozen foods aisle when Haagen-Dazs is on sale two pints for a dollar.
"Wake up and smell the cherry vanilla, boys. Great knobs and cobs! Space is finite--painfully finite--in a supermarket aisle."
And yet, when Angus shops at the supermarket in Smack Dab, he sometimes sees shoppers being thoughtless, taking more than their share of a public space, creating dead space. You know what dead space is, don't you? Dead space is wasted space--space that is too small to be of use to anyone, is of no advantage to the person who creates it, and leaves less usable space for others.
"For example," Angus said, "some folks park their shopping cart a foot or even more from the edge of the aisle as they shop. No one can use that dead space between the cart and the edge of the aisle; that space is of no benefit to the shopper; and that shopper has narrowed the usable space--the clearance between the cart and the other edge of the aisle--making it difficult for other shoppers to pass.

"And some folks push their shopping cart down the middle of the aisle like they own the place, like they was Mr. Brookshire or Mrs. Piggly Wiggly.
"You wouldn't drive your car down the middle of the highway or park it there, would you? Why would you want to take more space than you can use and deprive others by taking your half out of the middle of the aisle or by stopping in the middle of the aisle to chitty-chat with another shopper, not allowing those shoppers behind you to pass?"

Angus Brangus pushes his cart along the edge of the aisle and parks it there, too, flush and parallel--no dead space.
"In fact, the highway manners that my ol' pappy Dangus was talkin' about when he'd pull over onto the shoulder of the road to let the driver behind him pass also apply in store aisles: 'Let that driver get on by and get on with his life. Shoot, I reckon I ain't important enough to be a bother to anyone.'

"And then," Angus says, "at the checkout stand, some shoppers don't have their form of payment--cash, check, credit card--ready before they are asked to pay for a purchase. It's almost as if they don't realize that they will be expected to pay for their purchase! That is not being thoughtful of shoppers in line behind them. We be hillbillies, but even we know that such behavior sends a clear message to other shoppers: "We'uns be better'n you'uns."
Angus always has his form of payment ready so that he doesn't needlessly delay those shoppers behind him.

In sum, Angus Brangus tries to keep in mind three simple facts of life as he shops: 1. store aisles are narrow, 2. he is not the only shopper in the store, and 3. dead space is of no benefit to its creator and can't be used by anyone else.
"It's the 'T-for-Texas, T-for-Thoughtfulness' thang to do."