Anything You Say in This Trader Joe's Line May Be Used Against You

[Zorro]

These neighbors’ signs respond to loud shoppers: “We are so sorry your wife is leaving you,” one read. “And we are SURE the ‘Everything but the Bagel’ Seasoning will help.”

It began, as so many things do in New York City, with people who would not shut up.

After the pandemic began in March, the lines to get into a Trader Joe’s store on the Upper West Side became excessively long, with people queuing up hours before the store opened.

And as they waited, they talked. Incessantly. Not to one another, but on their phones.

“Every day these people would wake us up,” said Kyle Luker, whose brownstone window sits just above the Trader Joe’s line. “At first, I was polite and asked them to please be quiet. Then after a few days I was shouting, and my husband was like: ‘Stop it! You can’t do that.’”

So Mr. Luker and his husband, Ash Fulk, took a different tack: They, with the help of several neighbors, began jotting down some of the conversations overheard, displaying snippets of them on signs hung outside their window.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/09/nyregion/trader-joes-line-signs-nyc.html

[elleng]

1. LOLOLOL!

'Another neighbor, Winnie Sabbat, who lives on the first floor, has the best listening vantage point, so she began to contribute more and more chunks of conversation. And Mr. Fulk, a chef, has provided his command of the names of various Trader Joe’s snacks.

Claire, we don’t think you should be bragging that you don’t watch the news and your parents think NYC is, like, some sort of a war zone. It is not. We are NY STRONG. We do however appreciate your double mask while you’re in for your groceries since you’re like 6 ft. away. Might we suggest you pick up the Reduced Guilt Spinach and Kale Greek Yogurt Dip? Xoxo #TraderJoesLineUWS'

[madaboutharry]

2. I ❤️ NY!

[Happyhippychick]

3. Well done!

[elleng]

4. Even BETTER than METROPOLITAN DIARY!

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10181379501

[NNadir]

5. The greatest city in the world, for real. n/t.

[Nevilledog]

6. That's brilliant!