Supermarket Altercation/Trolley rage

OH and I became involved in an altercation in the supermarket this afternoon and I am wondering should we have stayed out of it?

We were in the local Lidl and there were 2 checkouts open. One had loads of people waiting and the other had less people, but a load of groceries unpacked on the conveyer belt and the customer was nowhere to be seen. First mistake was picking this one.

The checkout operator had already started putting these groceries through, most likely under the impression that the customer had quickly nipped away to get something forgotten. Wrong. The counter where scanned groceries are placed became full, so the checkout operator stopped scanning. There was a man with a couple of items in front of us and I had already begun to unload our trolley onto the conveyer belt. We all waited at least 5 minutes and still the person had not returned. The checkout operator had begun to pack the purchase into the trolley so she had room to scan the rest of the purchase. Lidl is not a supermarket where you expect staff to pack your groceries.

The man in front of us got annoyed and asked can the checkout operator ring the purchase off and put others through. There was now quite a line behind us. Everyone in the line who had one or two items was then put through ahead, including several behind us, but as we had a big trolley, half on the conveyer belt, our shopping couldn't be put through because the missing customers groceries were ahead of ours.

By now over ten minutes had passed with no sign of the customer whose groceries were blocking everyone else's. The checkout operator got up and went to find the person. She returned and shortly after, so did a huffing, puffing, mildly abusive old bint, who was giving out to, and being extremely rude to the checkout operator.

The old bints sale continued, then came about 5 loaves of unbagged bakery bread. She asked the checkout operator to put them into bags. The checkout operator pointed out (and very politely to her credit) that bags are in the bakery area. The Bint demanded that she go and get some for her. Checkout operator replied that a lot of people were waiting and she needed to finish putting the sale through, so Bint would need to get them herself if she wanted them.

Now Bint starts going on about poor customer service and asks to speak to the manager. The manager is on another till and she goes over and starts giving out to him about the checkout operator very loudly. The manager comes over and asks the checkout operator what had happened. In the meantime Bint has wandered away to find bags for her bread. Her groceries are put through the till and packed into her trolley by the checkout operator, while Bint wanders about and then slowly meanders back. I have my trolley up close to the checkout now, as my stuff is next and there is no room between the trolley and the dividing barrier. Old Bint returns bagless and attempts to squeeze past our trolley huffing, grunting and complaining that she will not fit. So everyone in the queue reverses to let her past when she could have gone the other way.

She was still giving out loudly about the checkout operator as she pushed past us and then apologised to me for making me move the trolley. I had had about enough of the silly old Bint by now and told her she should also apologise to the checkout operator for being so rude to her. She then tells me to mind my own business, and proceeds to ask the checkout operator for her name and the number of head office to make a complaint. I replied that it is my business as her lack of consideration for anyone else had me waiting about 20 minutes. I said to checkout operator that I will leave my name and number and if she complains, I will happily be a witness. The old Bint is right put out now and giving out to the manager. The checkout operator is in tears and has to be taken off the till because she is so upset. The manager asks for my name and number which I gave.

Now we are in the car park and OH and 5 year old Little Kiwi are coming back to the car after returning the trolley. Old Bint drives up closely behind them in a threatening manner, also coming very close to knocking a young boy off his bike, and beeps the horn. She starts giving out and gesticulating to OH and I, although her windows are wound up so we can't hear what she is saying. OH then opened the passenger door and totally let her have it. He was really angry and shouted at her for driving dangerously and told her that she was the most rude, obnoxious, inconsiderate, selfish person he had come across in a long while and that her behaviour in the supermarket was appalling. He then shut the door and walked away while she was in mid rant. She either pretended to record or did record our registration plate. The woman was mid to late sixties but I don't think being on in years is any excuse for such ridiculous behaviour.

Now correct me if I'm wrong but I think there is an unspoken but obvious supermarket etiquette and this old cow broke almost every rule. If you must run away and get something that is forgotten, you only do it if it can be done without holding anyone else up. Otherwise too bad, you will have to get it after your purchase is complete and go back through again. I have on occasion after unloading my groceries, asked the person behind me if they mind if I quickly grab a forgotten item, but only while the person ahead of me is still being served, not in the middle of my own sale. What are your opinions on this? Is it acceptable to slowly wander around the supermarket holding up the checkout? And is age an excuse for such behaviour?

Maybe we should have stayed out of it but this woman really, really irritated me, particularly her treatment of the checkout operator. Personally I think the manager should have cancelled her sale, told her to leave the store and not return.