"Every day these people would wake us up. 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.'"

Said Kyle Luker, whose window — on Manhattan's Upper West Side — is just above where people line up for an hours-long wait to get into Trader Joe’s. He's quoted in "Anything You Say in This Trader Joe’s Line May Be Used Against You/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.'" (NYT).

I think Trader Joe's opens at 8 a.m., so what time were people talking right under his window? 6? 5? One solution is to become an early riser. You'd be better off anyway. Another is to get some noise-cancellation earbuds or extra-strong earplugs. But obviously, telling person after person to be quiet isn't going to work. You have to be awake already to do it, and there are new people arriving into your zone continually.

The adaptation Luker — close to "lurker" — used is to lean into the eavesdropping that life had imposed upon him and to make signs transcribing what he hears. The NYT calls it "a Covid-19 version of 'Stan Mack’s Real Life Funnies,' the beloved 1970s and ’80s column in the Village Voice." Oh! "Stan Mack’s Real Life Funnies" — I loved that. I am one of the sources of love that made that a beloved comic (or "column," as the NYT puts it). 

Anyway, Luker hangs his signs from his first-floor brownstone window, and he also photographs the signs and posts the photos on Instagram. Go to that link to read them all. I'll just cherry-pick one:

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A post shared by Trader Joe’s Line UWS (@traderjoeslineuws)

ADDED: I like the gender stereotype reversal with that couple in the cherry-picked sign. He's got the feeling — for produce — and she's got the thinking skill — checking the meat facts. He prioritizes the relationship — staying together — and she's coolly efficient — saving time, division of labor. And he cheerfully subordinates his preference and accepts the leadership she offers. He requests/expects a material reward for his deference.