The Neverending Topic (bags)
Shoppers, if you’ve been with me for the past few months, then you already know how we feel about bags: stop wasting them!!!!
There are a few reasons for the bag obsession, let me give you some inside scoop.
a) the number of bags that the store uses is closely monitored by head office. If we use too many bags, our boss gets in trouble, which means she gets mad at us – and that means I have to educate you a little more, shoppers. We need to work on this one together.
b) there is A LOT of waste at the grocery store in general. Bags are a huge part of this waste. Putting a twenty pound bag of potatoes in a bag is not going to help you carry it up the stairs, shoppers. Make the extra trip out to the car, you probably need the exercise anyway. As you should know by now, bread does not need to be double bagged. Neither do chips. Even if you are taking the bus. Trust me on this one. Baguettes and cases of pop don’t belong in bags either. In fact, anything that has a handle on it should just be carried by the handle (jumbo bags of rice, huge bottles of detergent, etc.). How do you expect us to fit a 10kg bag of flour into a grocery bag, anyway!?!? Shoppers, you just might have to accept that you are not going to get all your groceries into the house in one trip. Surely there are worse fates.
c) we have to follow certain bagging rules (which we are tested on). These rules are:
Shoppers, you have the power to veto any of these rules. The customer is always right, after all. You can let us put chicken in with beef, fish in with bologna, cheese in with eggs – you are the boss here. I know some of you roll your eyes when we follow these rules and think we are stupid, but we are just following orders.
d) Bring your own bags (or other carrying receptacle). This is sooooo good of you, shoppers. But please, for the love of god, pack your own bags too. Many of you get cranky because we don’t pack your bags the way you like them packed. See, as I have mentioned before, we are not mind readers, shoppers. The best way for you to avoid this frustration is to simply pack them yourselves. Don’t you feel weird standing there watching us do it? It’s much faster if you do it, too. I’m going to keep drilling this one into your minds, shoppers. I want to see a bagging revolution.
e) You have a few bad habits when bringing your own bags that almost nullifies the points you get for bringing them in the first place. Here are the big ones:
f) One last point on the neverending topic, shoppers. I am pretty sure we’ve covered this one before too. Produce bags are not for general use. They are intended to contain items that you purchase in bulk from the produce department. There is no need to wrap every item you purchase in a produce bag. Taking an entire roll of produce bag is, in fact, theft. Likewise when you just help yourself to a wad of bags off the express lane. Stealing, shoppers. Stop it.
Have a great night, shoppers.
Friendly Neighborhood Cashier
cash_0r_charge@yahoo.com
There are a few reasons for the bag obsession, let me give you some inside scoop.
a) the number of bags that the store uses is closely monitored by head office. If we use too many bags, our boss gets in trouble, which means she gets mad at us – and that means I have to educate you a little more, shoppers. We need to work on this one together.
b) there is A LOT of waste at the grocery store in general. Bags are a huge part of this waste. Putting a twenty pound bag of potatoes in a bag is not going to help you carry it up the stairs, shoppers. Make the extra trip out to the car, you probably need the exercise anyway. As you should know by now, bread does not need to be double bagged. Neither do chips. Even if you are taking the bus. Trust me on this one. Baguettes and cases of pop don’t belong in bags either. In fact, anything that has a handle on it should just be carried by the handle (jumbo bags of rice, huge bottles of detergent, etc.). How do you expect us to fit a 10kg bag of flour into a grocery bag, anyway!?!? Shoppers, you just might have to accept that you are not going to get all your groceries into the house in one trip. Surely there are worse fates.
c) we have to follow certain bagging rules (which we are tested on). These rules are:
- chicken in its own bag, always.
- meat with meat / fish with fish. No other groceries in these bags.
- cleaning products in their own bag.
- leaky things (dish detergent, hand lotion, liquid soap, etc.) to be wrapped in a separate bag before being placed in a bag with other items
- bleach bagged alone, always.
- frozen items together, never with dry groceries (duh, by the way)
- eggs in their own bag
- certain “number of items” goal per bag
- certain “dollar amount” goal per bag
Shoppers, you have the power to veto any of these rules. The customer is always right, after all. You can let us put chicken in with beef, fish in with bologna, cheese in with eggs – you are the boss here. I know some of you roll your eyes when we follow these rules and think we are stupid, but we are just following orders.
d) Bring your own bags (or other carrying receptacle). This is sooooo good of you, shoppers. But please, for the love of god, pack your own bags too. Many of you get cranky because we don’t pack your bags the way you like them packed. See, as I have mentioned before, we are not mind readers, shoppers. The best way for you to avoid this frustration is to simply pack them yourselves. Don’t you feel weird standing there watching us do it? It’s much faster if you do it, too. I’m going to keep drilling this one into your minds, shoppers. I want to see a bagging revolution.
e) You have a few bad habits when bringing your own bags that almost nullifies the points you get for bringing them in the first place. Here are the big ones:
- you bring your own bags, let us bag everything, and then stuff the plastic bags into your bags. Huh? This makes no sense to me, shoppers. Everything would fit a lot better if you just packed directly into your bags. And talk about WASTE. Ugh. No need, shoppers. Please.
- you bring your own bags, let us bag everything, and then stand at the end of the lane unpacking the plastic bags, loading everything into your bags, and leaving the bags lying around in a messy heap. What’s up with that? Just pack directly into your bags – why is this such a difficult concept? Give it a go, I bet you’ll be thrilled with the results!!
f) One last point on the neverending topic, shoppers. I am pretty sure we’ve covered this one before too. Produce bags are not for general use. They are intended to contain items that you purchase in bulk from the produce department. There is no need to wrap every item you purchase in a produce bag. Taking an entire roll of produce bag is, in fact, theft. Likewise when you just help yourself to a wad of bags off the express lane. Stealing, shoppers. Stop it.
Have a great night, shoppers.
Friendly Neighborhood Cashier
cash_0r_charge@yahoo.com
posted by ces at 4:30 PM
6 Comments:
Some of us have no cars OR houses (were not homeless, we just live in apartments). This, of course means we must make it home and upstairs in one trip. A case of pop by itself in no bag takes up an entire hand. In a bag, the same case of pop is just one of many that can be held in said hand. The same goes for every other thing you complained about having to bag. I think we care about you getting in trouble for using to many bags as much as you care about us getting conveniently home (apparently not at all). :P
daev,
I also have no car or house, and as a customer i try to seriously limit the number of bags that i use at the grocery store. One way you can do this is not buy more stuff than you can reasonably carry. Lots of people that live in the neighborhood stop by every couple of days for a few things, rather than do a huge shopping blowout. I personally don't follow the bagging rules very well for the simple fact that I can't stand the amount of waste that goes on at the grocery store and in the world in general. If you want your case of pop bagged, we'll bag it for you.
why doesn't the grocery store recycle bags? i've asked this at the superstore and they seemed to have no idea what i was taking about. i also walk home and hate the bag waste that goes on in grocery stores, so i bring my own bag and sometimes the cashier looks at me like some sort of freak.
matt, I wish I knew why the grocery store doesn't recycle bags. I do know that in Halifax you can put grocery bags out on the curb with your blue bags and they will be picked up.
It's great that you bring your own bags! The reason that cashiers look at you like you are a freak is because it slows us down a lot to pack those bags for you - don't let them deter you!
So does this mean that I shouldn't put my broccoli in a produce bag? For some reason I always put broccoli in a clear produce bag (and of course, bean sprouts and snow peas and the like), but not green and red peppers or green onions, which I just leave loose. Maybe I'm just paranoid about my broccoli.
I really wish the baggers in my area bagged groceries as you stated. :) Rarely do they bag meats separately--they are placed with frozen juice concentrate, cereal boxes, occasionally even produce. I never know whether to ask for my meats to be bagged separately when they first start bagging, because some baggers take this as an insult---I can understand that if they are one of the few who already bag them separately---or wait and see. However, if I wait until they are starting to put something else in with the meat, they usually act like I'm being deliberately difficult by throwing off their bagging rhythm. I always ask very politely and I never make any other special bagging requests (except the one mentioned below) so I'm not sure what else I could do to smooth over this situation. I'd love any pointers.
I recently began bringing my own bags and while some baggers are nice about it, even fascinated by it, others have been rude to the point that I dread going to the grocery store. I ask politely and don't make any special bagging requests other than the meat one. I would be happy to do my own bagging but I don't want to come across as a jerk who thinks only I can bag my groceries right. Also, the bagging where I shop is done behind the counter, not where it's accessible such as in stores like Wal-mart, so I would have to go around the counter in order to bag my own. Since I live in rural Oklahoma, where many people are not environmentally aware, I've thought about taking time to explain my reasons or even having a little pamphlet as to why, but I don't want to waste their time or come across as even more stuck-up than they already believe I am. I'd love a solution to this problem. I try to be as polite and respectful as possible and I'm getting really tired of being treated like a spoiled prima donna just for trying to help the environment.
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