Bitchin' 'Bout Baggers
Bitchin' 'Bout Baggers
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Bitchin' 'Bout Baggers
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Post #1 - January 24th, 2012, 3:45 pmI could swear there was a general pet peeves thread. I didn't see it, but feel free to move this if there is one.
I have nothing against baggers in general. I always make sure to thank them when I leave. I make conversation if the bagger is chatty. Baggers are people too.
I have reusable bags to put my groceries in, as many of us do these days. I think I'm respectful by storing, say, 9 folded bags into one open bag, then handing this package to the bagger. Why, then, do they upturn the lot, dumping all the bags out on the counter, filling up two or three, then handing me a stack of 6-7 loose bags? This is incredibly irritating. Is it just me?
And what is the deal with putting things like dish soap in a plastic bag, then putting it into a reusable bag, with nothing else? What am I, 90?Last edited by Pie Lady on January 25th, 2012, 9:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post #2 - January 24th, 2012, 4:16 pmI couldn't agree with you more. I always bring two cold bags for.....cold things.... Why do they just fill it to over capacity with non cold things, and then can't zip it. I have to tell the bagger everytime that it's for cold things.
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Post #3 - January 24th, 2012, 4:21 pmOh, the cold things. I had to stop calling them "perishables" because all I got was a blank stare. I ask them to put all the cold stuff in one bag. What happens if it doesn't all fit in one bag? They put it with the nonperishables, not a second bag, so I have to dig it all out in the parking lot.
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Post #4 - January 24th, 2012, 4:34 pmI just pack the stuff myself....
Then, everyone is happy!
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Post #5 - January 24th, 2012, 5:10 pmPie Lady wrote:I could swear there was a general pet peeves thread. I didn't see it, but feel free to move this if there is one.
I have nothing against baggers in general. I always make sure to thank them when I leave. I make conversation if the bagger is chatty. Baggers are people too.
I have reusable bags to put my groceries in, as many of us do these days. I think I'm respectful by storing, say, 9 folded bags into one open bag, then handing this package to the bagger. Why, then, do they upturn the lot, dumping all the bags out on the counter, filling up two or three, then handing me a stack of 6-7 loose bags? This is incredibly irritating. Is it just me?
And what is the deal with putting things like dish soap in a plastic bag, then putting it into a reusable bag, with nothing else? What am I, 90?
What you're doing with the bags is for YOUR benefit, not the bagger's -- it's making his/her life more difficult. Why not spend a few seconds of your time to bring in only a few bags, then hand the bagger the stack of folded bags?
The bagger has been trained to bag soap products separate from everything else. They can get in trouble (and maybe even get fired) if they do otherwise.
I suggest that you take Mel's advice. I'm certain it will make the both the bagger and you happier.
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Post #6 - January 24th, 2012, 5:43 pmBecause its their job. I'm not the only person that brings in my own bags. Training is all they need.
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Post #7 - January 24th, 2012, 5:49 pmmhill95149 wrote:I just pack the stuff myself....
Then, everyone is happy!
Surprisingly, I've actually been castigated for doing this. My super-sleek efficiency must have been very threatening. You should see me load a dishwasher!
=R=By protecting others, you save yourself. If you only think of yourself, you'll only destroy yourself. --Kambei Shimada
Every human interaction is an opportunity for disappointment --RS
There's a horse loose in a hospital --JM
That don't impress me much --Shania Twain
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Post #8 - January 24th, 2012, 7:17 pmY'all need to go to the A&G-- their baggers are world-class assets.
Jen
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Post #9 - January 24th, 2012, 8:31 pmJust keep in mind that some of the baggers are mentally handicapped, at least at some of the stores I go to. they do the best job they can but they are not always on point. at ultra and aldi you bag your own groceries and can do it how you like.Toria
"I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it" - As You Like It,
W. Shakespeare
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Post #10 - January 24th, 2012, 8:49 pmronnie_suburban wrote:mhill95149 wrote:I just pack the stuff myself....
Then, everyone is happy!
Surprisingly, I've actually been castigated for doing this. My super-sleek efficiency must have been very threatening. You should see me load a dishwasher!
=R=
Not all of us shop at Sunset Foods.....
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Post #11 - January 24th, 2012, 9:09 pmmhill95149 wrote:ronnie_suburban wrote:mhill95149 wrote:I just pack the stuff myself....
Then, everyone is happy!
Surprisingly, I've actually been castigated for doing this. My super-sleek efficiency must have been very threatening. You should see me load a dishwasher!
=R=
Not all of us shop at Sunset Foods.....
LOL! Sunset?! They don't even let me in that place.
This was actually at another local chain, where I no longer shop...the scoldings being just one of the reasons.
=R=By protecting others, you save yourself. If you only think of yourself, you'll only destroy yourself. --Kambei Shimada
Every human interaction is an opportunity for disappointment --RS
There's a horse loose in a hospital --JM
That don't impress me much --Shania Twain
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Post #12 - January 24th, 2012, 9:43 pmtoria wrote:Just keep in mind that some of the baggers are mentally handicapped, at least at some of the stores I go to. they do the best job they can but they are not always on point. at ultra and aldi you bag your own groceries and can do it how you like.
I agree. This is a job that is one step below an order-taker at Wendy's. Asking them to put your groceries in several (unfamiliar to them) product-specific bags is just asking for trouble.
Me? I tell the baggers I want paper when they ask "Paper or plastic?", and I let them do their job. It's been many years since I've had a problem more serious than their underfilling the bags.
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Post #13 - January 24th, 2012, 10:08 pmJust read a dis of this thread on Twitter.
Wow, sure hope that superior feeling lasts for you dude!At top of 2012 most ridiculous threads list so far is this 1 about employees who bag groceries. Really, people? lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.p…
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Post #14 - January 24th, 2012, 10:21 pmWell that is one person's opinion. who really would tweet about something they read on another website that they deemed was so trivial. Isn't that just plowing more time and effort into something you think is a waste of time? Its not like WW3 broke out and I read it here. Or the Chinese bought Alinea. That would be tweetworthy. To each their own.Toria
"I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it" - As You Like It,
W. Shakespeare
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Post #15 - January 24th, 2012, 10:24 pmtoria wrote:Well that is one person's opinion. who really would tweet about something they read on another website that they deemed was so trivial. Isn't that just plowing more time and effort into something you think is a waste of time? Its not like WW3 broke out and I read it here. Or the Chinese bought Alinea. That would be tweetworthy. To each their own.
little minds, little worlds
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Post #16 - January 24th, 2012, 10:24 pmPlease, folks, as trivial as this thread may be to some, let's keep the discussion on-topic.
Thanks,
=R=
for the moderatorsBy protecting others, you save yourself. If you only think of yourself, you'll only destroy yourself. --Kambei Shimada
Every human interaction is an opportunity for disappointment --RS
There's a horse loose in a hospital --JM
That don't impress me much --Shania Twain
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Post #17 - January 24th, 2012, 10:24 pmPlease let's not let Twitter distract us from this extraordinarily important issue. I'd like to hear more complaining about low skilled/low wage workers.
ETA - Sorry for the snark infested cross-post.
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Post #18 - January 25th, 2012, 12:07 amI didn't enjoy grocery shopping much when we lived in New Jersey because you had to bag your own groceries, whether you wanted to or not. That in itself wouldn't have been so bad, but the people behind you in line would get quite hostile if they felt you weren't bagging fast enough. Mind you, I was living there after North Carolina, where the baggers would take the cart out to your car and unload it, all with a courteous attitude, and you would tip them a buck. Very civilized to my mind!
Anyway, back to New Jersey -- fellow customers would also start putting their groceries on the belt before you had finished unloading your cart. Someone started to do this at the store the other day here in Park Ridge, and I almost asked them if they were from the Garden State..."When I'm born I'm a Tar Heel bred, and when I die I'm a Tar Heel dead."
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Post #19 - January 25th, 2012, 12:53 amI'm sorry but I really find respect for working folks as important as care for the environment. Perhaps you could hand them only the appropriate number of bags as needed to help them do a less than fun job rather than calling them names.
Sdbond - the first time I shopped in NC, on a trip visiting friends, I was horrified when the young man bagging my groceries took off with them! Then I figured it out and loved it. At one spot in NH, the kids who bagged would also bring your bags out for you and load your car ... dollar tip was standard and the service so appreciated.
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Post #20 - January 25th, 2012, 7:44 amSiun wrote:the first time I shopped in NC, on a trip visiting friends, I was horrified when the young man bagging my groceries took off with them! Then I figured it out and loved it. At one spot in NH, the kids who bagged would also bring your bags out for you and load your car ... dollar tip was standard and the service so appreciated.
Have shopped at 3-4 different Stracks in NWI and they all do this--haven't shopped at any in the city so I don't know if the practice is systemwide. But it's really nice...now if only I could figure out a way to have the service at the other end of the trip when I have to lug all the bags upstairs by myself
Otherwise, I have to say, I hate this thread, particularly the title."Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad." Miles Kington
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Post #21 - January 25th, 2012, 8:19 amsdbond wrote:I didn't enjoy grocery shopping much when we lived in New Jersey because you had to bag your own groceries, whether you wanted to or not. That in itself wouldn't have been so bad, but the people behind you in line would get quite hostile if they felt you weren't bagging fast enough. Mind you, I was living there after North Carolina, where the baggers would take the cart out to your car and unload it, all with a courteous attitude, and you would tip them a buck. Very civilized to my mind!
Anyway, back to New Jersey -- fellow customers would also start putting their groceries on the belt before you had finished unloading your cart. Someone started to do this at the store the other day here in Park Ridge, and I almost asked them if they were from the Garden State...
So let me get this straight: In NJ you have to bag your own groceries but you can't pump your own gas! I remember back in the earlier days of self-service, making a trip to NJ and hunting a while for a self-service pump not realizing there were none.Coming to you from Leiper's Fork, TN where we prefer forking to spooning.
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Post #22 - January 25th, 2012, 9:27 am[quote=quote]Pie Lady wrote:I could swear there was a general pet peeves thread. I didn't see it, but feel free to move this if there is one.
I have nothing against baggers in general. I always make sure to thank them when I leave. I make conversation if the bagger is chatty. Baggers are people too.
I have reusable bags to put my groceries in, as many of us do these days. I think I'm respectful by storing, say, 9 folded bags into one open bag, then handing this package to the bagger. Why, then, do they upturn the lot, dumping all the bags out on the counter, filling up two or three, then handing me a stack of 6-7 loose bags? This is incredibly irritating. Is it just me?
And what is the deal with putting things like dish soap in a plastic bag, then putting it into a reusable bag, with nothing else? What am I, 90?
What you're doing with the bags is for YOUR benefit, not the bagger's -- it's making his/her life more difficult. Why not spend a few seconds of your time to bring in only a few bags, then hand the bagger the stack of folded bags?
I've tried to do that, but I can't guess how many I need. Also I think it is condescending to carry in 10 bags but say, here, use these three. If you need more, I'll hand them to you.
[quote=quote]The bagger has been trained to bag soap products separate from everything else. They can get in trouble (and maybe even get fired) if they do otherwise.
Most baggers don't do this, only a few, or they ask first.
[quote=quote]I suggest that you take Mel's advice. I'm certain it will make the both the bagger and you happier.
I'd love that, in fact I've attempted it, but when I am spotted doing this, I get shoved out of the way and told they'll handle it.
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Post #23 - January 25th, 2012, 9:33 amtoria wrote:Just keep in mind that some of the baggers are mentally handicapped, at least at some of the stores I go to. they do the best job they can but they are not always on point. at ultra and aldi you bag your own groceries and can do it how you like.
Believe me, this is not directed at people with challenges. I'm talking about the seemingly unchallenged workers; in this case, mostly just suffering from teenagerism. The people I mentioned that dump all the bags out was clearly able-minded/-bodied. It's just common sense not to do that, I think.Last edited by Pie Lady on January 25th, 2012, 9:57 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Post #24 - January 25th, 2012, 9:38 amjesteinf wrote:I'd like to hear more complaining about low skilled/low wage workers.boudreaulicious wrote:Otherwise, I have to say, I hate this thread, particularly the title.
We've complained about other low wage workers. And everything else.
I agree the title is mean. I was following the Ass series. But I'll change it since it's probably not as bad as finger-lickers. Ahem.
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Post #25 - January 25th, 2012, 9:39 amtoria wrote:Its not like WW3 broke out and I read it here.
I would love to find out about it that way. We could start a thread about the war rations.
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Post #26 - January 25th, 2012, 9:51 amSiun wrote:I'm sorry but I really find respect for working folks as important as care for the environment.
I do have respect for working folks. I am a working folk. I'm a server for rich families on weekends, picking up their used cups and napkins and cleaning up ice cream that has been thrown against the wall in fun. I've had plenty of shitty jobs where I was flat-out ignored and treated like I didn't matter, and many were underpaid positions. I have plenty of respect for people in service jobs, because I know they are often treated unkindly. That doesn't mean they/we can't still have an irritating flaw. It's a peeve, just like when someone posted about the waiter that broke into his conversation to take his order or how a person who writes a check in a grocery line is annoying. There an example of an overworked, underpaid worker and a person who is likely elderly; I'm betting the posters didn't mean to disrespect waiters or old people in general, just like I'm not trying to disrespect every underpaid working citizen.
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Post #27 - January 25th, 2012, 10:34 amI don't want to live in a world where I can't bitch about baggers.
These days I mostly shop Aldi and Trader Joe's - at the former, it's bag-your-own, and the latter, the nicest checkout staff on earth, so it isn't really a problem anymore. But it used to piss me off royally when I would hand the bagger a bunch of bags, specifically request that they not stuff everything into two or three of them, and get eyerolls, huffing, and sometimes a sniffy, "Why not?" Because I couldn't easily carry such heavy bags? Because they aren't made of steel thread and tend to break if too full? Because I asked nicely?
There was no name-calling or snottiness on my part, just a simple request that would have cost them nothing to accommodate. Instead, I decided to stop patronizing certain stores that displayed this behavior.As a mattra-fact, Pie Face, you are beginning to look almost human. - Barbara Bennett
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Post #28 - January 25th, 2012, 11:25 amPie Lady wrote:[quote=quote]Pie Lady wrote:Also I think it is condescending to carry in 10 bags but say, here, use these three. If you need more, I'll hand them to you.
No worse in the grand scheme of things than being visibly irritated when someone hands back your "loose" bags. This is really making a mountain out of a molehill. If your preference is to use your own bags, take a deep breath and say "thank you" when he hands the loose bags back.
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Post #29 - January 25th, 2012, 11:27 amSuzy Creamcheese wrote:I don't want to live in a world where I can't bitch about baggers.
These days I mostly shop Aldi and Trader Joe's - at the former, it's bag-your-own, and the latter, the nicest checkout staff on earth, so it isn't really a problem anymore. But it used to piss me off royally when I would hand the bagger a bunch of bags, specifically request that they not stuff everything into two or three of them, and get eyerolls, huffing, and sometimes a sniffy, "Why not?" Because I couldn't easily carry such heavy bags? Because they aren't made of steel thread and tend to break if too full? Because I asked nicely?
There was no name-calling or snottiness on my part, just a simple request that would have cost them nothing to accommodate. Instead, I decided to stop patronizing certain stores that displayed this behavior.
Come on, boycotting a store because they didn't accommodate your bagging preferences?
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Post #30 - January 25th, 2012, 11:49 amI feel that I can comment on this topic because I was a bagger at the A&P while in college. One poster mentioned training. I personally feel that most stores don't spend enough time training baggers; it's cursory at best. My mother was a retail clerk, first at Deli Meyer and then National, which became A&P. SHE taught me to bag, and we didn't work in the same store. I used to pack a week's worth of groceries in the two-wheeled shopping carts that the neighborhood ladies wheeled to the store - it was an art. I listened to the customer. If they said it was O.K. to make them heavy, I did. If they wanted them light, I did that too. Cans were not thrown on top of loaves of bread, soap was kept away from anything that could absorb the smell. I had one lady who always sought me out because she said I treated her with respect and didn't look down on her because she used Food Stamps. It's all about customer service.
I also bring my own bags and most times go through the self check-out so that I can bag my own groceries. I can't tell you the number of times that I've had to stand in the parking lot rebagging my groceries. It's just not worth the effort. The exception, as mentioned earlier, is Trader Joes. They reward you for bringing your own bags and do a good job packing them.Ms. Ingie
Life is too short, why skip dessert?
