Geo wrote:In Québec it's bad manners NOT to bring your reusable bags, even at the provincial wine/liquor stores. The upside is, the kids who do the bagging are pretty capable. They're unionized, well-paid, and courteous.

Geo

When I worked in Mexico, all the chains like Gigante would have boys 10-15 years old, dressed in navy trousers, clean white shirts, and ties at the end of each checkout line to bag the groceries. Not only did they generally do an excellent job, but they did it with a great deal of enthusiasm.

Even though I generally had only 2-3 items, I just could not deny the kid the opportunity to take my groceries out to the car - all for a couple of pesos.

Hi,

At Viet Hoa Market on Argyle, someone will walk with you to your car. It may be a few blocks. When they come along to retrieve their cart, I tip them for saving me the effort to return it.

Regards,

JimTheBeerGuy wrote:Perhaps AngrySarah meant extrudable, and wanted to make sausage from him.

I happen to like sausage.

True story: I almost killed Bob Greene. I was pulling out of the Treasure Island (I swear) on Wells going from dark inside to bright sunlight, thus blinded. He walked in front of my car and I kinda hit him. I went from "whoa, I almost ran that guy over" to "hey, that's Bob Greene" to "why did I hit the brake and not the accelerator?"

Here's a guy that knows how to do it. I remember seeing the winner of the bagging contest every year on the Johnny Carson Show.

I was a cashier at Target for three years, and let me tell you....
We were trained in how to sort and bag items by type: put cold items together in one bag, produce in a bag, chemicals in a separate bag, double bag heavy items like gallons of milk, use the guests' bags if requested, etc. Most of my co-workers tried to follow the guidelines. But I also noticed that some of them continued to sort and bag things by "type" even when it wasn't necessary or desirable, like putting all the canned items in a bag (ouch!). You just get into a particular rhythm. But there were also some people who just didn't think through what they were doing. Or didn't really want to be bothered with doing things the way they were told. You know the type.

We sorted items in order to keep like with like. Most people don't want household chemicals near their food. Others don't care. Almost everyone wants to keep cold items cold as long as possible, or keep soft perishables (like tomatoes or bread) at the top of the bag so they won't bruise. On the whole, I think most of us tried to follow our training. But I must also say that while training materials may have been consistent, the importance of certain details was not consistently emphasized. In other words, some baggers (and some managers, too) really don't understand what all the fuss is about.

Also, remember that we must work very quickly to accommodate you and all of the other guests in line. Our transactions were timed and a fraction of a second in delay would adversely affect our performance reviews. The workstation is designed to allow us to ring up your items and bag them as quickly as possible. It was a very rare occasion when my guests could bag their items faster than I could. Remember that I have to placate the disgruntled guests that are still in line after you leave and who think I'm taking too long. Believe me, someone will complain. So it really helped when a guest gave me all of their bags before I started ringing things up so that I could arrange them and hopefully bag everything in a way that would make us both happy.

By the way, most of us on the floor either had college degrees, or were working on them. Never judge anyone's intelligence by their job. All legitimate work is honorable work.

themaven wrote:All legitimate work is honorable work.

Bravo!

"By the way, most of us on the floor either had college degrees, or were working on them. Never judge anyone's intelligence by their job. All legitimate work is honorable work."

Well put, themaven. Thank you.

I've been following this thread avidly(I work in the perishables/food service industry) and am intimately familiar with the assumptions many make about workers. In the company I work for at all levels, people come from all walks of life, and, unfortunately, it would come as a surprise to many that the majority of us(not merely upper-management) hold degrees and/or are in school. This while simultaneously performing *hard* *stressful* *challenging* *valuable* work that many imagine is the domain of the unskilled and/or untrained. And proceed to treat us like irritatingly stupid dogs. For those who've never worked a retail job, ever have someone snap their fingers at you? What would you do?

Beyond that, I guarantee you that of those assuming ill of hourly workers and reacting none could imagine that a fellow assistant manager in my department is the current Miss Gay Indiana. Talking him down when customers behave badly is no simple task. As history has taught us, you don't fuck with a drag queen.

Christopher Gordon wrote:"By the way, most of us on the floor either had college degrees, or were working on them. Never judge anyone's intelligence by their job. All legitimate work is honorable work."

Well put, themaven. Thank you.

I've been following this thread avidly(I work in the perishables/food service industry) and am intimately familiar with the assumptions many make about workers. In the company I work for at all levels, people come from all walks of life, and, unfortunately, it would come as a surprise to many that the majority of us(not merely upper-management) hold degrees and/or are in school. This while simultaneously performing *hard* *stressful* *challenging* *valuable* work that many imagine is the domain of the unskilled and/or untrained. And proceed to treat us like irritatingly stupid dogs. For those who've never worked a retail job, ever have someone snap their fingers at you? What would you do?

I wish I had only had fingers snapped at me. When I worked in a bookstore, a woman whistled at me like you would at a dog (not a wolf whistle lol). And another asked for a "Bears" calendar and when I led her to a Chicago Bears calendar she exclaimed, "No, idiot! Berenstain Bears." I am nice to retail clerks.

I must interject in defense of my home state of New Jersey. At least one member of my family has lived in NJ (north, south & central) since I was born almost 42 years ago and every store "we" ever shopped at in the state (including A&P, Pathmark, King's, Shop & Stop, Wegman's, Food Town and Trader Joe's) would bag groceries for you. I haven't lived there since I was 10, but my Grandma lived there until she died at the age of 97 in 2010 and my Mom's lived there for the last ~13 years, so I've spent plenty of time with them in NJ grocery stores. Not sure when/where in NJ they won't bag groceries for you, but I suspect it may have been just one chain, not a state-wide thing.

chgoeditor wrote:I must interject in defense of my home state of New Jersey. At least one member of my family has lived in NJ (north, south & central) since I was born almost 42 years ago and every store "we" ever shopped at in the state (including A&P, Pathmark, King's, Shop & Stop, Wegman's, Food Town and Trader Joe's) would bag groceries for you. I haven't lived there since I was 10, but my Grandma lived there until she died at the age of 97 in 2010 and my Mom's lived there for the last ~13 years, so I've spent plenty of time with them in NJ grocery stores. Not sure when/where in NJ they won't bag groceries for you, but I suspect it may have been just one chain, not a state-wide thing.

I no longer remember the names of the stores where I shopped in New Jersey, but every one I patronized (and I went far and wide for groceries) required self-bagging. Granted, this was close to 20 years ago, so things might have changed since that time. We lived in Somerset, in Somerset County, which is considered Central New Jersey, I believe. ("Exit 9" off the Turnpike, for those who get that particular joke.)

Hi,

My sister lives in Mountain Lakes, NJ. I have seen her groceries bagged in chain and ethnic stores.

My first encounter with NJ prohibition on filling gas yourself was in Princeton, NJ. There was a smiling sikh with a gleaming white turban filling my tank. I was waiting for Shirley Temple to come out from behind to smile and wink. I thought this was outstanding service not realizing this was his job and by law I was prohibited to do it myself. My first time was at least memorable.

Regards,

At every store we've been to since we moved to San Diego, I've been thanked for the help by the cashier/bagger every time I bag our on stuff. Just my $0.02.

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

My sister lives in Mountain Lakes, NJ. I have seen her groceries bagged in chain and ethnic stores.

My first encounter with NJ prohibition on filling gas yourself was in Princeton, NJ. There was a smiling sikh with a gleaming white turban filling my tank. I was waiting for Shirley Temple to come out from behind to smile and wink. I thought this was outstanding service not realizing this was his job and by law I was prohibited to do it myself. My first time was at least memorable.

Regards,

Sounds like things have improved in the Garden State since I left!

The "no pump-it-yourself" law can definitely leave you with a sense of consternation.

Puppy wrote:At every store we've been to since we moved to San Diego, I've been thanked for the help by the cashier/bagger every time I bag our on stuff. Just my $0.02.

If it's optional, I think that's fine. I just didn't like being required to bag-my-own. My favorite experience is at Trader Joe's, where they also unload your cart for you.

(Now I wish I could remember which big grocery store chain would also unload your cart for you. The front of the cart was hinged, and the clerk would unhinge the panel so he/she could pull your groceries out of the cart. Maybe it was Harris-Teeter?)

sdbond wrote:

Puppy wrote:At every store we've been to since we moved to San Diego, I've been thanked for the help by the cashier/bagger every time I bag our on stuff. Just my $0.02.

If it's optional, I think that's fine. I just didn't like being required to bag-my-own. My favorite experience is at Trader Joe's, where they also unload your cart for you.

(Now I wish I could remember which big grocery store chain would also unload your cart for you. The front of the cart was hinged, and the clerk would unhinge the panel so he/she could pull your groceries out of the cart. Maybe it was Harris-Teeter?)

I remember that too. Did Omni used to do it?

Pie Lady wrote:

sdbond wrote:

Puppy wrote:At every store we've been to since we moved to San Diego, I've been thanked for the help by the cashier/bagger every time I bag our on stuff. Just my $0.02.

If it's optional, I think that's fine. I just didn't like being required to bag-my-own. My favorite experience is at Trader Joe's, where they also unload your cart for you.

(Now I wish I could remember which big grocery store chain would also unload your cart for you. The front of the cart was hinged, and the clerk would unhinge the panel so he/she could pull your groceries out of the cart. Maybe it was Harris-Teeter?)

I remember that too. Did Omni used to do it?

I'm trying to remember, since Omni's been gone for such a long time in Chicago. But that sounds right.