The thing about it, though, is that you really do have to pack them properly. And my biggest pet peeve is when the bagger puts the wrong things in the wrong bags. For example, I have those special insulated bags for cold/ frozen items. It is silver, and big, and visually very distinct from the green grocery bags. And yet the baggers neglect to separate my groceries. Yesterday she put the muffins in the cold bag, and the ice cream in the green bag. I won't even mention that she put the muffins underneath a gallon of milk, so this morning I didn't need to cut the muffin so much as I needed to scoop the crumbs onto a dish. I know sometimes these baggers are (I don't know the PC term here so I'll go with) special needs; but honestly, much of the time, it is just some overly made up high school kid who just doesn't give a damn. The girl yesterday had neon green eyeshadow, chemically damaged hair, and an air of contempt. What is the correct etiquette when you see a bagger badly bagging? Sometimes the cashier notices and will remedy the situation, which is great. But if not, what do you do? I don't really say anything, but I will reach over and re-bag into the proper bag. That is what I did yesterday; and as I was re-filling my cold bag, the cashier handed me the ice cream- rescued from the bag with the dishwasher soap- and said, "Here, you can put that in there." Thank you. She was clearly of the intervene-when-your-bagger-needs-help variety.
Sometimes I actually avoid certain registers because I see the bagger on duty is an Untrained Packer. It is all well and good to be friendly, but when I have ten bags for ten items, that is just irritating. When my muffins are crushed by my milk (oops, I wasn't going to mention that) or when my ice cream is defrosted while my cereal is maintained at ambient temperature in an insulated bag, that is annoying. I think I should talk to the manager, but do I want to be one of those people? I wouldn't necessarily point anyone specific out; but really, they should train their baggers to use the bags properly.
All I know is that I am training my own personal baggers. When Juliette and Cosette come grocery shopping with me, they love to scan and bag the groceries. And they will sort appropriately. For them, it is a game. After all, Curious George won a trophy for bagging groceries.
3 comments:
Bad bagging of groceries is one of my pet peeves. Usually when I lay stuff out on the counter I try and put the eggs/bread/etc out last so they're less likely to put those items at the bottom of the bag.
Still, it drives me NUTS to see baggers like the girl your described - especially when they ooze contempt. Usually I comfort myself by remembering that they're bagging groceries for a living...and on my really frustrated days I am always tempted to say something like "oh, I understand why you have an attitude. I would too if I had your job..." but instead, I just walk way, doing the grocery reshuffle on my own, mumbling to myself as I go.
I sooo get it too! I even unload the cart in the order in which I would like things bagged - boxed goods, cans, fresh produce, meats, dairy,squishable things, etc.
I don't get why they can't get it.
The only reason I use that self-scanner thing we have at the Stop&Shop now is so that I can bag my own groceries as I go.
That way when the bread is smooshed by the time I get home, it's my own damn fault. Sigh.
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