the other day i bought a medium serving bowl, a pair of cheap sun glasses, and a chapstick at Wal*Mart. i'd forgotten to bring in one of our canvas bags so i planned on carrying everything out just inside the bowl. as the checker went to put it in a plastic bag a conversation took place:
me: 'oh, don't worry about putting it in a bag, i'll just carry it out.'
checker, looking at me like i'm an idiot, continuing to bag the bowl, then proceeding to double-bag the bowl.
me: 'no, really. i wouldn't like it in a bag, please.'
checker, hesitating but still double-bagging against my request.
by this time i realize there's no way i'm getting out of here without a bag.
me: 'it's okay, you don't need to double-bag it.'
checker: 'but what if the bag rips?'
me: 'i think it'll be okay.' plus i'm thinking, one extra layer of wimpy plastic bag isn't going to cushion a fall even if the first bag does rip and if the first bag rips then it isn't a suitable grocery bag at all!
checker, still double bagging...
me: 'please. i don't want two bags.
checker: 'but...'
me: 'it won't break and if it does, i won't hold you accountable.'
she stops double-bagging and scans the other items only to then put them in a separate plastic bag. what the...?
me: 'could you just put everything in that same bag.'
checker: 'okay. if that's what you want.'
me: 'yep.'
now, i understand that there is a protocol to bagging groceries. my sister, who was a bagger at Smith's, had to watch a training video on effective bagging: don't put the bread on the bottom, wrap raw meat in a separate plastic bag, put tender produce near the top, etc. all in an effort to get groceries home unscathed. that makes sense. but i think the checkers at Wal*Mart have taken that to mean only put two or three items in a bag and don't ever put a tube of toothpaste in with a box of crackers. one is food, the other is not.
sure, i think this over abundance of plastic bags and inefficient bagging is unnecessary. heck, i bring my own canvas bags with me to the store 9 out of 10 times. but what surprised me the most is that i was treated like i nut for not wanting a plastic bag in the first place. as if i were asking Arby's to hand over my beef n' cheddar without a wrapper... 'you can just put the fries right here in my hand.'
hey, that's not a bad idea. hmmmmm.
10 comments:
ha, ha
The same thing happened to us at Target. We were buying 5 of those huge storage containers with lids. Obviously we didn't need bags for the other stuff because we had the storage bins. The girl bagged the stuff and then put it in the bins. (What?)
To that conversation, I just want to say to the lady that was bagging: "just bag it", no I mean "bag it, bag the bagging okay!"
They must have that 2 item per bag protocol in their training video cause this happens to me all the time. I constantly tell checkers to stuff it all in one bag and I get that "are you crazy?" look with their raised eyebrows. I usually start unbagging the stuff myself and had them back the extras.
I have canvas bags in my car that I always forget to bring in. I'm going to try to get up to your 9/10 average.
Arby's has always been really good about just putting the fries right into my hands. no questions asked.
hold the plastic. more mayonnaise, please
you need to shop at whole foods or wild oats (i'm sure they have those in ephraim...hehe) anyway, they are the opposite. if you don't have a canvas bag they look at you like you are a jerk. and then they proceed to stuff everything in one bag that you can barely carry out of the store and there is no way you can carry it by the handles, they would bust off for sure. not complaining, i just think it's funny how much they differ.
when people ignore me and bag my stuff anyway, I just take it out and leave the bag there.
Agreed. This has also happned to me.
[insert witty anecdote here]
I also have a beef with those plastic bag carosels.
Not necessary.
I, too, have had this same reaction. Telling the bagger "I don't need a bag" for the first item, and then having he/she start to bag the second item and explaining "I don't need a bag for that either."
Checkers always give me that look too when I say I don't need a bad or you can put that in the same bag. It's a little hard to understand especially because they witness first-hand how many bags are used a day only in their line at their store. Think of all the other lines at other grocery stores all over the world. Now there's a lot of bags.
you have a much better average than me. I'm more like 1/10 canvas bag and then I go to pay and think, (Bags! Home! Dang it!) oh hell...there I go again ruining the environment. and I walk out of there like charlie brown.
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