Cashiers or former cashiers, please explain this to me...

[Bluegoat]

I really don't mind as long as there is some general thought or logic in the bagging.  I put things up in order, but I'm fine if it is done differently.

 

However - some cashiers make some weird decisions.

[KungFuPanda]

I have nine kids. I'm certainly no novice to grocery shopping but I'm totally random 😂😂

 

The only real exception is if I need cold stuff in a cooler due to distance or delay. Otherwise I just throw it up there.

 

I really want the trolley bags that you fold out over the empty cart and then put your groceries in instead of a million bags. I did ask for them for Christmas but didn't get them. Still want to try them and if I did I could see being more systematic at loading the belt. I'm totally chuckling at the idea that someone would see me and think I'm a rookie to shopping 😉

I imagine your average grocery haul is MUCH bigger than mine. I might shop once or twice a week for three people. The cart is never full, so I have room to organize. Those tiny, double-decker carts are my favorite and I use them for most trips.

[Catwoman]

Maybe she hasn't been cashiering very long.

 

Honestly, I think cashiering looks like a very tiring job and I know the pay isn't good. I have a hard time finding fault with someone in a position like that for doing their work imperfectly.

I agree that cashiering is tiring, low-paying, and often thankless, but it is still a job and it still needs to be done correctly. "They don't pay me enough," is not a valid excuse for doing a lousy job.

 

I will absolutely find fault with a cashier if he or she packs the bags so carelessly that the bread is crushed and the eggs are broken and I end up with a big gooey mess all over the other groceries in the bag.

 

I'm not going to yell and scream and be nasty to the cashier. I'm not going to complain to the manager. But you can bet I'm going to be annoyed, and that I will try to avoid that cashier's line in the future.

[happi duck]

When baggers are young I sometimes wonder if they have never grocery shopped and just don't know some ins and outs.

 

If I see someone bagging lettuce with frozen items I'll stop them and explain that it ruins the lettuce. Each time they've been surprised.

 

Other things I don't mention though.

[Alice]

When I worked as a cashier, I used to entertain my mind by trying to figure out things about people from what they bought, and how they bought it.  I still do it now when I'm in line.

 

 

Me too! That was the only thing I really liked about the job. :) 

[heartlikealion]

We do some of our shopping at Sam's. Dh refuses to bring bags into the store. We keep them in the car. Then I recently got this thing called the Clever Crate. It folds flat til you need it. Then he puts groceries in that and carries the whole crate into the house. We bought ours at Sam's because it was cheaper, but you can also buy online.

[MomatHWTK]

Then there's this:

Robotic grocers--

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603540/robotic-grocers-have-learned-how-to-handle-your-vegetables/?set=603536

[minuway]

Probably she was distracted or possibly very new / untrained.

 

I was a cashier in high school, and I didn't last long. It was a rude awakening at how nasty people can be.  People routinely do not acknowledge you, getting angry/abusive because their expired coupons don't work, or that they picked up the wrong item that they thought was on sale and its not ringing up as such. I was also sexually harassed on the daily (although I didn't know what to call it at the time) by both customers (Are you over 18?  Do you have a boyfriend who satisfies you? I could take you home with me right now... etc etc)  and a couple of my managers (I can't even repeat what was said to me here). The whole experience has made me incredibly nice to and sympathetic of cashiers in any capacity, even if they seem nutty or are very slow. I will also would not allow my daughters to work in such a position, at least until college age.

 

I also worked at Starbucks in college, and that seared into my brain the moral necessity to put away a phone when interacting with a service industry worker. Its so demoralizing.