Don’t hate me because I’m using cloth grocery bags
A blog friend and colleague of mine recently shared her annoyance for the grocery baggers who shoot out the dirtiest of looks when you pull out your own cloth grocery bags. As she said in her original twitter comment:
Dear grocery store baggers: Please stop looking so sullen when I pull out my reusable bags. They save your store money.
And of course, I had to chuckle and completely agree because almost every time (save when I bring my Olive Smart bags for some reason) I pull out my own tote bags one of the following happens:
a) Huge sigh from the bagger
b) Knowing looks between the cashier and the bagger
c) The slowest bag packing ever known to woman or man, not to be matched by me having to tell them that they can fit a solid 10 more items in that bag before they try to put it back in my cart.
Seriously, what makes them so miserable?
- » See also: Abercrombie & Fitch Ordered to Pay Big in Autism Discrimination Case
- » Get Eco Child’s Play by RSS or sign up by email.
I realize that they’re unable to just stuff a box of cereal and a gallon of milk in their bag before they whip it into your cart, but in the long scheme of things, I’ve yet to understand what great difficulty it causes them that they would have such a negative reaction.
Of course, I used to roll my eyes at my mom when she would whip out her own grocery bag back when I was a kid, but that was just because she was my mom and it was terribly uncool to bring your own bag. Sort of like bringing your own lunch to school, I guess.
But now? C’mon. There’s no excuse to hate.
let me give you a little insight from a cashier.
1. if youve ever worked at a grocery store (probably not) you know how mindless and repetitive it is. 30 minutes in, your hands are working and your mind is gone. for me, since most people use plastic, i quickly stick it in a plastic bag. if you give me your bags before i ring up your stuff im fine. but alot of people wait all the way until the end, after most of the stuff is in plastic to give us the bags. then we have to unpack and repack everything and mosg times we dont get an apology or a thank you. and some people practically throw bags at us.
2. we are bombarded with different bagging instructions all day. for hours its “fill them up”, “double bag”, “not too heavy”, “everything in one” “this is seperate” “tie the tops”. so its not that we dont ‘get’ it or dont know how to bag. its actually frustrating that customers assume that. i fill up the canvas bags, but ive had customers tell me its too heavy. ive also had customers buy one tiny thing and tell me to put it in a bag.
for the girl that complained about bagging too fast, some stores rate on how fast you are, and if youre slow, you get taken off the register. wow, ive never heard someone actually complain about that. which brings me back to my point: its like we cant please you guys, no matter what we do. and at 5.00 - 8:50\hr, we all reach that point where we dont care if we do.
I just started as a Cashier at Wal Mart about a week ago. In my training I learned about a ton of initiatives that Wal Mart is doing to help people live the “Green” life. I was immediately interested, formally against Wal Mart and the big buisness. So becuase of my interest, a week into working there and I am already being paid extra to head the project of selling 500 cloth bags in a month.
I know at least at my Wal Mart we are really big on cloth bags. they are more difficult to pack as previously stated because we get all different shapes and sizes so it takes a bit more time to pack. But trust me, we are being watched on how many items we scan per hour, so we are not trying to go slow we just want to be sure that your items are being packed correctly and conveniently. Also as previously stated each customer has different requests, some one them overflowing with more then should be in there, some don’t want meats in them in case they leak, etc. and it is really hard when a customer has a ton of items and is still unloading while you are scanning then comes up and gives the special requests.
To save time I would suggest they be the first thing you place on the belt or hand them to the cashier right away, also make any special requests before we start bagging because we can’t read your mind, it will ultimately make things go faster. If the cashier/bag person rolls their eyes or acts rude, don’t be afraid to go up to management and tell them, they do not want obnoxious people working for them that will keep customers away. Finally be patient with us please, a majority of us are working hard to keep you happy, yes we are used to bagging in the plastic bags, so this process may be a little slower. Plus it is difficult to keep them open to start bagging.
Part of my project is to also get the cashier in the routine of asking things like “would you like you meats in a separate bag”, or “how heavy would you like this”, etc before packing. We are going to start pushing the cloth bags “Would you be interested in buying a cloth bag for only .50 cents that I could use to bag your items today”…things like that.
You are always going to have your idiot cashiers and we are always going to have our idiot customers! Just keep in mind, the majority of the people out there are good people!
All of these points are valid (except for the old working-for-minimum-wage line - sorry, I worked in retail too. No excuse for being unpleasant.) My personal complaint is that when I buy items, and say “I have a bag”, the cashier usually steps back and drops my items like they’re junk. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve bought stuff, in different stores, and when I produce my own bag the cashier acts like it’s no longer her job to pack my purchases! Worse, they often move on to the next person in line, leaving me to struggle with my purchases, my wallet and usually other bags while someone else is right behind me! When, on occasion, I have suggested that things might move faster if I was helped, I have variously gotten a sneer, a laugh, or the answer that it’s “intrusive” to use my bags!! I live in Toronto, which is certainly a rude place, but many stores are charging for their plastic bags now. So, radical notion: how about training your staff to pack OURS??
Man how dumb are all of you. Most normal people at some point in their lives, if you worked at 15 years old bagged groceries and yes it sucks. Think about it this way..would you want to touch someone elses dirty clothes? Than why the hell would someone else want to touch your dirty reusable bag? That’s nasty and unecessary. Your not saving the world so quit trying to be a hero by using clothe bags cause u might not be wasting natural resources but a majority of u buy new clothe bags every now and than anyways and last time I checked they WERE made from either plastic or clothe which is also a natural resource. And why are all of you complaining about using plastic bags..if its sooooo bad..am I right?
“Dear grocery store baggers: Please stop looking so sullen when I pull out my reusable bags. They save your store money.”
Cool, they save our STORE money. They don’t save ME money. Trust me, I couldn’t care less how much Jimmy saves. It’s not going into my pocket. Point taken, point ignored.
If you are so keen on keeping this Earth clean (which the majority of people are, you’re not the only one) then bag your groceries yourself. C’mon, don’t be lazy, it’s all in the name of the environment
Here’s a typical scenario:
Me: “Sir/Ma’am, would you at least like your meat in a plastic bag?”
Customer: “No, I wash my bags”.
Me: /looks at 20 dirty, dingy, disgusting bags within a bag “Of course you do…”
Half of you wouldn’t be supporting bagging cloth bags if you were the ones having to handle them on a daily basis. They are disgusting. Indeed, bag them yourselves. If anyone’s complaining, it’s you.