Tuesday, June 17, 2003

 
In my younger and greener days I was anti-grocery bags. Now as a cashier, I put soda in bags out of habit. Ah well the joys of modern plastic. How ever, I thought I would pass along this valuable bit of advice. If you bring in CANVAS bags for the cashier to put your groceries in you DESERVE to have your tomatoes squashed. No really you DO!

First the way you bag stuff is buy scanning them and placing them in a bag. Plastic bags hang on hanger that keep them open and ready to put things in. Canvas bags have no support and flop all over the place making it so that we have to hold open the bag while putting the stuff in. This is quite the pain in the butt. Literally, I mean it hurts to have to stoop over and hold those open.

Second, the bags themselves are often ratty and smell bad. Bloody chicken leaks, and often time the "green people" don't put the chicken in a produce bag so the chicken leaks all over the bag and starts to smell. Yes I can smell it, after all, I am stooped down rearranging the yogurt that was put on the belt first thing, so it doesn't burst open when the two liter of soda is dropped on it.

Third, often times those bags are not put up on the belt first so I have already started bagging and have to take every thing out and re-bag. Doing things twice is just a royal pain.

People that want to reuse the plastic grocery bags that they got last time… words can not describe the horrible problem this brings up. MONKEY POX on them.

People that bring in paper bags to reuse… well paper can be reused with out any added pain in the butt factors. Sadly the registers at the store I work for are not set up to bag in paper anymore, but that is no ones fault. It's just a stupid oversight on the part of the designer.

So you still want to use your old "Lands End" canvas bags for groceries? Then let me offer this up for you to do, BAG IT YOURSELF. Then you can be assured that it is done how you like, and as an added bonus you have just made a new friend. Trust me, cashiers won't have a problem with this. Just nicely say, "I have canvas bags, can you send the groceries back so I can bag them?"

It's not like I ever HAVE set a two-liter bottle of Pepsi on tomatoes, but every time I see a ratty bloody canvas bag, I WANT to. Tempting fate is never a good idea; After all, I have never been known to have a good sense of decorum.

Amy 9:29 PM