| Author | Message | ||
     sbenois Supporter Username: Sbenois Post Number: 15417 Registered: 10-2001  |
I don't get this one either. If one is old or disabled I can see it. But if you're perfectly healthy, bag your own freaking groceries. Thankey. | ||
| MeAndTheBoys Citizen Username: Meandtheboys Post Number: 4249 Registered: 12-2004  |
Not only do I bag my own, if I can get to it before the cashier (often I'm still unloading my cart at one end while the cashier has already started ringing and bagging at the other end), but I often do the self check out, and do everything myself. | ||
| greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 8709 Registered: 5-2001  |
I do. I'm very anal about it. | ||
| Calliope Citizen Username: Calliope Post Number: 741 Registered: 3-2006  |
I can't. I am sure I look hale and hearty to the casual observer, but I have 3 herniated disks and all the bending and lifting would put me in traction for a week. Please don't be so quick to judge---often there is more to it than meets the eye. | ||
| Alleygater Citizen Username: Alleygater  Post Number: 2342 Registered: 10-2004 |
What if there is a paid (immigrant) bagger? Does that change the equation? There were a team of them at the Shoprite in Shorthills on Morris Avenue (across from Panera) this weekend. | ||
| Scully Citizen Username: Scully Post Number: 811 Registered: 8-2005 |
I prefer to bag my own. Helps with the bagging out at home to know where everything is. | ||
| Nancy - LibraryLady Supporter Username: Librarylady Post Number: 3726 Registered: 5-2001  |
It's hard to bag and keep an eye on the scanner at the same time. I alway bag my own but when I get home and check the receipt there is often a mistake that neccesitates a return trip to correct the scanning error. So I probably don't save as much time as I think I do. | ||
| Cynicalgirl Citizen Username: Cynicalgirl Post Number: 3004 Registered: 9-2003  |
I like to go early in the day, bag my own, and do self check out when available. I bag by "coldness" or destination room in the house and obviously I'm the only one who knows what that is. Self check out just saves time, though you usually can't do it with big orders. I don't do coupons, write checks and don't need to spend time kibbitzing. I'm like one step away from "Pea Pod" or similar in this regard. Got no problem with people preferring it, or needing it, just wish there were more utterly self check out/self bag lines at the Pathmark. | ||
| Ligeti Man Meat Citizen Username: Ligeti Post Number: 740 Registered: 7-2002  |
In the good old days, the price of groceries included bagging AND a nice kid to wheel them out to your car. But to keep pace with the times, I do bag my own (as long as the scanning is done). One exception: if the cashier is yakking on a cellphone, which many of them do, I just stand there and stare at them. Eventually, they get it and start bagging. | ||
| greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 8711 Registered: 5-2001 |
Cyn - make that two people you know who do destination bagging. | ||
| greenthumb Citizen Username: Green_thumb Post Number: 55 Registered: 5-2006 |
I figure with what they charge at Kings and since they often have staff just hanging around -- they should do the bagging -- why should I do their job so they can just hang around? | ||
| ess Citizen Username: Ess Post Number: 2819 Registered: 11-2001  |
To your point, there are stores with designated "baggers" (for lack of a better word). They have been installed to bag groceries. I figure, if they're there, they can do it. Otherwise, I do my own as much as possible while keeping an eye on the register and my purse (and sometimes kids). To the OP's point: some of us just don't have that many hands. As usual, there is more to this than may meet the eye. | ||
| thegoodsgt Citizen Username: Thegoodsgt Post Number: 1025 Registered: 2-2002  |
I bag my own groceries because the employees don't seemed to have been trained on how to do it properly. They're a complete waste of human energy. I was a "bag boy" through high school, so I take great pride in my work. Again, as I've said before, there seems to be no work ethic anymore among people today. | ||
| cody Citizen Username: Cody Post Number: 1087 Registered: 5-2001 |
I bag my own, too. Can't stand squished bread, tomatoes or chips and I like to pack all the fridge items in the same bag/s. I'm always amazed at how haphazardly some store baggers toss stuff in a bag. I'd rather do it myself. | ||
| Larry Seltzer Citizen Username: Elvis Post Number: 130 Registered: 4-2006  |
I bag my own as often as possible. It's fun, sort of an optimization problem. What really gets me anxious is when they start scanning my groceries while the last customer's groceries are still on the stand and she's fiddling with her purse. IOW, I'm trapped and can't start bagging. By the time I can get out there it will be time to pay. The horror... the horror...  | ||
| tom Citizen Username: Tom Post Number: 5336 Registered: 5-2001 |
It is a good optimization problem, and one that pays off in that you have fewer bags to carry in once you get home, which means fewer trips. | ||
| LilLB Citizen Username: Lillb Post Number: 2142 Registered: 10-2002  |
I prefer to bag. I also bag based on where things get stored - upstairs refrigerator, downstairs fridge, downstairs storage or upstairs cabinets.... makes it much easier to unload at home... | ||
| Pippi Supporter Username: Pippi Post Number: 2664 Registered: 8-2003  |
I also like to bag. I generally bring my own bags, which really confuses a lot of cashiers and baggers. Plus I like to have all the frozen stuff in one bag, all the refrigerated in another, the produce in another etc, which they also seem to have a problem with. I even place the items on the conveyor belt grouped together to make packing easy and it still doesn't help. | ||
| Project 37 Citizen Username: Project37 Post Number: 171 Registered: 3-2006  |
Yikes, I suddenly feel like such a snob!  Then again, I eventually started bagging our own groceries at Pathmark, mainly because I wanted to get home before 2007 (the self-bagging line is the only one that seems to move). Finally gave up on Pathmark and trying another store, although, as suggested above, the price/staff situation seems to justify having it bagged for us (nothing crushed yet). | ||
| Ligeti Man Meat Citizen Username: Ligeti Post Number: 743 Registered: 7-2002 |
An important part of their work ethic seems to be yakking on cellphones. | ||
| greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 8720 Registered: 5-2001 |
I am super picky. Like items together(previously referenced frozen, fridge, cleaning, pantry, etc.), equal weights, shape of container, etc. I can't stand having my carefully-selected produce treated like a football. Frutis & veggies are always separate from anything else, especially cans, boxes, bottles, etc. What I really hate is when I am bagging my carefully sorted purchaes (like Pippi, I presort on the belt) and the cashier starts tossing things into bags like we're in a race. I make them stop bagging and redo it myself. TS (the One and Only Original TS) is every lazy cashier's nightmare. She will tell them the first time to handle the tomato, peaches, whatever appropriately. The second time, she will watch as they toss it into the bag on top of a box of dried pasta and drop a can on it or roll it down the belt like a bowling ball. She will then calmly say "I don't want that anymore now that you've bruised it. Take that off my bill while I go get another one." They don't like that very much, especially when the manager has to come over and void and TS tells them why it is being voided. I actually compliment good baggers. Positive reinforcement doesn't hurt. | ||
| Joan Supporter Username: Joancrystal Post Number: 7847 Registered: 5-2001 |
My husband and I generally do the supermarket shopping as a team. I continue unloading the cart and check the scanner while he bags. He has his own system (similar to the destination systems described above plus the optimization system) and has been known to tell designated baggers that he would rather bag himself. This has gotten to the point where designated baggers will take off for another check out counter or a break when they see him coming. | ||
| Kibbegirl Citizen Username: Kibbegirl Post Number: 660 Registered: 5-2003 |
I don't bag and am proud of it! I've encountered many pricing errors that I missed due to me at the end of the ropes bagging and not paying attention to what was being rung up at the register. So I let them bag while I watch my money. | ||
| Chris Prenovost Citizen Username: Chris_prenovost Post Number: 1033 Registered: 7-2003 |
Same here. The scanners are always missing something, or putting in full price when something is on sale. I watch that display like a hawk. Funny how the errors always seem to be in favor of the store. . . Then I will bag, if there is anything left to bag. Which I prefer to do myself, as most of the kids doing the bagging seem to be brain dead. Drop a loaf of bread at the bottom of a bag, then stuff fifteen cans of fruit on top of it, and then stare at me in a dumbfounded stupor when I take everything out and re-bag it.  | ||
| Gregor Samsa Citizen Username: Oldsctls67 Post Number: 574 Registered: 11-2002  |
My wife always bitches that she has to bag her own...She says she never had to do it before she moved to NJ. I never thought twice about it, then again, I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth either... | ||
| fiche Citizen Username: Fiche Post Number: 211 Registered: 3-2002 |
I try to put the items I know are on sale for the week on the conveyor first to make sure they scan properly. Then I bag as fast as I can so I can get out of the store and be done for the week. I also take pride in my bagging. It's the little things that make it all worthwhile. | ||
| SoOrLady Citizen Username: Soorlady Post Number: 3453 Registered: 9-2003 |
I am like the previous "designation baggers" and almost always bag my own - and cringe a bit when there occasionally happens to be someone at the end of the belt who starts bagging. I am in awe of the scanner watchers. I have no idea what I pay for things, if I need it, I buy it. And.. how do you remember what each and every little thing is suppossed to cost? | ||
| millie Citizen Username: Millie Post Number: 157 Registered: 6-2001 |
Isn't it enough that I had to pick the stuff out? Now you want me to bag it? I'd be too exhausted to actually eat it! | ||
| greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 8725 Registered: 5-2001 |
SOL- the sale items always stick in my head. There are certain things I'll keep an eye out for to see that they scan properly. I will glance at the scanner from time to time while bagging, but I always look over the receipt before I leave the store. Best of both worlds. Well, the best of all worlds is when TS does the shopping. I happen to hate it. | ||
| Brett Citizen Username: Bmalibashksa Post Number: 2574 Registered: 7-2003 |
I don’t get it. Bagging is one of the services that you’re paying for. I don’t help the guy stock the shelves or buff the floor. I’m not saving any money for bagging myself. I do put the items on the belt in order, but after that, I’m eating grapes, looking at mags, and talking on the phone. If you want to stock the shelves and bag yourself, go to Costco. If you’re in that much of a hurry, grab 15 items or less and haul •••. Take a few minutes and dream up your menu for the week, don’t freak out about bagging. | ||
| Wendy Supporter Username: Wendy Post Number: 2820 Registered: 5-2001 |
I always bag myself for the reasons stated above and never check whether the prices are scanned correctly. Why? I review the receipt after I've paid. If there is a scanning error, customer service at Shoprite (and perhaps other stores but Shoprite is my home away from home) reimburses me the full amount I paid for that item. Doesn't happen that often but often enough particularly if I'm shopping on Sunday, the first day of the circular week. | ||
| sac Supporter Username: Sac Post Number: 3620 Registered: 5-2001 |
In many other parts of the country they do still bag your groceries for you and sometimes also take them to your car and unload them into your trunk for you. Not so around here. Of course, there is very little about grocery stores around here that can be praised compared to most other parts of the country. That being said, I prefer to bag my own because they no longer teach supermarket employees how to bag properly AND because those employees usually ignore reasonable requests such as "please put all the cold items together" or "please put more items in each bag", etc. I also have cloth bags of my own and the supermarket employess seem to be totally ignorant of how to fill them properly, even in the stores that sell them to customers. I get particularly frustrated at Pathmark where the "bag your own" lanes are not well designed (and often not open) and the "regular" lines essentially prevent you from bagging your own because they have that rotating bag arrangement that customers can't access. I try to use the "self checkout" there, but it complains when you use your own bags rather than the plastic ones provided, although I usually do so anyway. | ||
| Cynicalgirl Citizen Username: Cynicalgirl Post Number: 3008 Registered: 9-2003 |
sac, I agree. In fact, I recently wrote to Pathmark corporate with some specific suggestions and complaints about the SO store. One of them was having sufficient bag your own lanes open. Another was the dead tan sedan with 4 flat tires that's been in the lot for nearly 2 months... | ||
| Project 37 Citizen Username: Project37 Post Number: 174 Registered: 3-2006 |
Another was the dead tan sedan with 4 flat tires that's been in the lot for nearly 2 months... I'm creeped out to no end by that car. Who knows what its story is? I'd be scared to see what (or who?) is in the trunk... | ||
| Cynicalgirl Citizen Username: Cynicalgirl Post Number: 3009 Registered: 9-2003 |
I can tell you that there are no weird odors coming out of the trunk! My daughter won't go to that store with me without major persuasion. The Pathmark on Rte 10, no prob. King's, Whole Foods, no prob. I'm just such a long-time PM habitue, and it's so close, I just suck it up. | ||
| Pippi Supporter Username: Pippi Post Number: 2667 Registered: 8-2003 |
"I try to use the "self checkout" there, but it complains when you use your own bags rather than the plastic ones provided, although I usually do so anyway." I get around that by just placing my groceries on top pf the space designated for the bags. After I pay, I then bag every item in the bags I brought from home. It doesn't take that long, since it's 15 items or less anyway in those lanes. | ||
| mjc Citizen Username: Mjc Post Number: 1251 Registered: 10-2004 |
I bag my own at Pathmark for all of the above reasons (no squashed produce, more than 4 items per bag, etc.). I don't like the bag-your-own lanes because the groceries are all comin' at ya too fast and wind up squished together at the end of the belt. So the checker puts my stuff on top of the bag carousel thingy, I put the things in my bags, and it works out fine. Most of the checkers seem pleased to have someone else bagging. And yes, checkers on cell phones really tick me off. One was having a big argument and started swearing into the phone (otherwise a nice appearing young girl). I said Excuse me? and she backed it off.... On the conservation side, I figure I use the bags 5 or more times each, and cut 80-90% off the number of bags used in a year. | ||
| MeAndTheBoys Citizen Username: Meandtheboys Post Number: 4262 Registered: 12-2004 |
Who knew there was an entire population of anal-retentive grocery shoppers! Watching the scanner? Loading on the belt and bagging by category? Actually remembering every item that is on sale? Checking the receipt? What the heck is that?  Holy cow! Now I feel like such a grocery shopping slacker. Ultimately, I avoid the whole shebang by shopping with Peapod. Yeah, the bagging is a little ridiculous sometimes, but the time and energy I save is well worth it! | ||
| Anna Citizen Username: Anna Post Number: 75 Registered: 7-2004 |
I bag my own, mainly to move things along, but really feel annoyed when the cashier doesn't even say "Thank you". Not only is there usually no thank you "for shopping with us", there is almost never a "Thank you for bagging." I may be cranky, but feel that this is a sign of generally poor customer service. I My husband refuses to bag -- says it's the cashier's job. Says he never expected anyone to do part of his job. | ||
| greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 8735 Registered: 5-2001 |
Someday, the phrase "Destination Bagging" will appear in Wikipedia. It will note that the term was developed on MOL. |
