OT: Bagging groceries
- Thread starter newell138
- Start date
annoys the living hell out of me if they start grabbing items to scan out of order too. All of a sudden the eggs are coming and we still have the potatos- onions, sugar still sitting on the belt. And while I sometimes give the teenager the benefit of the doubt- the 40-60 year old mother/grandmother- should understand exactly what i was doing. lol
We have a Whole Foods in downtown Metuchen and I haven't really noticed any big change over the past several years in bagging behavior there vs. Shop Rite or Wegman's or anywhere else really - most bag their own, but a decent amount don't. I've had a huge bag for 35+ years (it's better environmentally and is more efficient than using a bunch of small bags) and I always bag my groceries, as it's simply faster that way and time is valuable to me - I've never really understood the folks who stand and watch, wasting their and everyone else's time. I only use the automated checkout if it will save me significant time, as I find it annoying to use the scale, given that we usually buy a decent amount of fruits/veggies.
As an aside, Wegman's is easily my favorite food store, as they have great produce, great prepared/specialty foods, plus they have all of the "standard" name brand junk food items I like (e.g., Cap'n Crunch, Pop Tarts, Swiss Rolls, Pringles, etc.). WF has great produce and prepared/specialty items, too, but none of the name brand stuff, so I often then go to Shop Rite for those things - but SR has inferior produce/specialty items (at least the ones near me - except for their awesome fried chicken of course), so I end up going to both a lot, as WF is 1-2 min away and SR is 4-5 min away, while Wegman's is 10-15 minutes away, depending on time of day.
Yep and yep. And for the last 35+ years, I've used one very large, sturdy bag. And I also put the items on the conveyor belt in the general order I want to load them into the bag.
If it weren't for produce that needs to be weighed, I imagine they could figure out a way to scan all the items in one's bag or shopping cart simultaneously to eliminate the unloading onto the belt and the packing up - that would be a real time/labor saver.
A&P was also my first job, but in the produce department. Pushed carts as well when those deadbeats called out. But produce was where it’s at!
Haha, when I worked at Laneco we were called CSA's. Customer Service Assistants.
But we called ourselves Cart Shoving A-holes!
Hard work paid off and I got "promoted" to dairy! It's amazing how many puddings, chocolate milks and OJ's got delivered to us as "damaged". No boss, not sure why they are empty.
I'm sure many, many generations have said that through the centuries!
Okay, now I'm coming over to eat!
my first real job was the same- except they made us also run register. Grand Union in Poughkeepsie, NY $2.90 per hour. Stocking Shelves, cleaning out produce fridge, register (before automation) bagging and carts
It’s hard to imagine that not too long ago they had to put price stickers on EVERYTHING in the store
If I can I go to non-union stores. Not that I am against unions but the union stores are the ones with 7-12 checkout lanes with only 2 people working the registers. Get someone with a cart full of small items at an understaffed store and its a time waster. Non-union stores like Uncle Giuseppe's Marketplace or Trader Joe's have all the registers active without long lines. There isn't a lot of margin in the grocery biz so some stores don't shine at service with shorthanded staff and those are usually union..
The self checkouts at a lot of stores are using facial scanning. Put your credit card in a machine with a camera and you will get scanned, IDed and stored. ShopRite has signs up warning alerting customers to scanning but they seem unaware. Walmart and Home Depot also do it. Go to Walmart for an eye test for glasses etc and you will get a facial scan on the sly (government pays Walmart for the data).
In HS I had summer job loading meat trucks at night - pushed a lot of beef on hooks and roller tracks like "Rocky." That was Teamsters and management and workers hated each other. Hard job but I would rather do that that work a register with the public. Its very hard to work with the public today
Omg- those damn pricing guns. Though, pricing canned goods were fun.
mans of course, those stickers came off a lot and customers just switched them. I also had no clue what each veggie and fruit were either. I usually just made up prices when checking out customers.
Are we really arguing if a cashier at a supermarket should be the breadwinner or the only job if you have a family?
Supplemental income, extra or second job? Sure.
But that’s not what they’re for. Nor should the salary be high enough that they could be. Same for McDonald’s or the like.
Because if they were or end up to be, guess who’s paying for that and higher prices on what you’re purchasing.
Supplemental income, extra or second job? Sure.
But that’s not what they’re for. Nor should the salary be high enough that they could be. Same for McDonald’s or the like.
Because if they were or end up to be, guess who’s paying for that and higher prices on what you’re purchasing.
I prefer to self bag for organizational reasons. My gripe is somewhat related. I don't remember when I first learned that you can scan your payment card at any time during the checkout process. I have been doing this for many years. Since I am aware of this it has become a curse as I can no longer tolerate people who wait until they have fully packed all of their bags and then begin the search for their payment method. The check writers tend to be the worst. Destroys what is otherwise a pleasant food shopping experience for me. I apparently am one of the few people in NJ aware of this. I always want to point this out to the person in front of me searching through their pocketbook but would probably end up in an undesired confrontation.
I prefer the self checkout but with regard to McDonalds, in countries with higher minimum wages the cost of the food is less so there's a little more to it. The margin at the supermarket is pretty low, but the issue is more certain foods like beef coming from 3 companies in the US so they screw everyone over without any problem.
But you agree, with what I said earlier, this is not a breadwinner type job.
It’s just something entry-level, not so much to make ends meet, but to put some coin in your pocket.
This thread reminds me of the old rival board when Police, Teachers and other professions were put down as overpaid..
From nagging groceries to talking about cashiers , it seems like many feel the need to feel some people's jobs are not worthy of respect.
I feel Bank tellers and grocery store checkout cashiers are worthy of respect , both have to handle money accurately and deal with the public .
As for entry level positions , yes I agree they are, but deserving of a decent, not skilled trades type, wages.
Bank tellers and cashiers should have opportunities to advance , if they prove worthy, at their place of employment
but if not still be considered a valued employee if they do a good job and are dependable.
Too often some look down on those they feel are in a lesser position they have and complain about them being overpaid for what they do..
That's not right, live and let live and just hope you're co workers aren't looking at you as you look at others you deem unworthy because of the job they do.
Unless you are employing cashiers, bank tellers or baggers , let their employer decide if they are not worth the money they are or deserve a raise.
Many of them might be a second income, others might be the only income raising a family and never had the chance of going to college and enter high paying professions when they graduate.
I look at everyone working steady as worthy of respect , as long as they are doing the best they can doing the job they have.
But that's only the way I see things and know my way isn't for all
From nagging groceries to talking about cashiers , it seems like many feel the need to feel some people's jobs are not worthy of respect.
I feel Bank tellers and grocery store checkout cashiers are worthy of respect , both have to handle money accurately and deal with the public .
As for entry level positions , yes I agree they are, but deserving of a decent, not skilled trades type, wages.
Bank tellers and cashiers should have opportunities to advance , if they prove worthy, at their place of employment
but if not still be considered a valued employee if they do a good job and are dependable.
Too often some look down on those they feel are in a lesser position they have and complain about them being overpaid for what they do..
That's not right, live and let live and just hope you're co workers aren't looking at you as you look at others you deem unworthy because of the job they do.
Unless you are employing cashiers, bank tellers or baggers , let their employer decide if they are not worth the money they are or deserve a raise.
Many of them might be a second income, others might be the only income raising a family and never had the chance of going to college and enter high paying professions when they graduate.
I look at everyone working steady as worthy of respect , as long as they are doing the best they can doing the job they have.
But that's only the way I see things and know my way isn't for all
That's funny i go to the vegetable aisle to get a bag for leaky chop meat or chicken at Shop Rite as they don't provide a bags near the meat section. Pro tip the bags at the bakery aisle are the best. We also recycle our plastic bags in the bin at the front of shop rite or wegmans.
Only when i have a couple things. Otherwise its faster nor more convenient.
Yes and no. It SHOULD not be, but, we are a society now where unemployment and underemployment are surging and people cannot pay basic bills. So it's not going to be just teenagers. In an ideal world, and maybe there were times before, yeah. At this moment though, no.
So you agree…extra income, second job, etc.
But not as a breadwinner or head of household type job.
As that’s what they were never intended for. Nor should they be in the future either.
check writers? I can't remember a time in the last 20 years that I have seen anyone writing a check- but back in the day- yes, that was the most frustrating. And then it became the ladies that wanted to find exact change. Now- payment method is the least of worries. and scanning your card before, during or after scanning- takes exactly the same amount of time.
Well...lots of breadwinners, even homes with 2 breadwinners, don't get by on one job.
That's a massive problem.
Again I have no issue saying automate jobs that can be automated. But we need solutions. "Figure it out" isn't a solution. Getting people retrained and enhancing the safety net are solutions.
It is weird that many of you don't realize there are so many people in the U.S. that not only did not go to college but grew up in an environment where education, or even learning a trade was a priority.
So yes, so many people do rely on these types of jobs as their primary source of income, and many have been doing it for over 20 years. You also now have people who were laid off from good careers and for one reason or another, that next job in their career- just won't hire them.
You also have young mothers who need the flexibility and there really is no career path for them- they know that will always be doing jobs like these in retail or waitressing etc...
So yes, so many people do rely on these types of jobs as their primary source of income, and many have been doing it for over 20 years. You also now have people who were laid off from good careers and for one reason or another, that next job in their career- just won't hire them.
You also have young mothers who need the flexibility and there really is no career path for them- they know that will always be doing jobs like these in retail or waitressing etc...
The discussion has changed to whether or not this type of job should be the ONE to raise a family or household.
And the answer is no, that’s not what these are intended for, nor should they evolve into that.
Additional and extra income, second job to supplement other expenses…yes.
That’s not not caring, that’s reality.
I am certainly not looking down on someone who do these jobs or needs to do these for whatever the circumstances. But again, this is something (if you’re planning on doing anything in life - family, pay the rent/mortgage, buy a car etc.) you start at and move on.