So…I went shopping for the week and made a couple of stops, first at Trader Joe’s (specialty chain market) and then at Giant Eagle (chain supermarket). At both stores, the people ahead of me bagged their own groceries. I understand that this is expected at superdiscount chains like Aldi, but I’m seeing this more frequently everywhere else.
I felt bad that I didn’t bag my own, but 1) I’m bad at bagging groceries, 2) I feel like I’m giving the store an excuse to have fewer employees, and 3) isn’t bagging groceries part of what I’m paying for? These 3 points aren’t in any particular order.
What about you? Do you bag your own groceries? Do you think I should feel bad that I didn’t? I’m in Ohio; I don’t know how it varies within and outside the U.S.
I bag my own if there is no bagger. I am a faster and better packer than the majority of supermarket cashiers (and baggers) I have encountered. (They aren’t bad, but typically, I was bagging groceries when their parents were in pre-school and I have a lot more experience.)
I also use the self-scan aisles at Giant Eagle for the same reason. I know that they are simply getting me to do their work so that they can reduce staff, but my boycotting the practice will not bring back the checkers and bagger and I can get out of the store with less hassle if I do it myself.
On the other hand, I do not look down on people who prefer to use the “human” lanes any more than I would sneer at people who prefer to do their banking with a human teller. What works for me does not work for everyone.
Well, I’ve frequented a few supermarkets where you’re supposed to bag your own, and have no trouble doing that. The market I shop in most often now, has baggers. If I have a small order, I use the self-checkout, which means I definitely bag my own, and don’t mind doing it. If I have a larger order, and all the baggers are busy, I’ll start bagging my own until a bagger comes along; when a bagger comes along, the bagger is pretty aggressive about taking over the bagging, and I let them.
In short, it doesn’t bother me to bag my own, but if there’s a bagger, I’ll let them do it.
Also in Texas. While I do when using the self-scan lanes (who else is going to do it?), I’ve found it unwelcome at the attended lanes - it seems as if it throws them off a bit, and they’d like me to keep my hands off of their union job.
As soon as I’m done putting stuff on the belt for the checker, I go to the end and bag. It helps me get out of there and off my feet quicker. Also, while some baggers are very good, some are not and I am particular. I like a single paper bag, not a plastic one, not a double one and definitely not a paper one inside a plastic one. I don’t like the bags heavy; I have issues with a bad back. If it needs double bags, it’s too heavy. I like all the cold things together. The list goes on and on. If there is a bagger who is starting to bag my stuff while I’m still unloading the cart, I try to get his/her attention and ask for the single paper bag, at least. I have been known, on a bad day, to unpack ultra-heavy bags (so heavy I can’t lift it back into the cart) and re-pack it myself.
All the supermarkets here have bag boys, so I let them do the work. I remember that when I was a kid, there was a place we went to where it was a do-it-yourself deal, and I had fun bagging the groceries with my mom.
But every place I shop at now has bag boys. I think it’s a good thing - it was my little brother’s first real after-school job, and I think it gives employment to a lot of young teens who have a hard time finding that first part-time job.
I generally prefer to bag my own groceries, as everyone at the stores where I shop is completely incompetant. I won’t interfer with one, but I’ll gladly do it myself.
If there’s a bagger, I leave them alone. If not, I’ll do it myself. I was a cashier - not a bagger but I’m still better than most of them. Our baggers and cashiers aren’t unionized so they don’t get aggressive about me taking over.
The only time I’ll try to bag even if there’s a bagger is late at night. The store I frequent only has 2 night baggers and I really like them both as people. I have no problem with the younger one bagging my stuff. The really old guy though, is much stronger than I am. I can’t understand how he can lift the stuff he bags. My fiancee just had back surgery and I have sciatica so carrying heavy bags can be a bit painful for both of us. I’ve asked him to lighten the bags but he’s REALLY strong. I don’t think he knows what light is.
At the large supermarkets (Biant, SuperFresh, etc.), the checkout person usually has the bagging device right in front of them, so it’s hard to do your own bagging. I usually don’t even bother trying.
At Trader Joe’s, though, i head straight for the bags and begin to pack my groceries. Not only does this get me out of there faster, it also speeds things up for people behind me.
I know that we, as customers, are under no obligation to pack our own groceries, and that the Trader Joe’s staff will do it happily and efficiently. Still, i must admit that i get pissed off when it’s really busy and people stand there like slack-jawed idiots while the cashier first rings up their purchases and then bags them. Would it kill ya to place a few items in a bag, ferchrissakes?
I wish I could bag my own stuff. The way the checkouts are set up where I shop, though, I’d have to reach across the counter to do it.
I like to have all the cold stuff bagged together, all the cleaning/laundry stuff together, bread/rolls/crumpets etc - you get the idea. I wish the checkout person understood the concept.
One of the largest supermarkets in Great Britain, Sainsbury’s, recently introduced a system whereby at certain designated tills the check-out person (about 80% of them are female in the one nearest me in West Ealing) will ask you whether you want your stuff bagged. I always decline because although they usually do a much better job than me, they can be a bit cavalier with the softer items such as loose doughnuts.
Some check-out people at Sainsbury’s will automatically place your first 3 or 4 items into a bag and then let you fend for yourself.
And over here the bags are always plastic, never paper.
Some of the upscale supermarkets here have baggers at busier times. Otherwise, you’re expected to bag your own. No problem. I bring my cloth bags, and I pack fast. I get things out of the cart in groups - cold stuff together, stinky non-food items together, etc. - so packing them together is a breeze.
When I’m in the States and go to the grocery store with the flodmother I find myself biting my tongue so I don’t tell the bagger that s/he’s doing it WRONG!!! Partly because if I said anything my mom would make me do it, and hey, I’m on vacation
I’m from Sweden, where baggers are completely unknown. Once a girls football team raised some extra money by working as baggers at a local store, which caused confusion, irritation and allround awkwardness. If I were to travel somewhere where your groceries are bagged for you, I’d be embarrassed and awkward.
For the pst 3 or 4 years we’ve had an environmental tax of 15c on plastic bags so now everyone brings their own cloth bags or long life durable plastic ones (sold for about €1 in supermarkets). We don’t usually use paper bags for large grocery shops here because it rains a lot and consequent disaster can ensue… There are baggers in some shops but mostly people bag their own.
If there’s a bagger and they insist on doing it I’ll let them get on with it but generally I prefer to do it myself just because, like a lot of people, I have my own specific system. I generally pack uncooked meat and fish together on it’s own, then cold/ fridge stuff, cleaning and bathroom stuff and other food stuffs that go in the cupboard, heavy stuff at the bottom, soft or breakable items on top, fruit and veg together etc. It makes unpacking them all at the other end that bit simpler when the stuff is already organised into groups that are stored in the same places…
At my local Tescos I always get asked if I would “like help” (ahem) bagging. Which I find a bit strange being a fully functional and able male type person who never has anything like a full cart of shopping*****. The form in these parts is that you bag your own stuff unless you ask for help. There are no designated ‘baggers’ if someone needs a hand a spare staff member is summoned.
Until comparatively recently, bagging services in UK supermarkets were just entirely absent and unmissed - they might have done it on request if you had special needs, but otherwise it was a completely nonexistent service.
This has changed though and now I find myself turning the offer down on most occasions; I organise my purchases on the conveyor so that I can pack them in a manner most conducive to transport, hygiene and unpacking at the other end.
Perhaps this sounds silly, but I happen to know, for example, that the jars of jam are in the same cupboard as the tins of beans - I’ll put them in the same bag and I can unpack that bag straight into the cupboard when I get home. Likewise, I will pack any items I’m intending to put in the big chest freezer together, I’ll keep uncooked meat separate from everything else(no matter how well it is wrapped), I’ll pack ‘fridge’ vegetables separately from ‘cupboard’ vegetables, all at the same time as making sure I don’t put anything heavy on top of anything crushable. There isn’t a bagger in the world who could possibly do this all for me.
I also (and only mildly, as well as slightly irrationally) resent my purchases being overly handled; I take care in selecting unbruised apples from the shelf; from the moment the cash register emits a ‘beep’, I regard them as my property (even though of course I have not paid for them yet) and I will not have some slack-jawed spotty teenage dullard fondling them or bashing them about.
