# Weird experience at the grocery store **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 16, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-experience-at-the-grocery-store/658553 "2013-05-16T20:39:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-experience-at-the-grocery-store/658553/21 "2013-05-17T17:58:04Z")
Like **QuickSilver** and **grayhairedmomma** , we do the same thing. It saves us a lot of time when we get home putting things away. It’s actually kind of automatic when unloading the stuff in the cart onto the conveyor- because as I’m walking through the store, like items are near each other in a specific aisle so end up in the cart in the same area. I don’t get meat, then go down another aisle and get bread, then go get milk, the eggs, the chips, then back for another package of meat - I get all the stuff I need in that general area at once - so my meat is all in the cart in the same area, ends up being put on the conveyor in the same area and bagged together. Does that make any sense? ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-experience-at-the-grocery-store/658553/22 "2013-05-17T18:06:08Z")
I haven’t seen a bagger in years. The clerk bags the groceries. Also, plastic bags? Those were outlawed here a while ago. If you don’t have reusable bags, you pay an extra nichol for a paper bag. The store I go to does have low level employees, some of whom are challenged. They pick up carts in the parking lot and help take groceries to one’s car on request, but they don’t bag. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-experience-at-the-grocery-store/658553/23 "2013-05-17T18:10:51Z")
22 posts and no one linked to the XKCD comic yet? > **[Plastic Bags](https://xkcd.com/990/)** > > The high I feel when I actually remember to bring my reusable bags to the store--and take them inside rather than leaving them in the parked car--can last for days. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-experience-at-the-grocery-store/658553/24 "2013-05-17T18:24:36Z")
Well, whatever you do, just don’t let the bagger decide for you how to bag your groceries. Because-------------------------------------------------------------------- Baggers can’t be choosers. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-experience-at-the-grocery-store/658553/25 "2013-05-17T19:16:32Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I make their life simpler by grouping items together when I load them on the conveyer. Juices milk and cream, together. Eggs, meats and cheeses, together. Fruits and vegetables, together. Dry goods, together. Cleaners and paper products, together. Bread and chips, together. Etc… > > My wife and kids think I’m OCD for doing it but they just stand back and let me have my little moment of personal insanity. I try to put multiple instances of the same item together because in the good old days, before UPC scanners, it made it easier for the checker, especially if you had a discount on multiple items deal. Paper bags make me nostalgic for the first day of school, when we used the paper bags from the grocery as book covers. It was a skill you learned back then. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-experience-at-the-grocery-store/658553/26 "2013-05-17T19:53:24Z")
I just wish they’d all stop putting my bananas on top of my frozen foods. Seems like every damned one of them does that. I see the point of putting them on top so they’re not crushed, but directly on the frozen stuff is just as bad. ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-experience-at-the-grocery-store/658553/27 "2013-05-17T20:05:54Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > Well, whatever you do, just don’t let the bagger decide for you how to bag your groceries. > > Because-------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Baggers can’t be choosers. 😃 Boooooooo!!! ---
**Author:** ![HipGnosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/76d3ee/32.png) [@HipGnosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HipGnosis)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-experience-at-the-grocery-store/658553/28 "2013-05-17T20:16:53Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I make their life simpler by grouping items together when I load them on the conveyer. Juices milk and cream, together. Eggs, meats and cheeses, together. Fruits and vegetables, together. Dry goods, together. Cleaners and paper products, together. Bread and chips, together. Etc… > My wife and kids think I’m OCD for doing it but they just stand back and let me have my little moment of personal insanity. But you’re doing it WRONG… by using the wrong sort criteria. The ‘correct’ way of putting objects on the coveyer (in this regard) is: one paper bags worth of cans or heavy items, one bag’s worth of medium weight things and then a remainder of that bags worth of light, delicate things. Repeat. I’ve seen baggers that would give you (as you describe loading the conveyer) 2-3 bags that’r heavy as hell and prone to rip or burst and each subsequent bag slightly lighter and lighter. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-experience-at-the-grocery-store/658553/29 "2013-05-17T20:40:54Z")
I bag my own groceries (since the cheaper stores don’t do it for you here). It works out great. Everything is put in so it’s easy to unpack when I get home and nothing is too heavy or awkward. However, I am apparently the only person who only shops once a week since I am always still in the way packing my stuff when the next person is ready to. ---
**Author:** ![TheFaerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@TheFaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFaerie)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-experience-at-the-grocery-store/658553/30 "2013-05-17T21:02:30Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > I hate opening yogurt containers in an airplane. It’s impossible to open it without the damn yogurt exploding all over the place. Would poking a hole in the plastic/aluminum foil cover before you open it fix that problem? I’m not a sciency person, so I don’t know if it would make a difference. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-experience-at-the-grocery-store/658553/31 "2013-05-17T21:25:26Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > And in my town, and most of the Bay Area, plastic bags are banned. You bring your own or you pay 10 cents a bag for paper ones. Never had a problem with that also. Indeed. Here in Portland, OR you don’t have to pay but they make you feel ashamed for asking for bags. “I didn’t know I was coming here when I left the house! I’m sorry!!” I had this one recently: Cashier: “Do you like Kumquats?” Me: “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever even tasted one.” Cashier: ::silence:: Me: (feeling uncomfortable) “…are they on sale or something?” Cashier: “No.” Me: 😑 Cashier: (sarcastically) “Have a GREAT day!!” Me: :-\ ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-experience-at-the-grocery-store/658553/32 "2013-05-18T05:03:08Z")
> [@TheFaerie](#): > > Would poking a hole in the plastic/aluminum foil cover before you open it fix that problem? > > I’m not a sciency person, so I don’t know if it would make a difference. Probably not, because then it would probably just blow up all over the place when I stabbed it. Also, I’m not sure the cheapass plastic cutlery is strong enough to do the job. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-experience-at-the-grocery-store/658553/33 "2013-05-18T06:17:42Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Indeed. Here in Portland, OR you don’t have to pay but they make you feel ashamed for asking for bags. “I didn’t know I was coming here when I left the house! I’m sorry!!” > > I had this one recently: > > Cashier: “Do you like Kumquats?” > > Me: “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever even tasted one.” > > Cashier: ::silence:: > > Me: (feeling uncomfortable) “…are they on sale or something?” > > Cashier: “No.” > > Me: 😑 > > Cashier: (sarcastically) “Have a GREAT day!!” > > Me: :-\ This would be a great short Portlandia bit. Oh Portland! I love that sketch where the guy forgot to bring his bag! 😃 They really do shame you, don’t they? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-experience-at-the-grocery-store/658553/34 "2013-05-18T09:08:24Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > I find it helps to put the reusable bags on the conveyor belt first, in front of my groceries. The checker generally hands them directly to the bagger. That’s what I do, although I have noticed that most cashiers fill the bags in reverse order of size so the smallest bag ends up packed while the largest one (which had all the other bags) only gets 1 or 2 items. > [@Morbo](#): > > Indeed. Here in Portland, OR you don’t have to pay but they make you feel ashamed for asking for bags. “I didn’t know I was coming here when I left the house! I’m sorry!!”… I’m pretty sure that was a **Portlandia** sketch. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-experience-at-the-grocery-store/658553/35 "2013-05-18T14:51:49Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I guess my grocery has a better class of disabled bagger than some. Never had a problem, and they are all great guys. > And in my town, and most of the Bay Area, plastic bags are banned. You bring your own or you pay 10 cents a bag for paper ones. Never had a problem with that also. When did that happen? I have a friend who lives in the bay area, first in Pleasanton, then in Dublin, and I’m pretty sure there were plastic bags at the Safeway every time I visited. I certainly don’t remember seeing a charge for paper bags (she has the reusable kind, but like me, doesn’t always remember to bring them in). I like the plastic bags, because I reuse them for cleaning the cat box. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-experience-at-the-grocery-store/658553/36 "2013-05-18T16:19:58Z")
> [@CatherineZeta](#): > > I bring my own re-usable bag to the store and always tell the bagger that I have my own bag since they usually automatically start getting out the plastic ones as soon as the cashier starts ringing stuff up. The last time I went to the store and told the bagger I have my own bag she said, “Well, SORRY!”, tossed the empty plastic bag onto the bagging area, and stomped off. That was weird. Most grocery stores here now offer reusable bags for 25 cents. It’s really common to see the majority of people using them, or their own totes. The change wasn’t all that difficult to make. What a strange and hostile attitude the cashier had. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-experience-at-the-grocery-store/658553.md?page=1)