# What would you do for- FIVE FREAKING CENTS?!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 10, 2005, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-for-five-freaking-cents/325659 "2005-10-10T23:54:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-for-five-freaking-cents/325659/1 "2005-10-10T23:54:51Z")
At the grocery store I work at part time, people often make a fuss when I tell them that double bagging a bag in plastic costs 5 cents per bag, due to rising oil prices (plastic=oil). I offer to split up the bag instead- I mean, I’m not putting too much in so that it’ll break at any point when they carry it- but they don’t care, they think it’s an outrage! FIVE FREAKING CENTS- I have no doubt in my mind that these are the same a-holes who go around me doing 90 on the interstate, thus risking $140 in ticket and court costs! :mad: But I’m not pitting them, I’m just pointing out- you people are stupid sheep. I love hating sheep. 😃 Speaking of which, what’s the in-joke about Hal Briston and sheep? Anyways, I think it has to do w/ what the colonists felt when the British taxed them for everthing from the number of doors on their houses to tea to stamps- WE SHOULDN’T PAY EXTRA FOR THIS STUFF, IT’S THE PRINCIPLE OF THE THING. That’s the American way of thinking, I suppose. But still: FIVE FREAKING CENTS!!! Poll: how many of you would put up a fuss, never come back to the store, or even leave your groceries there, over FIVE FREAKING CENTS!!! ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-for-five-freaking-cents/325659/2 "2005-10-11T00:05:58Z")
> [@andrewdt85](#): > > At the grocery store I work at part time, people often make a fuss when I tell them that double bagging a bag in plastic costs 5 cents per bag, due to rising oil prices (plastic=oil). I offer to split up the bag instead- I mean, I’m not putting too much in so that it’ll break at any point when they carry it- but they don’t care, they think it’s an outrage! 😕 Wouldn’t you use two bags to double-bag the groceries, and also use two bags if you split up the bag? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-for-five-freaking-cents/325659/3 "2005-10-11T00:09:45Z")
> [@andrewdt85](#): > > Poll: how many of you would put up a fuss, never come back to the store, or even leave your groceries there, over FIVE FREAKING CENTS!!! Was it over the five cents, or the snotty bagger? Did you ask them for five cents and they refused? What would you have done with the five cents if they had given it to you? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-for-five-freaking-cents/325659/4 "2005-10-11T02:39:48Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Was it over the five cents, or the snotty bagger? Did you ask them for five cents and they refused? What would you have done with the five cents if they had given it to you? Uh, I think it’s the store that’s charging five cents, NOT the bagger, so what he would do with it is irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-for-five-freaking-cents/325659/5 "2005-10-11T02:39:59Z")
> [@Anne Neville](#): > > 😕 Wouldn’t you use two bags to double-bag the groceries, and also use two bags if you split up the bag? This is what I was wondering as well. I don’t ask baggers to double-bag most of my groceries, but I do request it for raw meats. I am _extremely_ paranoid about raw meat coming into contact with other foods, so even if I have only one pack of ground beef\*, I ask them to double-bag it, separately from the other grocery items. Five cents is worth the easing of my mind–and it’s not as if I come in every day to buy meat and use bag after bag. \*if there’s more than one pack, I don’t mind if they’re all bagged together–but I still want it double-bagged, apart from other groceries. ---
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-for-five-freaking-cents/325659/6 "2005-10-11T03:17:11Z")
That’s just the thing- breaking up the bag into two bags costs us exactly the same thing, only then I don’t have to charge then 5 cents due to our rules! 😃 But a few stupid sheep walked out or still were a tiny bit upset, not processing that the groceries are still as protected as they would have been double bagged! Stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-for-five-freaking-cents/325659/7 "2005-10-11T04:00:14Z")
Wow, your store is stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-for-five-freaking-cents/325659/8 "2005-10-11T06:15:25Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Uh, I think it’s the store that’s charging five cents, NOT the bagger, so what he would do with it is irrelevant. Well then, what **Otto** said. ---
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-for-five-freaking-cents/325659/9 "2005-10-11T06:21:08Z")
Well, plastic _is_ made from oil- and we’re not a huge chain. The question is: what would you do? Change stores? I mean, the amount of money you save at our store is ACTUALLY more than 5 fucking cents. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-for-five-freaking-cents/325659/10 "2005-10-11T06:22:47Z")
Although I suppose that if those few customers who made a fuss (it was only a few, really, but others don’t like it w/o making a fuss) had given me the five cents, they’d have even less cents than they do now. Which is not an easy thing to have. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-for-five-freaking-cents/325659/11 "2005-10-11T06:36:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Speaking of which, what’s the in-joke about Hal Briston and sheep? And where does ‘once. in 1960. for 20 minutes.’ come from? ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-for-five-freaking-cents/325659/12 "2005-10-11T14:22:14Z")
I have worked with the public, and I can testify to the fact that people will go to enormous lengths, making complete _asses_ of themselves, disrupting an entire store, for five cents. It’s not the money that’s at issue-- it’s the fact that thet feel they’re being “robbed.” I used to work at a grocery store chain when I was but a young thing. This store would run sales, but refuse to change the prices in the computer. (I believe this was a deliberate tactic, since a good number of people will just shrug off a few cents difference rather than go through a price-check. Secondly, we had to fill out sheets on each incorrect ring-up which were supposed to go to the computer guys every evening to be corrected. It never was.) People would throw huge tantrums over a nickle price difference, asking for price-checks, demanding to see a manager, holding up the line for long periods of time until he could be found and summoned, and the issue discussed (at length) then resolved. For me, my time is worth more than a few cents. Am I getting ripped-off sometimes? Sure. But my time is valuable to me, more valuable than a nickle or two. For some, it’s the “principle of the thing.” Well, I’d rather be home, curled up with a cup of hot tea and a book than arguing for a few lousy pennies. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-for-five-freaking-cents/325659/13 "2005-10-11T14:36:31Z")
> [@andrewdt85](#): > > Well, plastic _is_ made from oil- and we’re not a huge chain. Yeah, the argument is valid enough. But ít’s completely negated by the fact that splitting the groceries into two bags, therefore using exactly as many bags, does _not_ cost anything more. > [@](#): > > The question is: what would you do? Change stores? I mean, the amount of money you save at our store is ACTUALLY more than 5 fucking cents. 😃 It’s far too trivial to change stores over, IMHO, but it IS a pretty dumb rule. As far as fussing over petty change goes, I have on numerous occasions paid the €.05 or so price difference the petty self-important bitch (always women, for some reason) in front of me was arguing over with the supermarket cashier. Yeah, people actually do that. Drop the returned coins in their wallet, and then say, “Hey, you short-changed me 5 cents”, then spend the next 5 minutes debating the matter whilst 20 people wait in line. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-for-five-freaking-cents/325659/14 "2005-10-11T15:57:07Z")
If, rather than double-bagging, you’re using twice as many bags, then that means it takes twice as much effort to put them all away in the car. It takes twice as many trips to carry them all in to your home. In the car it takes up, well, most likely not twice as much space but considerably more space than it would with half as many bags. So your store’s stupid and illogical rules have cost me a great deal more in aggrivation and saved your store absolutely nothing in actual cost. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-for-five-freaking-cents/325659/15 "2005-10-11T16:04:29Z")
> [@andrewdt85](#): > > And where does ‘once. in 1960. for 20 minutes.’ come from? The story behind [the Marianas trench triplepost](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=283407), and [Hal’s preference for sheep](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=333640). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-for-five-freaking-cents/325659/16 "2005-10-11T16:05:52Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > The story behind [the Marianas trench triplepost](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=283407), and [Hal’s preference for sheep](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=333640). 😉 I correct myself! :o It wasn’t a triplepost (like the 1920’s death ray) just a funny fact that our snarky Dopers picked up on… ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-for-five-freaking-cents/325659/17 "2005-10-11T16:14:58Z")
I use cloth or canvas bags most of the time. I would recommend the store should sell these near the check out. It is good for the store, the environment and the shopper. I like the fact I can carry 4 2-litter bottles in one bag and they have long comfortable handles. I wouldn’t sweat the extra nickel if I forgot to bring my bags in. ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-for-five-freaking-cents/325659/18 "2005-10-11T16:21:01Z")
If enough people make an issue of the 5 cent charge it will be rescinded. I don’t know for sure, but I’d guess that the cost of a plastic grocery bag is less than a penny. If the store is working on that thin a profit margin they are probably in big trouble already. Raising the price of one or two high volume items, by a penny or two, would make up for the double bagging w/o ticking off nearly as many customers. Whoever made the decision to implement the 5 cent charge needs some basic lessons in marketing. I would consider changing stores for something like this. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-for-five-freaking-cents/325659/19 "2005-10-11T16:30:33Z")
If stores had better bags that didn’t need doubling… Bring back the paper sacks, I say! They stand up on their own, hold a lot more, and are much more readily re-used, re-purposed or recycled. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-for-five-freaking-cents/325659/20 "2005-10-11T17:03:50Z")
Sometimes I’ll be in the line at the store and I’ll drop a some tiny bit of change. If there’s no one in line behind me, or it’s a quarter (laundry/arcade game money!) I’ll pick it up. But otherwise I’m not gonna tie up the line and waste everyones’ time and friggin’ _get down on my knees_ for a damn nickel. This blows peoples’ minds. _Miss! Miss! You dropped a nickel!_ Yes, I know. If you feel so strongly about it, _you_ pick it up. See, now you’ve earned yourself 1/20th of a candy bar. Good job. :rolleyes: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-for-five-freaking-cents/325659.md?page=2)