Saturday 12 November 2005

Help with packing?

Nice guy at the supermarket checkout always asks me if I would like help with my packing. I always nicely say "No thanks, I'm fine" and he always proceeds to whizz the items through as fast as he can and does not regulate the speed of the conveyor belt at my end.

Other shop assistants can manage this feat of doing their job efficiently whilst keeping an eye out for the packer and slowing or stopping the conveyor belt occasionally. Does he do it on purpose because I have refused help?

A small detail but it would make all the difference. (And you can keep your 5p off fuel coupons as there aren't any suitable petrol stations for miles in which to use them!)


Original Comments:

Cheryl said...

Oh I hate that.
Its - would you like my friend to make sure your strawberries are squashed and your bread is triangular by the time you get home, or would you like me to pummel your knockles with tins and make sure you have no room to pack things your own way?

Husb' hates this, but I put all my shopping on the conveyor in order - tins first, all the freezer stuff together, all the cleaners together, fruit & veg near the back and bread and biscuits last. That way the things they are flinging at me get progressively lighter, plus theres no thinking to do whilst I ram things into bags.

Empathy!!!!

Saturday, November 12, 2005 10:36:00 AM

Prydwen said...

I always set my shopping up on the conveyor colds, tins&jars, vegetables, and fragiles.

This way I can pack them the way I want and at my speed. But you always find the guy on the counter deliberatly taking things out of order just to screw me up like some sick game......

Saturday, November 12, 2005 10:40:00 AM

Cheryl said...

ROFL!!!
I declare a thumb war!
It seems the ideas, like the kids, are mine only until they make him look good................

MUahahahahaha 100 million Brownie points to me

Chuckle snigger cough!

Saturday, November 12, 2005 10:43:00 AM

doris said...

LOL I do the organising thing too - which is how I can pack so fast. As you say, all the thinking is already done.

But then the bugger takes stuff out of order, and I get that too when my "knockles" are pummeled by the cans! ;-)

Ahem... I detect a family war here.... it's wonderful when husbands and wives both have blogs and then simultaneously reply to posts and then contradict themselves! I hope you two are grinning at each other over your monitors.

Saturday, November 12, 2005 10:47:00 AM

Cheryl said...

We have reached a truce - we only argue over which order to put things in. It involves him slamming things on the belt and me shifting them again - or vice versa.
It does mean the kids get out from under and go sit on the store windowledge without complaint!
Still chuckling and thank you SO much for pointing out the typo.....

LMFAO

Saturday, November 12, 2005 11:04:00 AM

rashbre said...

I pile everything into any bag and then race home before it all has a chance to leak or defrost. Seems to work except when the oranges taste of shoe polish.

The worst thing is getting the plastic bags open. I'm sure theres a technique but its different for every supermarket chain. I'm the one in front of you with 47 items slithering over the edge of the belt still trying to get the first bag open.

Technologically, all they need to do is make the bag edges have an inset, so the plastic is not exactly aligned. Only Sainsbury's seem to have cracked this - I shall suggest it to Tetra/Rexam or whoever.

rashbre

Saturday, November 12, 2005 6:42:00 PM

MrsDoF said...

Oldest son's first timeclock job was to be a bagboy. He got real good at packing items which go together.
That store still has folks who do the bagging, which might seem a service very out-dated, but I do like knowing that there's a place where youngsters can learn some responsibility and how to treat customers.
It's enough for me that I have to get it all home and either put away or cooked for supper.

Saturday, November 12, 2005 8:25:00 PM

doris said...

In the UK the people who pack bags are one of the staff - they no longer employ young people to do this due to all our employment laws.

The end result, I feel, is that staff feel it is beneath them to pack bags and so it is done in a casual and careless manner.

The trouble lays with the UK's attitude to the service industries and the darned class and heirarchy and lack of pride in whatever one does.

Saturday, November 12, 2005 8:37:00 PM

Le laquet said...

I always make sure I go to the little white haired lady, she can't chuck the shopping through as quickly! *runs away to avoid the backlash from little white haired ladies she knows is coming*

Sunday, November 13, 2005 6:55:00 AM

craziequeen said...

I have noticed that - if you refuse their well-meaning help (yeah, right - like I want someone else to break my eggs!) then the stuff comes at you like a gatling gun....

Free the Customer is what I say....

cq

Sunday, November 13, 2005 10:17:00 AM

Anji said...

We don't ever get help with packing here. Family, when they are around to help, will always put tins on top of the bananas.(they inherit it from their father)

Sunday, November 13, 2005 1:44:00 PM

Minerva said...

I have trained my three kids now to do the shopping perfectly. One has the list, one the trolley and one fetches stuff. When we get to the belt, one goes to start the bagging, one puts the stuff on the conveyor and one packs the trolley...EASY!

And so I have a really relaxed shop, loads of praise from the assistant who can't muck things up, and the girls have fun too..!!

Do I get an award?

*sickening pious grin*

Minerva

Sunday, November 13, 2005 2:55:00 PM

Karen said...

lol - I alway try to have a race with them.

Sunday, November 13, 2005 8:17:00 PM

R. Edmondson said...

Let him help you and see if still happens - then you will definitely know:)

Later.

Monday, November 14, 2005 10:39:00 AM

Sarah said...

I always organise my shopping on the conveyer belt and of course it has to be heaviest first. I pack things into the bag by cupboard too so when I get home I put each bag by the cupboard/fridge it goes in. my hubby thinks its just one of my little ways, I can point out to him now I'm not the only one!

I am currently training my little boy to pack like Mummy to avoid problems later lol!

As for the speed it gets flung at you...well, I always think next time I will fling all my shopping at the cashier and see if he/she can scan it through as quick as I'm flinging it at them. I never actually remember though which is probably a good thing lol!

Tuesday, November 15, 2005 9:14:00 AM

Sparkling said...

I'll take your money off vouchers off your hands. I collect the 5p of liter of petrol, sports for schools and anything else they throw our way.

As for the organising the conveyer belt, I let my partner deal with that. I tried interfering in the way the trolley was packed, and how it went on the conveyer belt, and in the bags, but now i just swipe my credit card. Less discussion when I get the combination wrong.

Can someone tell me which is the correct category for flour?

Wednesday, November 16, 2005 7:01:00 PM

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