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Top-level
 @anne_twain @Gustodon @georgepenney Aside from that, we have some checkout operators who pack very brutally. Only good if you like crumbs and bruises. Then there are the ones who make unstable stacks that collapse as soon as the bag's moved, often with things like cornflakes and potato chips and delicate produce on one side for tins and bottles and frozen meat to fall onto. I just don't have the cognitive capacity to deal with that. 19 comments
@Gustodon @anne_twain @georgepenney I remember that time, too. That it once existed doesn't really make much difference to what I need in my shopping today. And if I can avoid having to engage with a human being at the checkout when I'm already exhausted from the shopping task, that's good for me, too. I usually go for a human checkout operate as better than the beeping, yelling self-checkout machine, though, even though it often means having to stop the packer so I can pack myself.  @anne_twain And I'm happy that you have a good option! I'm actually quite happy going to shop during the quiet part of the morning, scanning and packing my own stuff, and leaving without interacting with anyone or The Machine. And adding a detour to the poultry farm where I'll talk with one person and get a good look at the eggs that I buy in trays of 36, and to the church where I pick up my weekly produce pack and, again, talk with exactly one person.  @Gustodon @libroraptor @anne_twain @georgepenney how serviced supermarket tills operate obviously varies between countries. I'm in the UK and quite ancient now and I can't recall ever not packing my own groceries, or in independent butchers or greengrocers for that matter. @marjolica @Gustodon @libroraptor @anne_twain @georgepenney  @marjolica @Gustodon @libroraptor @anne_twain @georgepenney I think "pack your own groceries" is not the main value. The main value is to pack the groceries once, not twice. It's a huge time waster to unpack the car onto the belt, scan everything, put everything onto a second belt, then into a bag, then back into the cart. I understand where you are coming from and am generally 100% on the same page as you but this system is just so much better that I hate shopping at a supermarket that doesn't have it.  @libroraptor @anne_twain @Gustodon @georgepenney i guess there are cultures clashing here in some way. e.g. in most of europe everyone packs themselves, there is just the person who takes all the items off the conveyor belt scans them and places them behind the scanner for you to pack yourself. @glowl @libroraptor @Gustodon @georgepenney Yes, I think there's some variation. Having stuff packed for you is the norm in Australia. Customers bring their own re-usable bags too. But we do have Aldi where you have to pack your own. @anne_twain @glowl @Gustodon @georgepenney Writing the prices on everything with a shop-supplied marker pen โ was a branding innovation in New Zealand in the 1980s, I think. The Write Price chain made their identity that way. They faded away. Now Pak-n-Save is about packing your own in bare-bones warehousing, a bit like Aldi. Woolworths is a mix, depending on who's on staff at what time of day and what mood they're in. New World and Fresh Choice are still full-service. @glowl @libroraptor @anne_twain @Gustodon @georgepenney @JackEric @libroraptor @Gustodon @georgepenney They've deliberately made the normal checkouts slow by not having enough of them. They could make them faster but they don't want to hire more staff - they want you to use the self checkouts.  @anne_twain @libroraptor @Gustodon @georgepenney my experience of supermarkets that only have staffed checkouts is that they also don't have enough checkout staff and it takes forever to pay up and leave  @libroraptor, wellโฆ those chips will be fine. It's crisps that I'd worry about. |
Gregory's Server
@libroraptor @anne_twain @georgepenney Respectfully, one of the functions of well-staffed, high quality grocery stores was to evolve a breed of baggers who were exceptionally good at packing groceries. I understand your desire to pack your own groceries but I'd like to assure you that there was a time when that was entirely unnecessary.