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Ω 🌍 Gus Posey

@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.

19 August at 3:37 | Wall-to-wall | Open on mas.to
10 comments
Alistair K

@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.

19 August at 3:41 | Open on mastodon.nz
Chookbot

@libroraptor I'm sorry that you don't have better options.

19 August at 7:00 | Open on theblower.au
Alistair K

@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.

19 August at 7:02 | Open on mastodon.nz
Chookbot

@Gustodon @libroraptor @georgepenney All these horrors stem from the owner's desire to squeeze the very last cent of profit out of the business. They hire the fewest workers they can possibly get away with, then drive them to go faster. The workers hate the job and don't care about doing it well.

The place where I shop is a family business. They own 2 supermarkets. No profit-hungry shareholders. They've made the experience of shopping there pleasant. There are several eateries inside the store. No one is in a hurry. There's no musak: local people volunteer to play a baby grand piano that's right in the middle of the store and there's another old honky-tonk piano where a guy sometimes plays jazz accompanied by a double bass.

I fell over in the carpark once and they really took good care of me. Someone went and got my groceries for me and they didn't charge me for them. A guy called me a couple of days later to see how I was. It's human-oriented, not de-humanising.

@Gustodon @libroraptor @georgepenney All these horrors stem from the owner's desire to squeeze the very last cent of profit out of the business. They hire the fewest workers they can possibly get away with, then drive them to go faster. The workers hate the job and don't care about doing it well.

The place where I shop is a family business. They own 2 supermarkets. No profit-hungry shareholders. They've made the experience of shopping there pleasant. There are several eateries inside the store. No...

19 August at 6:58 | Open on theblower.au
MarjorieR

@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.

19 August at 10:52 | Open on social.linux.pizza
C++ Wage Slave

@marjolica @Gustodon @libroraptor @anne_twain @georgepenney
Same. Once in a while, during Bob-A-Job week, a troupe of boy scouts is available to pack groceries for a small donation. I never let them do it.

19 August at 14:01 | Open on infosec.space
BeeCycling

@marjolica
Me too. A couple of places experimented with packers now and again, and I've seen kids do it for charity. But it's not standard.

I use the Waitrose scanning app on my phone, so I just scan and pack stuff straight into my bags. At the end I just pay at the self-checkout and get out of there. I started using it in 2020 to get out faster and minimise contact. I wish I could pay in the app, so I could avoid the checkout entirely.

@Gustodon @libroraptor @anne_twain @georgepenney

@marjolica
Me too. A couple of places experimented with packers now and again, and I've seen kids do it for charity. But it's not standard.

I use the Waitrose scanning app on my phone, so I just scan and pack stuff straight into my bags. At the end I just pay at the self-checkout and get out of there. I started using it in 2020 to get out faster and minimise contact. I wish I could pay in the app, so I could avoid the checkout entirely.

19 August at 15:01 | Open on romancelandia.club
MarjorieR

@beecycling @Gustodon @libroraptor @anne_twain @georgepenney I suppose we should be glad at many stores there are still options.

In our family we're very happy to go through the checkout, we know several of the staff personally - it's a small town - and chat, but there are times when we just have a few items and the self-checkout can be quicker.

Of course whether you still end up having to interact with staff depends on whether the machines are behaving themselves (as per the OP!) or if you have a age restricted purchase. Needless to say one of our friends usually supervises the self-checkout.

@beecycling @Gustodon @libroraptor @anne_twain @georgepenney I suppose we should be glad at many stores there are still options.

In our family we're very happy to go through the checkout, we know several of the staff personally - it's a small town - and chat, but there are times when we just have a few items and the self-checkout can be quicker.

19 August at 15:11 | Open on social.linux.pizza
BeeCycling replied to MarjorieR

@marjolica
Yeah, there's always someone having to supervise the self-checkouts, because they're always misbehaving in some way. Seems like they should just put that person on a staffed checkout, but hey ho.
@Gustodon @libroraptor @anne_twain @georgepenney

19 August at 15:14 | Open on romancelandia.club
Amoshias

@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.

19 August at 14:23 | Open on esq.social
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