Email or username:

Password:

Forgot your password?
Top-level
Kay :heart_bi:

@libroraptor @anne_twain @Gustodon @georgepenney I shop for a family with food intolerances so its often a big shop. I supervise packing, often asking new staff if they've ever played Tetris (an online stacking game)? I request a 2nd trolley to avoid heavy bags getting stacked on top of lighter ones. I'm willing to longer to get packing and stacking done right.

I'm sure it's a pain for staff but poor packing breaks food and creates waste. Satisfied customers come back and spend more money too.

6 comments
Alistair K

@Kay @anne_twain @Gustodon @georgepenney I used to do that, too, but since my brain broke I haven't got the cognitive capacity to keep track of so much by the time I'm at the checkout. Just finding stuff on the shelves and dodging people in the aisles and trying to shut out the music and clattering trolleys is hard enough. I used to think that psych studies on how to coerce people by sensory occupation was just academic curiosity but these days I feel it very strongly.

ND Dev

@libroraptor @Kay @anne_twain @Gustodon @georgepenney
Here in the UK, most supermarkets have a quiet hour once or twice a week. They shut off the awful background music and, in some cases, turn down the glaring lights a bit. You might want to ask at customer service whether your supermarket does something similar (and, if not, why not). The intention is to help autists and other people who find supermarkets overstimulating, but you don't have to be autistic to benefit from a slightly more civilised environment.

Alistair K

@nddev @Kay @anne_twain @Gustodon @georgepenney We're gradually getting those here, too, also at public libraries.

Jon

@libroraptor @nddev @Kay @anne_twain @Gustodon @georgepenney as recently as 25 years ago, libraries *were* "quiet hours" in most places in the US. Then they started moving to "quiet rooms" and not particularly enforcing even that.

Perhaps this does get more people in the library, though I'm not among them. These days I just checkout ebooks, or occasionally reserve something and go in and out as fast as possible.

Kay :heart_bi: replied to Jon

@oddhack @libroraptor @nddev @anne_twain @Gustodon @georgepenney Wellington City Libraries (NZ) are civilized places and while mostly quietish, they're not silent. They also allow visitors to eat there although they request not smelly or messy food please. I've been known to spend hours at a library in between other engagements. Free Wifi, comfy furniture, restrooms, and if you have a packed lunch, food too. My local branch Te Awe has a cafe too.
wcl.govt.nz/visit/locations/te

Kay :heart_bi:

@nddev @libroraptor @anne_twain @Gustodon @georgepenney Quiet time in supermarkets is in trial in some branches of Coles supermarkets in Australia and in one or two in Aotearoa New Zealand. It's unlikely to catch on in big chains unless legally required as research shows higher spending rates associated with certain beats of music. Possibly from disrupted thinking as suggested. Supermarkets are there to make their owners money not to benefit customers.

FWIW I sometimes wear earplugs to cope

Go Up