I'd like someone to give me some advice on etiquette for the following situation.
Last night I went out to the grocery store. It was between seven and nine - I went at this time because I had to wait for Scott to get home to keep an eye on Roland, and also the stores tend to be a little less packed during that time (people are at home eating dinner).
I drove out of my way to a grocery store in a swanky neighborhood knowing that the food selection would be better quality and the clientele less obnoxious.
I wandered around the store with my cart, taking my time for once, and making sure that I got everything on my list as I wouldn't have a chance to go back out until tomorrow. When I was done with my shopping I got into a check-out lane where there was no line. The cashier ringing me up didn't have a bagger, so she was sort of just piling things up at the end of the counter and looking around nervously for assistance (the counter was pretty small).
To speed things along, the woman in line behind me comes around and starts bagging my stuff, mumbling something about hating to stand around. Mind you, the store was virtually desserted at this point and she had few enough items to go through the self-check lane.
What the hell? I stood there like a dipshit with a look on my face reading "I'm not in a huge hurry," "there's no one in the other lane - go over there!" and "Fuck you if you think I'm bagging my own groceries at these prices."
Of course, I thanked her for bagging my shit, but how huge do your balls have to be to do that? I was so astounded. Before she walked up there and started bagging my loot I hadn't intended to do that task myself, and I sure as hell wasn't going to engage in it after she started it. I couldn't even say, "Um, that's nice of you, but that's okay - you don't have to bag my shit," because she was obviously a carrier of ants in the pants.
What would you have done?
Posted by Tiffany at April 6, 2007 06:52 PM | TrackBackUmm...tip her? Did she put the cardboard boxed items around the perimeter of the bag and put fragile stuff inside, or did she smash cans on tops of eggs? The baggers at the swanky stores I've been at down here are downright surly (I guess I would be too, packing Slim-Fast, champagne and rotisserie chicken day-in-day-out for soccer moms, trophy wives and smug hipsters).
Oh, and unrelated to this, but my website got this error when I tried to post a comment: "Your comment could not be submitted because the follwing text matched an entry in our spam filter: bl*gg*r.com"
Posted by: karsh at April 6, 2007 09:33 PMActually, she bagged my stuff better than the cashier did. I was really uncomfortable about it, but felt strange in that I didn't feel like bagging them myself.
Sounds like someone's been tinkering with the blacklist again...*sigh*
Posted by: Tiffany at April 7, 2007 05:02 AMI don't know - that's kind of weird. I probably would have told her thank you but no thanks, you're not getting paid to do that. Whatever you were all Howie Mandel and scared of germs?
Posted by: C at April 7, 2007 01:51 PMDepending on the type of bags (paper/plastic) she put your items in, I would've requested she bag the items in the opposite type.
Posted by: Sheron at April 7, 2007 07:16 PMI'd have said something along the lines of "Oh honey, where'd you learn to bag like that?" (Wait for comment) "You know, I think you could aLMOST get a job as a professional bagger, eh?" "You ever think about applying for work here?" or go with it and say "Oh I get it, you're here applying for a job, trying to look good for the management, aren't yah? Well carry on, carry on, I sure wouldn't want to stand in the way of you and a good job." all the while laughing, grinning. Or go with the ~I pity you ~ approach "Wow, so what pressing event do YOU have to get to? Must be missing that final episode of Dallas, eh? Wellll, I hate to ruin things for yah, but even though Bobby WAS a human speedbump, he comes BACK! That's right, he does. So uh, now that the suspense is over.... if you could just back up from my groceries"
:-D
as she finished give her the classic "fuck you very much"
Posted by: cory hunt at April 8, 2007 03:19 AMJust quietly thank God that YOU'RE not as lacking in social graces as she was :-)
Posted by: Harvey at April 10, 2007 02:02 PMI think I would have seethed. Silently, of course, 'cause I'm a punk like that. Who are These People?
Posted by: Fraulein N at April 18, 2007 01:56 PM