I have to share this tonight because I know I’m not the only one it’s happened to; and it annoys me every time. Before I get into the whole issue, though, let me just say that I can’t stand shopping. Food shopping, clothing shopping, gift shopping – any kind of shopping, and any aspect of shopping, just irks the crap out of me. I’ve even been accused of not being a “real girl” because I don’t like shopping. That’s fine; this issue, however, deals with – you guessed it – shopping.
I went to the supermarket today; it was just a quick stop on my way to get Dolly from school, and I’ve done it countless times. Today’s trip, though, was a real PITA. All I needed was cat food. Get in, get the items, pay, get out, and I’m on my way. That didn’t happen and that’s why I have to mention it. So let’s get started, shall we?
This particular supermarket has 12 checkout lanes; the 12th being the express lane with a 15-items-or-less policy. There are also four self-checkout stations; also with a 15-item maximum. If I’m only getting a few items I generally use the self-checkout because it’s quicker and I don’t have to wait in line, most days, anyway. I do like the self-checkout but it still bugs me that I have to pay full price for the items when I’m doing the work. It’s my understanding that a portion of the cost of the food is used for overhead expenses which would include salaries. If I’m not correct, please let me know. If I am correct, those of us who do check our own items deserve a small discount.
Anyway, I went into the store, picked seven cans of cat food and headed back to the front of the store. I got to the self-checkout to find that all four stations were being used; apparently by four people who had never used them before. I’ll explain. If you’ve never used a self-checkout, at least in this store, it’s simple. There are step-by-step instructions and if you follow them you can be done in minutes. The screen is a touch screen with clearly-labeled “buttons” on it, plus there is a voice that talks you through your purchase.
A BIG GREEN button says “Push to start order.” Then the voice tells you to scan your first item. Once you’ve scanned it, the price comes up on the screen and you are verbally instructed to put the item in the bag. Folks, the bags are hung on a scale platform so the computer does know if you didn’t put the item in the bag. You can’t stand there with two items and scan one and then the other without putting the first item in the bag. The machine won’t let you. When you’re finished scanning all your items you hit the BIG RED button that says “End order” and the voice will talk you through the remaining steps. This isn’t rocket science, people; my kids can work these machines.
So these four people were all, very slowly, trying to ring up their items as a line formed behind them with those of us who would've really like to have been done with this wonderful shopping experience. Eventually I got annoyed and walked next door to the official express lane. As I was walking over a man got there ahead of me which was fine; he had one bag of sugar. The lady who was already in the line, however, and was being checked by the cashier, had her cart half filled with items. Half a cart is NOT 15 items or less.
Now, there have been occasions when I’ve been invited into the express lane by the cashier who noticed me looking for a checkout lane. Her lane was empty so I was invited. If I’ve had more than the max, though, I’ve declined only to be told that it would be fine. Sometimes I’ve even accepted the offer, but I’ve also only had three or four items over the limit – not a week’s worth of food. If someone’s got a couple more than 15 items I don’t really care, but this was way out of line since there were more people now lining up behind me. On a quick sidebar, let me just tell you all that 15 cans of cat food does not equal one item – IT’S 15 SEPARATE ITEMS, FOLKS!!! Two packages of ground beef is two items, and so on, regardless of what you may think.
Back on track now. Not only was this lady over the limit for the lane, but she wasn’t even helping to bag her own stuff. I know, many places do it for you. They did it for me when I lived in MO, and they were usually very pleased when I bagged my own items. In MD, not only did the one store I frequented bag for me but they also offered to carry it out to my car for me. Imagine that. I was tempted to buy a pack of gum and accept the offer of the carry out service just to see what would happen. J
Anyway, here in NY the cashier can bag but there are also bags hanging at the end of the counter for you to bag your own. This lady was really pissing me off. She literally stood there watching the cashier bag her groceries, in the paper-in-plastic form, no less, and then she’d put the full bag in her cart and stand there waiting for the next bag. Come the fuck on, already!! Pick up a bag and put your shit in it so the rest of us can get on with our business.
The fact that she wouldn’t bag her own stuff was only made worse by the fact that the cashier was 100 years old, slow as fucking molasses, and straining to pick up the cans of tomatoes in this lady’s order. Are you kidding? Hint to the supermarket managerial staff: never put your oldest and slowest cashier on express lane duty. Express is supposed to go quickly; we’re not supposed to need haircuts by the time we leave the store.
The over-maximum lady was finally done, the sugar man paid, and then I finally got to pay – I bagged my own stuff, too – and leave. What’s really funny is that, as I was walking out the door with my bag, the lady who was waiting on the line right ahead of me at the self-checkout earlier was just leaving also. It actually took those four other people the same amount of time to ring their own orders as it did the cashier to ring the over-maximum lady in the express lane; and the cashier had already started the lady's order when I got on line. What’s wrong with this picture?
So that’s it; my pet peeve for the day. I know there’s nothing I can do about it; I don’t work there, I don’t know anyone who works there, and a letter to the company wouldn’t change a thing. So be it; it is what it is. It’s happened before and I know it’ll happen again; I may as well laugh at it. On a positive note, at least I’ll know when it’s time for a haircut. J
Until next time…peace to all.
No comments:
Post a Comment