the wdgbdtdyc thread

[technicolor]

Please double bag stuff with sharp edges and heavy things in plastic...

like juice cartons and canned goods

nothing worse than walking up the stairs for a plastic bag to rip

 

[kretzy]

So let me get this straight, in the US you have a cashier and a packer? Wow, we just do it all here.

Customers here RARELY offer to pack their own shopping, but I really like the ones who do. They often bring their own shopping (green) bags along with them. Still, most people who bring their own bags expect you to pack them.

It's interesting to hear how different supermarkets work elsewhere.

 

[Abstract]

You obviously ask too much of baggers. A little smushed bread never hurt anyone.

I'm sorry, but put the soft stuff on top so that it doesn't get smushed. hard things can go on the bottom.

And in the UK, Canada, and Australia (the places where I've lived at least 1 year), I pack my own bags because I'm not a lil bitch.

 

[floriflee]

So let me get this straight, in the US you have a cashier and a packer? Wow, we just do it all here.

Customers here RARELY offer to pack their own shopping, but I really like the ones who do. They often bring their own shopping (green) bags along with them. Still, most people who bring their own bags expect you to pack them.

It's interesting to hear how different supermarkets work elsewhere.

It depends on the supermarket. There are some places that make you bag your own stuff (lower-end markets), there are others where the cashier bags your groceries, and yet others that have a cashier and a bagger. It just depends on the chain you shop at. The one the hubby and I frequent the cashier is the bagger.

 

[floriflee]

See, this is what always amazes me about the states, you guys have so many itty bitty jobs no wonder your wages are so low.

Here it's very rare to see an employee whose sole purpose is to pack your groceries into either the plastic ones or the recyclable cloth ones. All that is done by the person staffing the till - the "check-out chick" as it were.

Same thing with restaurants, in the restaurants here we don't have "bus boys," the waiter is responsible for all orders and transport of food/drinks to and from the tables. For a waiter my age in a restaurant employed as a casual (most common for wait-staff) and earning the government legislated award wages, the lowest they'd be earning would be about $17 an hour, rising to $20 on a Saturday and about $24 on a Sunday, public holidays are closer to $40ph. Mind you we don't tip (although most people do, it's just not expected of a customer and there's no "standard" 10% or 15%) but I still think it's insane how low wait-staff and the like's wages are over there.

In 3.5 months in our ski fields I saved about $5500 dollars ($US4200) and that was paying "snow tax" on all food, drinks and living pretty well too. I was only working maybe 30 hours a week. In Canada at the ski fields I was working well over 40 hours a week, paying basically the same price there as I would here for food but scrimping and saving everything and in 6 months I earned about CAD$2000 (A$2400, US$1800).

The difference? CAD$6.50ph wage. No increases for weekends, and $6.50 was considered "good"!!! Because it was above the $5.90 considered "minimum wage" in Alberta. It was the lowest I'd ever earned, the next lowest was nearly twice the rate.

Well, when you have as many people as we have here you have to find something for everyone to do....

 

[kretzy]

Just out of interest, how much do people in the US and other countries get paid for this type of work. I'm a casual employee and I get around $15.50 ($11.75 US) during the week, $22 ($17) on Sundays and $35 ($26.50) on public holidays. I also get a little extra if I work late on the weekends. It just went up recently because I turned 19, and it'll go up another few dollars once I'm twenty.

 

[Black&Tan]

At our local Stop & Shop, not all the registers have "baggers." Some don't even have a cashier, just a "pay as you go" register. When I'm in a hurry with just one or two items, I'll use these. But when we're shopping for the week, I always try to find a register with a "bagger," simply because its easier when I'm trying to juggle a checkbook and a 3 year old.

But what I hate most about the baggers in our area, rudeness. I was waiting in line behind a rather attractive Latin woman, and the cashier and bagger were talking between themselves in Spanish, really not making any effort to speak quietly. Apparently, as young men often do, they started talkng about how attractive this woman was and perhaps a few other choice comments. I'm not sure, I don't speak Spanish. When they were done taking care of this attractive woman, as she was leaving, she stopped and spoke to them in fluent Spanish. And then, in English, said "you should be a lot more careful about what you say about other people, you never know if they can understand you!" And walked away.

The two kids looked at each other and started laughing, saying "you were sooo busted." They never thought how rude that was, if they might have offended her, or anybody else. It was just one big joke, at someone else's expense. And they didn't care.

I've never gone back to that store.

 

[Abstract]

I go to a place we have in Canadia called No Frills, where the place doesn't even come with bags. You pay $0.10 per bag. It's a good idea. That way, at least you have some sense of how many bags you're taking. The bags are also better/stronger, since you're paying for them individually. If you don't buy a bag, you have the option of using one of the boxes they have at the front of the store for free. The boxes are just ones that the store receives it's fruits, toilet paper, packs of chips, etc, in bulk. This way the boxes aren't wasted.

You do pack everything yourself, but the food is cheaper as the store is run as "no frills." It's great, actually. I love it.

 

[kretzy]

I'm 100% for the whole paying for bags concept. I get really annoyed when people ask me to put things like big cereal boxes, toilet rolls and nappies (which even have a handle on the fracking packaging) in bags. It's absolutely pointless as the item is so big you can't even grab the handles on the bag. The same thing with small things like chocolate bars etc, they'll demand a bag for it! It drives me crazy. It's so bad for the environment!

The place I work at recently brought in a policy where if there's less than two items being purchased you don't give a plastic bag, unless the customer asks. The reaction from some customers was astounding - people got so irate and angry about it.

 

[floriflee]

The place where we shop used to do the same thing as the No Frills place in Canada, but I guess they decided to go more mainstream to attract more customers. Eh.

There was a local grocery store in Salt Lake City that used to credit you $.03/bag from your bill (or something like that) if you brought your own (Dan's). I'm not sure if they still do that now, but I thought that was a cool idea.

 

[blackfox]

I really enjoy the (relatively) new self check-out lanes. You scan and bag yourself. Unfortunately, it is currently only for those with a limited amount of items.

Perhaps veering slightly of topic, but a supermarket where I used to live used to have a Singles Night™, where each cart/basket was numbered and you could contact that great gal/guy who you shared a moment with in the frozen food aisle. Pretty cool idea.

Talk about checking out and bagging things...

 

[2nyRiggz]

^Yea i like the self check out thing but sometimes those machines get to me...."please place items in bag" over and over...they are in there already!! ......"please scan item" I'm trying i'm trying! ......whiles you are doing this theres a long line of people mean mugging you.


Bless

 

[count chocula]

thanks for the advice and wishes of luck guys, based on what you've said, its sounds like i've been doing a pretty good job so far. its really intereseting on how different things are in other places. when people talk about how things as trivial as a supermarket work and function where they are, its like they are in a whole other world. i really need to get out of the us. i go to canada once a year, but things arent too different there, the milk in bags makes me laugh though.

 

[iGav]

Bag boys get tips?

If they dyed their hair green, and used liberal amounts of fake tan, whilst singing this... I'd tip.