Grocery store etiquette

[Karen]

Maybe the woman who was walking slowly and reading was deaf ... Or physically incapable of walking faster for a reason that is not readily apparent? Anyway, I have only encountered the "people chatting blocking" syndrome around here, not the others, and when I ask to be let by with a smile, no one has ever complained or been in a huff.

Come shop here!

We have "self-serve check-out" lines, so people in a hurry can go to those, I have not seen or had anyone break into a line.

[Medusa]

Maybe the woman who was walking slowly and reading was deaf ... Or physically incapable of walking faster for a reason that is not readily apparent? Anyway, I have only encountered the "people chatting blocking" syndrome around here, not the others, and when I ask to be let by with a smile, no one has ever complained or been in a huff.

Come shop here!

We have "self-serve check-out" lines, so people in a hurry can go to those, I have not seen or had anyone break into a line.

Well, she wasn't deaf because she was driving her own car. No, she was walking slowly because she was reading her book. I've not experienced people chatting and blocking the aisle, just the ones I've mentioned. We have self serve lines, too. There was one right next to me that this man could have gone to besides the Express lane. That was my whole point. He chose to cut in line rather than use what was readily available to him. This wasn't a one time occurrence. It happens quite frequently, especially people carrying their groceries to the cart instead of taking the cart w/them. Maybe I really should chalk it up to an Ohio thing. LOL

[Karen]

Well, she wasn't deaf because she was driving her own car.

Being deaf does not preclude having a car and driver's license! Just had to note that.

[Medusa]

Being deaf does not preclude having a car and driver's license! Just had to note that.

I didn't realize that. My mistake, sorry.

[caseysmom]

Can't deaf people drive? I really don't know but I thought they could?

If she was deaf I would think she better be extra careful crossing through the parking lot and not reading her book.

[jennielynn1970]

I've been working as a cashier since the end of July at our local grocerystore, Giant.

Oh the stories I could tell, the rude people I could point out, and the foodstamp fraud I could also report ("I just bought and sold 2 houses for cash." said one man as he pulled out his access card to pay by foodstamps. Lovely. Keep sponging off the rest of us who work for a living).

There are a lot of annoying people out there, and many who have no manners or don't care if my express lane is 15 items or less. Or the people who hand me bags of carrots, or cookies or whatever and say "We don't want this, it's already opened." What they lack to say is that THEY were the ones who have opened it and already eaten from it and don't feel like paying for it.

I don't care if they are writing a check, or paying by credit or debit, but if you know you only have so much cash on you, remember the amount, or write it on the shopping list so that I don't have to void 20+ items when you can't pay for them.

There is one major peeve I have about shoppers in my checkout line. It's the ones on cell phones. Can you get off the phone so that I can talk to you and tell you what you owe, that your card was declined, or that your kid just ate a candy bar and you need to pay for it?? Heaven forbid I actually interrupt your conversation to speak to you while you're checking out.

One thing to keep in mind as you are checking out is that many of the cashiers today in foodstores are TIMED with the amount of items they pass across the scanner. They get yelled at when they go below a certain number. Our store is supposed to be aiming for 24 items a minute. That's anything that has to be hand keyed in, or weighed, or whatever. It includes when you are paying, swiping your card, writing your check, everything. It's annoying when they also track not only how many items you scan per minute, but then the items you have to key by hand (you get reprimanded for that, even if it's not your fault the barcode is faulty), for the number of voids (even if it is the person who bought 20 more things that what they could pay for).

The list goes on and on. Sometimes I just want to know why we are supposed to go so fast, and then you make mistakes going so fast, and the mistakes are counted against you. What happened to going at a reasonable rate and being consistent???

I could also tell you about some of the nicer people I encounter at my job. The elderly men and women who greet me by name, who ask me how my day was, and if my line is empty "were you waiting just for me?!" I run into friends I haven't seen in ages, or people who I had grad classes with and haven't seen me for years, but they still remember me. Kids who are sweet and cute and behaving, and are polite and say "Hi lady!" It's working with other cashiers that I get along with, and that make me laugh and keep things upbeat. It's these things that make me smile, and lately, that's what keeps me going.

Sure, there are annoying people, and I'd bet we're all on someone else's annoying list somewhere out there, lol.

[moosmom]

Welcome to MY world!!!! We have these certain people that storm the store in droves, just about 10 minutes before the store closes. The other night my manager said it was my responsibility to keep the "clearance" section in the front of the store (hopefully when I go in tomorrow, it'll all be gone) neat and orderly. Well, when THESE people come in, they throw stuff all over the place, stepping on merchandise they've dropped on the floor (never picking up what they drop). By the time they're done, the place is a PIG PEN!!!! I was so ticked off. They kept coming up and demanding that I tell them how much an item was, knowing full well the price is what is on the package. I cringe everytime I see these people walk in the door. It's not just one or two. It's the whole freaking family (with a VERY strong odor of curry and BO). The kids are screaming (it's 9:20 PM and they're tired and should be in bed). They buy up all the clearance items they can, then return them, claiming they don't have the receipt so they get a store credit back for the full amount. It's a scam that they've been pulling for years and there's nothing we can do about it.

Ah, the wonderful world of retail....NOT!!!

[shepgirl]

Guess we can all relate to these happenings. My worst peeve are the people who get in the express lane but have a huge load in their basket. Hubby complained to the girl once and she told him management did not allow them to stand empty even for a few seconds...doesn't sound fair to me when just a few seconds elapse before someone comes in with only the 8 items allowed.
And the chatters blocking the ailses , staring at you as if you are the intruder makes me want to scream...I usually just turn around and go around another aisle after saying excuse me a few times with no action on their part.

[Edwina's Secretary]

I never saw this until California...

people here do NOT put their empty cart back at the building or even in the cart corral. They leave the cart in the parking lot. Whereever...

Which means parking spots are often not available because the spot is occupied...by a cart. Or carts roll around hitting cars.

What is the excuse? In Chicago where it rains and snows and etc. people put the carts back. Here in the land of perpetual sun...they cannot be bothered.

I suggested to a woman once that she could walk the 10 feet to the cart corral. She was extremely offended and said..."with a baby in the car???"

[Medusa]

Ok, so may be it isn't an Ohio thing after all. LOL Wow!

[sparks19]

I never saw this until California...

people here do NOT put their empty cart back at the building or even in the cart corral. They leave the cart in the parking lot. Whereever...

Which means parking spots are often not available because the spot is occupied...by a cart. Or carts roll around hitting cars.

What is the excuse? In Chicago where it rains and snows and etc. people put the carts back. Here in the land of perpetual sun...they cannot be bothered.

I suggested to a woman once that she could walk the 10 feet to the cart corral. She was extremely offended and said..."with a baby in the car???"

OOOOOOOOOH that is another one that burns my butt. There is a cart corral in every lane in the parking lot... you don't have to walk more than MAYBE 20 feet to put it in there. but apparently that is too much to ask lol

one time... this lady was parked one space over from the cart corral... and she left the cart on the outside edge of the corral. WTH? and it was nowhere NEAR full.

[RedHedd]

Y'all are shopping at my stores! The cell phone people and chatters are the worst. I'm with the peeve on those who leave their carts wherever and walk around to shop - blocking the aisles. The stores themselves do not help by the way the pile items so we have to navigate around them - ostensibly to improve sales, it just pisses me off as I often can't reach the items I need because they've added a display right in front of what I want.

And when checking out, I know I can start swiping my card and entering codes, etc. as soon as they start ringing me up - at least I can do this at my Safeway and Trader Joe's, not at Walgreen's. This way by the time all my items are rung up, the SA just needs to hand me my receipt and I'm off on my merry way.

Oh and what is the deal with them asking if you need help to your car with your purchase every time? Sometimes I'll dash in for a quick sandwich or some cat food - it's a teeny bag - and they ask if I need help out. Sometimes I say yes, just to see if I get a reaction - I often do not

[shepgirl]

No Mary, it isn't an OHIO thing. Matter of fact when we cross Ohio to go warm up we find the people going out of their way to be pleasant to us.

You want another pet peeve besides people leaving baskets in the parking lot instead of the corrals? It's people just leaving them to roll wherever and having the basket land on your car leaving a nice ding. And the worst one yet is when you really have to get some shopping done and get to the handicapped parking spots only to find them full, check inside the vehicles and there are no cards anywhere in sight - where we are those cards have to be visible if you park there. The store managers refuse to enforce this because they fear losing customers - meaning handicapped people have no money to spend in their stores I guess.

[IRescue452]

One thing that bothers me most is that so many people complain about being unfit or fat, and then so many people can't walk a extra few feet from a further parking spot or put a cart away. People take an extra ten minutes searching for a close spot when they could have been in the store already, sometimes holding up a whole line of cars to wait for somebody to back out.

The other thing is not putting something back. The other day I found a half gallon of milk in the chips aisle. It was still cold so I took the time to bring it 3aisles down to put it back. How lazy can you be?

And, if a kid ever runs into me with those heely shoes with wheels in them, I will not hesitate to be in their way or trip them. How'd these people like it if I put on some rollerblades and skated into them int he store.

I hate the self-serve checkout and never use them, they always take a million times longer when I'm with my sister who only uses them. First, something won't scan and we have to wait for an assistant; then, something needs to be confirmed for weight or something like that, another wait; then, something won't work in the machine; another wait for the assistant; and lastly she needs to check the receipt for something. Good lord, by the time she's done checking out a handful of things I've slumped down on the floor dead of exasperation of why after this happening so many times she still used the damn self-checkout! I could have use a regular checkout half a dozen times already. And there's always some boxo waiting in the self-checkout line behind you when this happens, even when the regular checkouts are open. Why would you wait half an hour to checkout when the regular ones are open? Maybe if you had something embarassing like a box of condoms, but I've yet to see the person waiting behind us with something seemingly embarrassing.

[Cataholic]

We have "self-serve check-out" lines, so people in a hurry can go to those, I have not seen or had anyone break into a line.

Okay, here is one for you, Karen. Guess who LOVES to scan things at the self serve check out? We could have a cart full of groceries, and Jonah insists that we scan them. (Okay, I admit, I like to scan things, too ).
Anyhow, I had this guy glaring at us when we were doing the self serve check out...cause it was taking prolly twice as long for Jonah to scan as it would me. He wants to push the buttons, run the card through, insert the money, etc.

I smiled at him and said, "a trip to the grocery is all the fun for him I can afford" and turned away. He he he...