AITA: Grocery bagging

[Anonymous]

OP was already cooperating by putting her items on the belt and paying for the transaction. That's one lazy cashier. Wonder if she pulled that with the male customers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mid-morning weekday grocery shopping at Harris Teeter. Naming the time, because this wasn’t Monday night or Saturday morning — store was quiet and uncrowded, with no line behind me and other registers open. Naming the store because I think they try and position themselves with their customer service. I had a small load of groceries — filled three reusable bags. Not a massive shopping trip.

As I wheeled up, the checker announced “We’re going to work as a team. I’m going to scan and you’re going to bag.” I said, “No thanks. I was counting on you to bag my items.” She then frowned and went silent for the duration of the transaction.

I’m physically able to bag my own groceries, and I did it without a second thought during the height of the pandemic when we were worried about contact. I’m happy to do it at Aldi or Lidl, where prices are cheaper because that’s part of the deal. But at a “full-price” regular grocery store, I don’t want to. I’m not getting a discount, and frankly I want to use those few minutes to check my email, send a quick text to someone, update my shopping list, mentally plan the evening scrum of sports/homework/dinner, or just veg out for a few blessed minutes. I don’t refill my own drink at restaurants, I don’t loosen the lug nuts on one wheel while my mechanic rotates the other, and I don’t pre-rake my leaves for the landscapers. I will smile and make small talk and say thank you and gratefully acknowledge their much-appreciated help. But I’m not interested in doing someone else’s job. I’m tired enough just doing my own.

Is bagging your own groceries when asked a thing now? AITA for objecting?

I would have bagged - cashiers make little money and have a boring but important job. What does it hurt to bag your own stuff?

Next time you see the sweeper at the store, offer to sweep a couple of aisles for them. They make little money and have and boring and important job too.

Fascinating. There are 2 types of people who live in this world - those who ask "what can I do to help?" and those who ask "what can you do for me?" You choose your own category, but I guess you're also the same person who leave their cups on shelves in stores, carts in parking lots, and expect people to clean up after you because... why should you pick up after yourself?

So, in a grocery store setting you ask "what can I do to help'? Do offer to help them shelve the cans, restock the produce? SMH. As a customer I know what my role is in a grocery store and that includes picking up after my self and corralling my own cart. If I want to bag my own groceries then I will chose to go to the self check out line. If i am in the cashier line then it is their job to bag.

You don't have to proactively help in every situation. But if someone indicates they could really use your help, it's a bit churlish to refuse. Like, you're within your rights, but you're not nice.

[Anonymous]

I really wouldn't mind bagging so much if stores like Giant didn't still have those circular plastic bagging areas, which make it impossible to fit reusable bags on (same for self check-out). Stores need to bring back the long conveyer packing areas so I can put my purse down, open up my reusable bags, and bag up all my crap. This bag tax promotes using our own bags, yet we're all stuck trying to fill up these big bags either sitting on the floor or crammed between those small plastic bag areas.

I do think reading email and scrolling the phone while in the checkout line actively being checked out (not waiting your turn) is rude.

[Anonymous]

I had no idea that bagging groceries was so controversial. Or that there were so many DCUMers who think they’re above bagging their own groceries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mid-morning weekday grocery shopping at Harris Teeter. Naming the time, because this wasn’t Monday night or Saturday morning — store was quiet and uncrowded, with no line behind me and other registers open. Naming the store because I think they try and position themselves with their customer service. I had a small load of groceries — filled three reusable bags. Not a massive shopping trip.

As I wheeled up, the checker announced “We’re going to work as a team. I’m going to scan and you’re going to bag.” I said, “No thanks. I was counting on you to bag my items.” She then frowned and went silent for the duration of the transaction.

I’m physically able to bag my own groceries, and I did it without a second thought during the height of the pandemic when we were worried about contact. I’m happy to do it at Aldi or Lidl, where prices are cheaper because that’s part of the deal. But at a “full-price” regular grocery store, I don’t want to. I’m not getting a discount, and frankly I want to use those few minutes to check my email, send a quick text to someone, update my shopping list, mentally plan the evening scrum of sports/homework/dinner, or just veg out for a few blessed minutes. I don’t refill my own drink at restaurants, I don’t loosen the lug nuts on one wheel while my mechanic rotates the other, and I don’t pre-rake my leaves for the landscapers. I will smile and make small talk and say thank you and gratefully acknowledge their much-appreciated help. But I’m not interested in doing someone else’s job. I’m tired enough just doing my own.

Is bagging your own groceries when asked a thing now? AITA for objecting?

I would have bagged - cashiers make little money and have a boring but important job. What does it hurt to bag your own stuff?

Next time you see the sweeper at the store, offer to sweep a couple of aisles for them. They make little money and have and boring and important job too.

Fascinating. There are 2 types of people who live in this world - those who ask "what can I do to help?" and those who ask "what can you do for me?" You choose your own category, but I guess you're also the same person who leave their cups on shelves in stores, carts in parking lots, and expect people to clean up after you because... why should you pick up after yourself?

So, in a grocery store setting you ask "what can I do to help'? Do offer to help them shelve the cans, restock the produce? SMH. As a customer I know what my role is in a grocery store and that includes picking up after my self and corralling my own cart. If I want to bag my own groceries then I will chose to go to the self check out line. If i am in the cashier line then it is their job to bag.

You don't have to proactively help in every situation. But if someone indicates they could really use your help, it's a bit churlish to refuse. Like, you're within your rights, but you're not nice.

Meh. My grocery store has a checker with dwarfism and another with cerebral palsy who proudly do every part of their jobs without asking for help, even though most people would help them if asked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mid-morning weekday grocery shopping at Harris Teeter. Naming the time, because this wasn’t Monday night or Saturday morning — store was quiet and uncrowded, with no line behind me and other registers open. Naming the store because I think they try and position themselves with their customer service. I had a small load of groceries — filled three reusable bags. Not a massive shopping trip.

As I wheeled up, the checker announced “We’re going to work as a team. I’m going to scan and you’re going to bag.” I said, “No thanks. I was counting on you to bag my items.” She then frowned and went silent for the duration of the transaction.

I’m physically able to bag my own groceries, and I did it without a second thought during the height of the pandemic when we were worried about contact. I’m happy to do it at Aldi or Lidl, where prices are cheaper because that’s part of the deal. But at a “full-price” regular grocery store, I don’t want to. I’m not getting a discount, and frankly I want to use those few minutes to check my email, send a quick text to someone, update my shopping list, mentally plan the evening scrum of sports/homework/dinner, or just veg out for a few blessed minutes. I don’t refill my own drink at restaurants, I don’t loosen the lug nuts on one wheel while my mechanic rotates the other, and I don’t pre-rake my leaves for the landscapers. I will smile and make small talk and say thank you and gratefully acknowledge their much-appreciated help. But I’m not interested in doing someone else’s job. I’m tired enough just doing my own.

Is bagging your own groceries when asked a thing now? AITA for objecting?

I don’t know what the cashier’s earning, and I hope it’s a living wage (naive hope). That said, you weren’t the AH, she was, and as several others have noted, I would know immediately that the person being asked to bag her own purchases would be a woman, likely between 30 and 60. I hate that kind of sh!t and find it disturbingly sexist. If one can bag groceries for a man making valid purchases, that courtesy — that job requirement and duty, let me correct myself — should be granted without pert, obnoxious, manipulative little asides to everyone.

[Anonymous]

Cashier was rude but you are the a-hole. Why can’t you bag your own groceries? Americans are SO LAZY.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP was already cooperating by putting her items on the belt and paying for the transaction. That's one lazy cashier. Wonder if she pulled that with the male customers?

Actually there is no belt at HT. They take everything right out of the cart for you.

[Anonymous]

How old is everyone here all mad about cashiers not bagging because NGL, you all sound like my mother in law.

[Anonymous]

I’m 47 and bag my own groceries and I have to tell you, cashiers are almost always surprised and thank me for helping. I grew up in Europe and Canada.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had no idea that bagging groceries was so controversial. Or that there were so many DCUMers who think they’re above bagging their own groceries.

You know, virtually all supermarkets have self-checkout and cashier-checkout lanes. If you are willing and able to bag your own groceries, you go to the self-checkout lane. If you want full service, you go to the cashier lanes. It is part of the cashier's job description that they bag groceries.

A cashier can suggest or ask that you bag your groceries, but they should not command it or demand it like the OP's cashier did. Likewise, a customer can accept or decline a polite request. The cashier should have asked like "Are you comfortable bagging your own groceries?" or "Would you mind bagging your own groceries to help save some time?" But OP could have been more polite in declining.

It's not always about being above bagging. Can you tell who has arthritis in their wrists from looking? Can you tell who wants to watch the screen rather than bagging? Can you tell who prefers to stay on the other side of the plastic guard screen instead of coming around it to the end of the lane to bag? Can you tell who just finished a 12 hour shift at their own job and doesn't really want to do yours? There are many reasons why people would decline to bag. It is the cashier's job, so they should be willing to do that part of their job. It's as easy as that. I do even the unsavory and undesirable parts of my job because that's what I'm paid to do. I can ask someone to help with it, but if they decline, I still have to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's annoying but doesn't surprise me. Harris Teeter (at least the one near me) seems to have moved to a culture of people bagging their own groceries. It wasn't like that pre-Covid, but now it's in a gray area and I think a lot of cashiers have gotten used to people doing it.

One major issue is that Harris Teeter's checkouts are actually set up for there to be a bagger working alongside the checker, bagging groceries. But they don't staff them anymore. So now it's really awkward for everyone. The checker has a small area with plastic bags, but if you bring your own, your bag probably won't fit in that area, so they have to use the turn table thing and it's awkward. Alternatively, you can bag but you have to walk around the counter to the bagging area, which means you either have to go bag before coming back around to pay, or wait until you've paid and then go bag. Either way is not efficient and is awkward for the customer.

Which is why I do self checkout at HT, even when I'm a few items over. At least then there is no confusion and I can bag as I go because it's set up for that.

I like that at Trader Joe's, they always bag your items, their spaces are set up to accommodate you bringing your own bag, and there is no friction. For a while they wouldn't put groceries in your bags due to Covid, but now that people know you can't get Covid from a bag someone brought from home ( ), that's over, thankfully.

It never made sense though. If you can Covid from my bag you can also get Covid from ringing up all my items, every last one of which I had to touch to put it in my cart. So my germs are on every item, not just my bag.

OP, I think you did kind of sound like a jerk but I am still applauding you because I think you were right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I don’t know what the cashier’s earning, and I hope it’s a living wage (naive hope). That said, you weren’t the AH, she was, and as several others have noted, I would know immediately that the person being asked to bag her own purchases would be a woman, likely between 30 and 60. I hate that kind of sh!t and find it disturbingly sexist. If one can bag groceries for a man making valid purchases, that courtesy — that job requirement and duty, let me correct myself — should be granted without pert, obnoxious, manipulative little asides to everyone.

I happen to disagree with the concept that every job out there should be paying a living wage. Minimum wage jobs were never intended to be full support jobs. Minimum wage jobs were originally designed to be supplemental income. These jobs were for people who were in a household that already had one primary wage earner and they needed to supplement. Whether that was a SAH parent who needed extra income, a teen or dependent who wanted personal income, or even a primary earner who needed to earn money, these jobs were intended to augment household income. It was not intended to be one to raise oneself on. The fact that we are turning jobs like supermarket cashiers into full-time, personal or family support jobs is the concern. People should not be looking into these minimal wage, unskilled jobs to be primary support. For one thing, it means that it takes those opportunities away from people who do need the supplemental income and it also puts a higher burden on the employers and customers to support these individuals and possibly their families. If you are an adult that needs to support yourself or your family, a minimum wage job should be a stepping stone to something more rather than a career. Think, it is part of the journey, not the destination.

I think it is wrong to make minimum wage jobs into living wage jobs. I think what we need is free job training for individuals who need to support themselves or their families to advance beyond minimum wage positions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had no idea that bagging groceries was so controversial. Or that there were so many DCUMers who think they’re above bagging their own groceries.

You know, virtually all supermarkets have self-checkout and cashier-checkout lanes. If you are willing and able to bag your own groceries, you go to the self-checkout lane. If you want full service, you go to the cashier lanes. It is part of the cashier's job description that they bag groceries.

A cashier can suggest or ask that you bag your groceries, but they should not command it or demand it like the OP's cashier did. Likewise, a customer can accept or decline a polite request. The cashier should have asked like "Are you comfortable bagging your own groceries?" or "Would you mind bagging your own groceries to help save some time?" But OP could have been more polite in declining.

It's not always about being above bagging. Can you tell who has arthritis in their wrists from looking? Can you tell who wants to watch the screen rather than bagging? Can you tell who prefers to stay on the other side of the plastic guard screen instead of coming around it to the end of the lane to bag? Can you tell who just finished a 12 hour shift at their own job and doesn't really want to do yours? There are many reasons why people would decline to bag. It is the cashier's job, so they should be willing to do that part of their job. It's as easy as that. I do even the unsavory and undesirable parts of my job because that's what I'm paid to do. I can ask someone to help with it, but if they decline, I still have to do it.

If only there were actual cashier checkout lanes OPEN, this would be a fair choice. Since there is usually 1 or none, the stores are forcing people with full carts into self-checkout. I posted above--I don't mind bagging if given an appropriate size workspace to handle the amount of items I'm buying along with the reusable bags in sizes above those little plastics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I don’t know what the cashier’s earning, and I hope it’s a living wage (naive hope). That said, you weren’t the AH, she was, and as several others have noted, I would know immediately that the person being asked to bag her own purchases would be a woman, likely between 30 and 60. I hate that kind of sh!t and find it disturbingly sexist. If one can bag groceries for a man making valid purchases, that courtesy — that job requirement and duty, let me correct myself — should be granted without pert, obnoxious, manipulative little asides to everyone.

I happen to disagree with the concept that every job out there should be paying a living wage. Minimum wage jobs were never intended to be full support jobs. Minimum wage jobs were originally designed to be supplemental income. These jobs were for people who were in a household that already had one primary wage earner and they needed to supplement. Whether that was a SAH parent who needed extra income, a teen or dependent who wanted personal income, or even a primary earner who needed to earn money, these jobs were intended to augment household income. It was not intended to be one to raise oneself on. The fact that we are turning jobs like supermarket cashiers into full-time, personal or family support jobs is the concern. People should not be looking into these minimal wage, unskilled jobs to be primary support. For one thing, it means that it takes those opportunities away from people who do need the supplemental income and it also puts a higher burden on the employers and customers to support these individuals and possibly their families. If you are an adult that needs to support yourself or your family, a minimum wage job should be a stepping stone to something more rather than a career. Think, it is part of the journey, not the destination.

I think it is wrong to make minimum wage jobs into living wage jobs. I think what we need is free job training for individuals who need to support themselves or their families to advance beyond minimum wage positions.

Maybe not, but people are depending on them now. It's not like there are a ton of living wage positions that people are passing up because they want that sweet grocery bagging job. Salaries should reflect today's reality, not the 1950s.