A visit to the supermarket is usually a reasonably pleasant experience. We have been going to the same one for a number of years and have got a routine that includes coffee, a sandwich and a read of the paper before starting to shop.
With hubby and his OCD you can imagine that stacking out onto the conveyor belt is organised but with two of us it is not a long job. We have usually finished by the time the previous customer is moving off. Now normally, the cashier waits for everything to be stacked so that you can move you trolley to the other end to repack it into your bags.
On this particular day, we were still sorting out the last few items when we realised that she had started ringing our shopping up. We hurried with last few bits and got ourselves to the right end, scrabbling to get our bags out of the trolley. We are usually asked if we are OK with packing or do we need help. Obviously we say no we are fine but it is good to be asked.
There was nothing like that and our shopping was building into quite a pile as we tried to ‘catch up’. I mentioned that we needed things to be slower to which the reply came ‘When there’s two they usually like it to be fast’. The ‘they’ she was referring to was customers not the shop so I presumed she would now slow down as we clearly were not one of those ‘fast’ couples.
My presumption was in vain. She just carried on at the same pace. The egg box that hubby had so carefully checked was bundled down on its side, bananas heavily propelled towards tomatoes and I was just able to grab a bottle of wine that was about to wobble over. The whole experience was unpleasant and very stressful.
I’m not one for ‘formal’ complaints, preferring to come here and grumble to you Dear Reader but on this occasion I decided that I didn’t want anyone else to feel like I did. My heart was really thumping from anger and the exercise I had just under gone!
The supervisor was very apologetic but of course I have no idea if anything was said to the cashier. Interestingly she did ask hubby to pass on her apologies ‘if I have upset your wife. She may be going to complain’. If she knew she had why not apologize and SLOW DOWN with the shopping!
This post is for the letter ‘I’ over at Jenny Matlock’s blog.
Julia's Place 
It could be worse… here they pack it for you whether you want them to or not. Heaven help you if the “box boy/girl” is in a snit! I had one on finding a few small jars that she’d missed pick them up and throw them forcefully into the bag. Luckily for her nothing was broken, but I was young then and didn’t complain. I should have. I’m glad you said something, Julia.
Well, it was the thought of an elderly couple going through the same experience
That’s so irritating! I have anxiety, and that would have just driven me up the wall.
It can test the most patient of us!
I can relate. It seems like everyone is in a hurry these days, whether it’s warranted or not!
🙂 🙂 🙂
gosh, there’s so many I words that fit your experience! Yes, when you a usual grocery store here, they won’t wait for you. Ever! The cashier packs too. We have to be very fast and show the cashier we have our own bags, if we don’t want plastic. {:-Deb
Doesn’t sound a pleasant experience!
Great I usage♫ Here’s my effort for I: http://lmkazmierczak.blogspot.com/2013/01/ironic-post.html
Thanks for visiting!
I can’t get baggers to balance the bags — I ask them please not to bag the Milk and 1/2 gallon Apple Juice in the same bag. But if I get distracted by the cashier, she loads them together anyway, and likely has added a couple of cans to the heavy bag, and put the peanut butter in another bag by itself!
There is an art to bag packing!
I don’t think anyone teaches it anymore!
I can relate to your post – I always get really stressed at Aldi cause they rush everything through so quickly that I can’t keep up!
Maybe they hope you will need to replace to goods they have ruined!
I like your “I” word, Julia. 🙂 Sorry all that had to happen to you. Our Kroger kids are sooooo considerate, we never hear complaints. They even offer to carry out a person’s groceries with even though there is a “no tips allowed” policy.
..
It is not very typical which always makes it worse I think!
This kind of stuff always ticks me off.
Or when they throw my apples down.
Or put the bread on the bottom.
Grrrrr.
I try to just pack my own groceries whenever I can…and I’ve noticed many of the whole food markets seem to be more considerate!
Sorry for your irritation!
Thanks for sharing it, though!
A+
We’re lucky here. Both of our big supermarkets have really nice checkout people. Their packing skills vary, but none of them are awful and some are really skillful. It’s like doing a jigsaw puzzle in 3D — I’m not myself a great packer so I do appreciate those checkers who are.
Maybe that particular checker, as we say (don’t know if you have the same expression) “got up on the wrong side of the bed.”