General Chat

I can remember serving shops back in the 60s, going shopping every day with a sturdy bag, all the different shop keepers knew their customers by name and what they liked IE cauliflower with the leaves on, cuts of meat etc and you could pay at the end of the week, pay day.

Hi Sylvia back !!
We're lucky here too, the city pick up all composting that you want to put out for free (well you pay your house rates) from Spring to Fall, but I compost much of my garden waste myself too. Every week they pick up food waste for recycling, and no it doesn't have to smell awful even though we're having a REALLY hot summer and we stop the local wild life getting to it no problem ! =0)
We're lucky in that sometimes we get free plastic bags as we know most of the check out ladies well....well we do spend a small fortune there every week 2 teenagers and one pre-teen !!

Hi Caroline


we use reusable bags ....... until we start running out of plastic bags for the kitchen garbage container.


Then OH "forgets" the cotton ones ........ and we get a supply of plastic bags!

We buy milk in 2 litre cardboard cartons .......... and use those for all wet garbage that cannot be recycled or composted (the city does composting, but not everything can go in there).



sylvia

Toronto started making us pay for plastic bags, then this year they said they were free again BUT they will be banning them next year totally !!
Most of the stores here will pack your bags for you and like someone already said we try to load the belt so the bags will be filled correctly eg eggs last.....some people pack the bags really badly just one or two items almost in a bag and others are amazing totally maxing out the bags.
By banning the bags they are not saving anything, I now have to buy bags to put in my rubbish bins etc whereas I used to reuse the shopping bags....but I do reuse the bread bags and milk bags for the kitty litter.

Ann


you have to ask for paper bags ........... plastic is the standard.



Some cities are banning plastic bags ...................... expecting people to carry their own.

I'm laughing here, remembering being in the US.... double shock for the supermarket staff.........

I had my own bag........ and no, I didn't want to drive around and pick up, I was WALKING!!!!! :-D

Yes we have shopped in Canada and US and had our shopping packed, but the good thing was it was packed in the paper sacks, no plastic.

Cashiers in Oz pack groceries too. No problems using our own bags, the handles fit over the frame for the supermarket bags. Two frames set up, so they can keep things separate. I always think it's daft when they put something with a handle (like a bag of potatoes or a box of detergent) into a bag.

We've also got the self-serve ones, but after one episode of trying to weigh fruit & veg & gave up. We know many of the staff, so it's nice to have a chat.

We lived in Europe for a while, our apartment building was next to the supermarket. I would put the groceries back in the trolley, take the trolley around the corner, up in the lift to the apartment. No heavy bags to carry :-D

Shelly

ours do work fast!


not sure what the pay is like though!!


you're getting the littlie trained early :-D

wooow sylvia think we need your cashiers here in england
hows are to slow to catch a cold
most of the time we are packing and still waiting for goods to be scaned

little one that is almost 3 i stick him in the troly and he like to help put every think on the comvayerbelt

OH now does the grocery shopping on his own.

We do not pack our own bags ................ most grocery stores do not allow that here.


He has developed a system ...........

....... he puts the items in order on the conveyor belt ..................... so he makes sure that things like eggs, bread, etc etc are at the very end, so they arrive at the cashier last and so get put either on the top of a filled bag OR in their own bag.

Our cashiers scan and pack ............... that is what they are trained to do, and everything is pretty ergonomically arranged for them to be able to do it as fast as possible.

Some cashiers want the cart pushed round to their side so they can then place the packed bags into it. But mostly, they place the bags on a space on the other side of the pack stand, and the customer then places them in the cart.

If OH hands over our own reusable bags (sometimes forgets :-) ), they pack them, just as they would the plastic or paper ones.

For a short period of time after cotton bags became popular, we did have to pack our own ..................... but it took a lot more time because not even 2 of us packing together could keep up with the cashier!

They really do work that fast!

It was only a matter of weeks before the cashiers were doing it ........ I presume there had been a little bit of training involved.

Both he and I use the time while the cashier is scanning and packing to get out our wallets, open them, get out the store reward card, and then wait with open wallet to find out how much cash we have to hand over.




The one I do hate is the bus one ........... over here, we use either fare cards, fare tickets OR exact cash.

The ones who are really really annoying are the ones who have not got their cash sorted. They stop, dig in their bag for their purse, or in their pockets.

Oh dear, not got the right change, so search through the bag, their pockets, for bits of change, finally ask bus driver if he has any change (NO, they don't carry money) ................ and then walk down the bus asking other passengers if they can change a $5 note or whatever!

If someone takes too long to get their money sorted (more than about 30 seconds!), a bus driver will ask them to stand to one side and let all the other passengers get on.


I never leave the house without my fare ticket (or exact change) in an easily accessible pocket (or clutched in my hot little hand :-D )




sylvia

And what about the Self Service checkouts?????

Spend more time asking for help when 'unrecognised item' comes up!!!!!

For crying out loud, it was taken off their shelves surely they must know what they are selling!!!!!!


:-D

OH & I are fairly early risers, so try to get to the supermarket for around 9.15 when they open, but if we´re going to Lidl, we never go on Thursday because that´s the day the new stock arrives & it´s like a rugby scrum. Also we don´t go in the afternoon when the children are home from school because they seem to think the supermarkets are some form of adventure playground.
We´re not that old (honestly) but always feel we are being rushed at the checkout if we pack the bags as the stuff comes off, so now we just refill the trolley, pay the price & pack when we get back to the car.

We never accept the offer to pack for the same reason as Shelley, the same as when they have scouts etc packing, they put things in any old how. We keep separate bags for things like bread, meat, veg. We both pack and we keep up with the check out person. I can't imagine what would happen if check out people were told to pack as they scan, although I have seen it done occasionally.

my packing method is to reload the trolley, pay, then get to the car and pack the stuff in MY bags there .......no real fuss at all........LOL(unless its raining...)

that is, when I've remembered to take my bags in the first place,

I might sometimes grab a handful of free bags.......just to have some for bagging rubbish for the bin.....

Bob

Hate shopping

I do a biggish shop on Tuesday afternoon. I go to a class that finishes about 2.45, good time to go to the supermarket, it's not too busy. I'm always finished by 4.

We also go to the supermarket to pick up bits & pieces on Friday evening (after golf and a few "cool drinks") - usually about 7-8pm, and there's hardly anyone there then.

We're in a small town, only got one supermarket!

Berona

me and daughter want let the staff pack how shoping thay like to put the bread and egg at the bottom of the bag and put the tattos on top or the tin food

sorry not guilty for the bus stop one
carnt remember the last time a got on a bus


internet shoping no queueing no packing and no faffing about with handbags card or change

the only thing i dont like about shoping is slow people in front of me
that have all the time in the world to pack and pay :-(

I hope this thread is not seen by the powers who control the supermarket which advertises itself as 'the biggest' here in Oz. We just hand the checkout operator our bundle of bags and he/she packs as she swipes, whilst we have time to get out our money or cards, ready for when the total appears on the register screen.

I now purchase from them online, but previously, my biggest concern was people who stood to chat and leaned against the shelves - right in front of the item I wanted - then looked at me like I was guilty of interrupting their conversation when I either excused myself or tried to reach behind them.

I really dislike food shopping

Off the shelf into the trolley

Out of trolley onto the conveyor belt

Back into trolley

Out of trolley again into the car boot

Out of boot into cupboards

Boring :-\