Strange habits you have

[1995hoo]

The cashier passes them down to the bagger, then starts scanning the items. The bagger knows what to do from there. (I would imagine cardboard boxes might take slightly more explanation due to the novelty but I doubt it would cause a problem.)

He has to look ... and figure out how best to fit things in.

In theory, yes.  In practice, they'd probably just toss stuff in there and then wonder what to do when they run out of room.  Let's be honest, they can barely handle paper bags.  It's pathetic enough that I choose my checkout lane based on who the bagger is, not based on how short the line is.

Crest must hire smarter baggers than Dillon's. Usually they manage to fit all the groceries in my bags without a problem. In the cases I haven't brought enough bags to cover the groceries (because I forgot to put them all back in the car, or because one still has stuff in it from a previous trip that I haven't bothered to put away yet), then they ask if I want paper or plastic for the rest.

I also use a trick my mom taught me to ensure that I don't have conflict with the baggers–put the heaviest items on the belt first (so they are guaranteed to end up at the bottom of the bags), then frozen and refrigerated items (so they end up in the bags together and can keep each other cold, and also so you know what to put away first), then everything else, then finally the fragile things like produce and such last (so that it has no other place to end up but on top of the bags).

I have a slightly different system: I put the insulated bags on the belt with the frozen and refrigerated items so they'll put those in the insulated bags, then I put most other stuff next, then eggs and chips next-to-last, and then wine or beer last (this because Wegmans cards everyone and it's easiest to leave that until the end, and the wine goes in a separate wine bag anyway).

Wegmans' cashiers and bagboys seem to do a pretty good job of sorting things into the different reusable bags. Some of them do sometimes put too much heavy stuff in one bag, but that's life; I can always rearrange at the car if needed. (Like everyone else, of course, I've come to recognize certain cashiers I know to be better than others and I will try to go to their lanes if the line isn't too long.)

[J N Winkler]

I go to Dillons with three cloth reusable bags we ordered from Amazon.  They are a cut above giveaway reusables in quality, with thicker fabric, so I spread them out on the front bottom of the cart to make a bed for produce to ride in without bruising.  At checkout my biggest challenge is unloading this bed as soon as I gain access to the conveyor belt, so I can hold the bags up to get the bagger's attention.  If there isn't someone ahead of me to slow the cashier and bagger down, I often wind up in a situation where the bagger starts with plastic and then has to unpack and re-bag with the reusables.

[GaryV]

What's a bagger?  I haven't seen one of those in years.  (Not counting my wife who bags as I scan in the self-serve lane.)

In full service lines at Meijer, there is a carousel of plastic bag holders that the cashier fills as she (it's usually a she) scans.

Because of Covid, Meijer won't let us use our reuse fabric bags.  They said we might be bring germs into the store.

[kphoger]

Because of Covid, Meijer won't let us use our reuse fabric bags.  They said we might be bring germs into the store.

Yeah, I seriously doubt most people clean their reusable bags nearly as often as they should–if at all.

[GaryV]

Because of Covid, Meijer won't let us use our reuse fabric bags.  They said we might be bring germs into the store.

Yeah, I seriously doubt most people clean their reusable bags nearly as often as they should–if at all.

Except it's been pretty well established that the virus doesn't live on surfaces for long.  Certainly not as long as trips to the store, unless you go every day.

[Rothman]

Because of Covid, Meijer won't let us use our reuse fabric bags.  They said we might be bring germs into the store.

Yeah, I seriously doubt most people clean their reusable bags nearly as often as they should–if at all.

Except it's been pretty well established that the virus doesn't live on surfaces for long.  Certainly not as long as trips to the store, unless you go every day.

Just wear a mask, wash your hands and stay away from other people.

[jakeroot]

What's a bagger?  I haven't seen one of those in years.  (Not counting my wife who bags as I scan in the self-serve lane.)

In full service lines at Meijer, there is a carousel of plastic bag holders that the cashier fills as she (it's usually a she) scans.

Because of Covid, Meijer won't let us use our reuse fabric bags.  They said we might be bring germs into the store.

I only see baggers regularly at Albertsons (and thus Safeway & Vons as well) and the military commissaries. In the case of the former, it's random and sometimes still done by the cashier, but you get part-time staff helping out on occasion. In the case of the latter, it's a full blown industry where they help you to your car and you usually tip them. I haven't been to a commissary for a little bit, but I've not heard of this practice halting during COVID.

My local Thriftway store had banned reusable bags for a while, eliminating the paper bag fee to further incentivize it, but have started allowing them again but only in the self checkout lines. This does make sense, and if you're like me and walk or ride a bike to the store, it makes a big difference as the paper bags are really only good for short trips.

[kphoger]

Except it's been pretty well established that the virus doesn't live on surfaces for long.  Certainly not as long as trips to the store, unless you go every day.

No, but...

1.  If you unwittingly have COVID, then you could theoretically pass your own germs on to the bagger by way of the bag.  Fairly unlikely, of course, but in the beginning of all this, businesses took a lot of steps that–even if they didn't make people actually safer, at least made them feel safer.  It's the same reason, I suppose, my local Taco Bell puts the drive-through receipt in a plastic dish as a means of transfer rather than just handing it to me.  Actual benefit?  No.  Perceived benefit?  Probably.

2.  Coronavirus isn't the only germ.  I wonder how many food-borne grossness is in the bottom of a typical reusable grocery bag after four months of non-washing.

[Scott5114]

I go to Dillons with three cloth reusable bags we ordered from Amazon.  They are a cut above giveaway reusables in quality, with thicker fabric, so I spread them out on the front bottom of the cart to make a bed for produce to ride in without bruising.  At checkout my biggest challenge is unloading this bed as soon as I gain access to the conveyor belt, so I can hold the bags up to get the bagger's attention.

My usual strategy is to keep the produce in the fold-up child-seat area to keep it separated from the rest of the groceries. When I am ready to check out, I find an unobtrusive area where I'm not in the way, and fish out the bags before approaching the checkout lines.

Because of Covid, Meijer won't let us use our reuse fabric bags.  They said we might be bring germs into the store.

At this point, if my store wouldn't allow reusable bags, I wouldn't allow them to sell me groceries.

[wanderer2575]

Because of Covid, Meijer won't let us use our reuse fabric bags.  They said we might be bring germs into the store.

Yeah, I seriously doubt most people clean their reusable bags nearly as often as they should–if at all.

Kroger allows me to use my own fabric bags, but I have to keep them off the conveyor belts and I have to bag the groceries myself.  I'm fine with that.

[hbelkins]

Aldi's

No such store.

FTFY... 

There was a whole Twitter trend on this topic the other day. When Biden was in Michigan, he made reference to Meijers. Some were pointing out that the store is actually named "Meijer" while others were praising him for looking into the local vernacular and using it, since so many call it Meijers (or Meijer's, if you prefer) and talking about how people call it Krogers.

I still hear people refer to that big Arkansas-based retailer as Wal-Mart's. Its official name, of course, is now "Walmart" with no hyphen.

[kenarmy]

- I untie my shoes when I take them off because my dad told me a long time ago it was lazy.

- I NEVER step over brooms

- When my deodorant gets low, I take the thing out and rub it on my shirt.

- I listen to "Oh" by Ciara and Ludacris everyday.

- When I see strings on couch pillows, I pull it off and twist it with another string.

- Embarrassing but when the law and order theme comes on, I dance to it. (unless someone is watching)

[kurumi]

I record the occasional demo of new features our team is developing for internal use. Most people just dive right in after a title page and narrate while they use the feature and record the screen. My demos always start with a title page and about 4 bars of custom music I compose in GarageBand (don't touch a real instrument for it) and it's almost always in odd meter (7/4, 11/8, etc.)

[GaryV]

Except it's been pretty well established that the virus doesn't live on surfaces for long.  Certainly not as long as trips to the store, unless you go every day.

No, but...

1.  If you unwittingly have COVID, then you could theoretically pass your own germs on to the bagger by way of the bag.  Fairly unlikely, of course, but in the beginning of all this, businesses took a lot of steps that–even if they didn't make people actually safer, at least made them feel safer.  It's the same reason, I suppose, my local Taco Bell puts the drive-through receipt in a plastic dish as a means of transfer rather than just handing it to me.  Actual benefit?  No.  Perceived benefit?  Probably.

2.  Coronavirus isn't the only germ.  I wonder how many food-borne grossness is in the bottom of a typical reusable grocery bag after four months of non-washing.

!.  We're using the self-checkout.  No clerk or bagger.

2.  Then why did they ever allow any reusable bags?

Because of Covid, Meijer won't let us use our reuse fabric bags.  They said we might be bring germs into the store.

At this point, if my store wouldn't allow reusable bags, I wouldn't allow them to sell me groceries.

At this point, the store is much better than the other local option that is regularly slagged on neighborhood websites for not enforcing masks.

Edit:  And by the way, it was originally called "Meijer's".  Granted, they took off the apostrophe-s 3 decades ago, but memory lingers on.

[kphoger]

- I untie my shoes when I take them off because my dad told me a long time ago it was lazy.

This is the normal procedure for taking off shoes.

2.  Then why did they ever allow any reusable bags?

I'm not saying that non-coronavirus germs are actually a reason some stores still aren't allowing reusable bags.  I'm just saying it might actually be a halfway decent reason for them not to.

In order of descending snarkiness, possible answers to "why did they ever allow" are (a) that left-wing shoppers would boycott them if they didn't, and they don't want to lose out on that revenue;  (b) or they included it in their corporate responsibility report so their shareholders would feel warm and fuzzy inside;  (c) or because, in the beginning, the people in charge hadn't realized reusable cloth bags are actually worse for the environment than disposable plastic bags, and they genuinely wanted to do the right thing.

But, at any rate, we all simply weren't as worried about any germs back then as we are now.  I wouldn't be surprised if businesses became more hygiene-concerned even if the coronavirus were completely eradicated.  Who knows?



Does anyone have what I'll call step-symmetry habits?  Let me explain...

If I'm walking along a sidewalk, and my right foot lands on more than one or two cracks in a row, I feel a slight urge to even things out by stepping on a crack with my left foot.  The same goes for gradual inclines/declines with stair steps every so often:  I prefer to step up or down with each foot roughly the same number of times.  This is by no means a Monk-worthy compulsion, but it's a feeling nonetheless, and I'll often slightly adjust my stride to keep things more or less "even".

And, while I'm on the subject of feet...  Even though I'm right-handed, I prefer to leap with my left foot first:  jumping down from a platform, running hurdles, etc.  It's my impression that most people prefer to lead with their dominant-side foot, but I'm the opposite.  Landing on my right foot actually feels like landing on the "weak" foot, even though that's my dominant side.

[jakeroot]

In order of descending snarkiness, possible answers to "why did they ever allow" are (a) that left-wing shoppers would boycott them if they didn't, and they don't want to lose out on that revenue;  (b) or they included it in their corporate responsibility report so their shareholders would feel warm and fuzzy inside;  (c) or because, in the beginning, the people in charge hadn't realized reusable cloth bags are actually worse for the environment than disposable plastic bags, and they genuinely wanted to do the right thing.

Another may be (d) local legislation; plastic bag bans have meant that paper bags are the only option in some areas, and it may be harder to source the number of paper bags required to sufficiently replace plastic bags. So naturally the option became "just bring your own bag".

I think (c), even before, is a bit misleading. Cotton bags take a very long time to become "better" for the environment, but unless people throw them away after 170+ uses^[1], they'll still be better for the environment.

Polypropylene bags are pretty incredible.

[webny99]

- I untie my shoes when I take them off because my dad told me a long time ago it was lazy.

This is the normal procedure for taking off shoes.

I wonder if the wording was backwards there. Wouldn't it be lazy not to untie them?

I should know, because I've been accused of being lazy with my shoes. I simply treat tie-up shoes as better-looking slip-ons. Both my sneakers and my casual tie-ups that I wear every day stay tied up permanently unless they accidentally come untied.

Does anyone have what I'll call step-symmetry habits?  Let me explain... ...

And, while I'm on the subject of feet...  Even though I'm right-handed, I prefer to leap with my left foot first:  jumping down from a platform, running hurdles, etc.  It's my impression that most people prefer to lead with their dominant-side foot, but I'm the opposite.  Landing on my right foot actually feels like landing on the "weak" foot, even though that's my dominant side.

This is not exactly related to what you're describing, but when eating, I always cut things with my knife in my right hand, and then swap (knife in the left hand) to eat. I thought this was normal until one of my peers in school pointed out that she did this as well, and everyone else said they have the knife in their right hand for both functions.

[frankenroad]

One of my chores growing up was, every so often, to empty the aluminum recycling bin onto the garage floor, stand all of the cans up, stomp them flat, and put them all back in the bin.  Even though we don't recycle at our house, I still feel the need to flatten the cans.  I suppose it also comes from remembering the old slogan "reduce, reuse, recycle".  I always assumed the "reduce" part meant "make your trash as physically small as possible", but it occurs to me as I type this that it might have actually meant "reduce the amount of stuff you throw away to begin with".

My dad was an advocate of this philosophy.  He lived alone after my Mom died, and would crush all his beer cans once a week - probably a dozen or so each week.   He actually had a fatal heart attack while doing this weekly chore, so his body was found amid a sea of beer cans, some crushed, some not.   My sisters and I think it was both funny and fitting, as anyone who knew my Dad would agree.

[1995hoo]

This is not exactly related to what you're describing, but when eating, I always cut things with my knife in my right hand, and then swap (knife in the left hand) to eat. I thought this was normal until one of my peers in school pointed out that she did this as well, and everyone else said they have the knife in their right hand for both functions.

What you describe (switching the utensils back and forth constantly) is considered normal by most Americans. American formal dining etiquette has you hold the fork in your right hand when you lift it to your mouth, whereas British and Australian etiquette is to keep it in your left hand. The American style is kind of inexplicable because it means constantly swapping the utensils throughout the meal unless you cut your food into pieces all at once, but that's also considered poor formal dining etiquette.

[kenarmy]

- I untie my shoes when I take them off because my dad told me a long time ago it was lazy.

This is the normal procedure for taking off shoes.

I wonder if the wording was backwards there. Wouldn't it be lazy not to untie them?

I should know, because I've been accused of being lazy with my shoes. I simply treat tie-up shoes as better-looking slip-ons. Both my sneakers and my casual tie-ups that I wear every day stay tied up permanently unless they accidentally come untied.

Does anyone have what I'll call step-symmetry habits?  Let me explain... ...

And, while I'm on the subject of feet...  Even though I'm right-handed, I prefer to leap with my left foot first:  jumping down from a platform, running hurdles, etc.  It's my impression that most people prefer to lead with their dominant-side foot, but I'm the opposite.  Landing on my right foot actually feels like landing on the "weak" foot, even though that's my dominant side.

Yeah, I had it worded backwards. I also prefer using my left foot for actions even though I'm right handed. But I almost never see people untie shoes when they take them off, unless the shoe is tight.

[kphoger]

This is not exactly related to what you're describing, but when eating, I always cut things with my knife in my right hand, and then swap (knife in the left hand) to eat. I thought this was normal until one of my peers in school pointed out that she did this as well, and everyone else said they have the knife in their right hand for both functions.

What you describe (switching the utensils back and forth constantly) is considered normal by most Americans. American formal dining etiquette has you hold the fork in your right hand when you lift it to your mouth, whereas British and Australian etiquette is to keep it in your left hand. The American style is kind of inexplicable because it means constantly swapping the utensils throughout the meal unless you cut your food into pieces all at once, but that's also considered poor formal dining etiquette.

Yep.  It's normal for Americans to not use a knife for anything except for cutting.  But for us weirdos who use both fork and knife to eat already-cut-up food, it's normal-ish to keep the knife in the left hand.  Normal practice in Europe is to eat with your left hand, cut with your right hand, and just keep them in those hands the whole time.

I've had conversations about this topic with various Europeans over the years.

[webny99]

I'm trying to picture abandoning my knife and using only a fork for eating, and... it isn't going well. It sounds pretty coarse and sloppy, which I guess does fit with a certain brand of Americanism, but I still have a hard time believe that most Americans don't use a knife to eat.

[kphoger]

I'm trying to picture abandoning my knife and using only a fork for eating, and... it isn't going well. It sounds pretty coarse and sloppy, which I guess does fit with a certain brand of Americanism, but I still have a hard time believe that most Americans don't use a knife to eat.

Haven't you been to a restaurant where they don't even give you one?

[webny99]

I'm trying to picture abandoning my knife and using only a fork for eating, and... it isn't going well. It sounds pretty coarse and sloppy, which I guess does fit with a certain brand of Americanism, but I still have a hard time believe that most Americans don't use a knife to eat.

Haven't you been to a restaurant where they don't even give you one?

I don't think so, no. But then again, I never went to proper sit-down restaurants that much, and haven't at all in the past year or so.

Come to think of it, maybe there are some things that I usually eat without a knife. Cake would be one. I'm sure more will occur to me as I think about it.

[1995hoo]

Oftentimes I don't use my knife much, if at all, when I'm eating seafood. It flakes apart well enough that fork is sufficient.