A Supermarket Rant That Might Get Me Flamed

[matcom]

but i don't care.

RANT #1: The Elderly

ok. can all the elderly out there who are retirees (i know some have to work)... let's say 70 or older ... PLEASE do your food shopping lets say BEFORE 3:00 in the weekday afternoons? some of us have a full time job, AND run a business and are trying to pick up a few things on our way home from work before the dog shits all over the new hardwood floors.

i KNOW you don't get around very well, see very well, have ailments, etc... which is EXACTLY why i beg you to shop during the off-peak period! i mean the DAMN store even gives you an extra 10% off each and every Tuesday morning! don't you want the savings?

PLEASE don't clog up the isles with your carts whilst talking with your other WWII buddies about the good old days. hell, you just LEFT your buddies at the VFW a couple hours ago! and you elderly ladies are SO cute but does it really take you 10 minutes to find the PERFECT TOMATO?

and as we FINALLY meander up to the checkout line, we would LOVE it if you would trust your bank enough to get a CHECK CARD! the days of writing checks for your purchases are long gone and wouldn't it be easier BECAUSE YOU DON'T SEE SO GOOD ANYWAYS?

RANT #2: THE STORE

look good folk at the supermarket. you just KNOW that between 4 and 6:00pm during the week is going to be busy. WOULD IT KILL YOU TO HAVE MORE THAN ONE DELI PERSON ON OR MORE THAN 4 CHECKOUT LANES OPEN? why oh why do i have to dig out my check card, "discount card" and hit the right payment keys and THEN BAG MY OWN GROCERIES CAUSE THERE AREN'T ENOUGH PEOPLE WORKING?? i KNOW you aren't short staffed because i have seen ALL lanes open before (and yes, during the week even) but EVERY DAMN TIME THE STORE IS CLOGGED IT IS DURING THE WEEKDAY AFTERNOONS, LATE, AND YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE PISSED.

</end rant>

FLAME AWAY!

[Richardo]

1. "Call this an unfair generalization of you will...

...but old people are no good at EVERYTHING!" - Moe Sizlak

[GOPisEvil]

2. Oh yeah, you, with no job, who eats lunch at noon, crowding the eateries..

..CAN YOU EAT AT 1:00 PLEASE?!?!?! Some of us have jobs to get back to!!!

Thank you.

</end additional rant>

[LuLu550]

3. I'd flame you but

I am way too old, and I might be too slow and get in the way of some younger, quicker flamer who is sooooo busy that he/she doesn't have time to wait for me to finish my rant....
I have to take my time and fondle the verbs and nouns before I put them down on paper....

[mndemocrat_29]

4. OK

As a former grocery store employee, I both agree and disagree with you. I'd love to have more workers working different shifts. However, there aren't always people to fill those shifts (However, at my old grocery store, we did bag the customers groceries).

[VelmaD]

5. And can I just add...

read the goddamn sign over the express lane. If it says "10 items or less" and you have 11 items then DON'T GET IN THE FUCKING EXPRESS LANE. Argh! Learn to freakin' count.

<end of rant>

[liberalhistorian]

17. Why do the express lanes ALWAYS take

longer than the regular lanes? People are always bringing in more items than are allowed and then spend forever arguing about it with the cashier, or they're little old ladies with five million coupons for every single fucking item in their cart, even if it's just 79 cents or so, and we have to wait while they dig them all out!

[SoCalDem]

27. The payment (end of transaction) takes the longest

You are usually better off to be the 2nd or 3rd person in a regular line, even if the folks in front have baskets full, than to be the 7th or 8th in an express line.. Lots of stores put new people on express lines (no checks to screw up, and smaller dollar amounts),, express lines are famous for never having box people nearby to check prices or help customers with bagging..

A fast checker and a savvy customer can be in and out in no time..

Best time to shop is after midnight :).. When F4L was open 24/7, I used to shop at about 3 am.. park right in front, security guard to carry my stuff to the car.. no crowds :):)

[w13rd0]

6. Consider yourself fortunate...

...here in Saint Louis, we're going on our third week of the grocer worker union strike...

[bluefire2000]

7. come on, no mention of the 'express checkout'?

And the idiots who have 18 items in the 10 items or less line, and pay with a check?

[ScreamingMeemie]

8. I write checks...and I am relatively young.

I used to work in a bank and check cards can spell disaster. So I like to have a paper trail.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

9. 1 and 1

r.e. Rant #1: Cut them some slack. They've earned the right to take it slow and easy. They really don't mean to get in your way. I waited 45 seconds or so for an elderly lady to check milk dates at the store before I could get into the case myself. OK, I was grumbling under my breath, but I did later realize that the problem was my impatience, not her slowness. As for the check/debit card, I think some old folks have a zone of comfort that includes writing checks (however, I have been known to be impatient when someone, young or old, doesn't even dig out their checkbook and open it up and begin writing until after the total has been rung up).

r.e. Rant #2: I agree absolutely. I'm sure that whatever grocery you shop at brags to their stockholders about "increased productivity", which in my mind means that they understaff the store.

[matcom]

13. duly noted.....

buy my rant stands :D

on edit: YES they have earned. i just would like them to EXCERCISE it on weekday mornings

:P:P

[DBoon]

10. Old people are OK

They don't buy lots, so I try to get behind them in checkout.

What I try to avoid are folks with lots of kids who look like they are buying for a small army, then have a stack full of coupons to boot.

What they ought to have are separate lanes for really massive purchases, staffed with multiple baggers.

The "10 items or less" is a good idea, should also be a "50 items or more" lane.

[Racenut20]

11. I don't know how I ever Friggin lived without U to tell me how....

Thanks

[felonious thunk]

12. Also, if you aren't good with computers and technology

Please, please, for the love of all that is holy, please, leave the self-checkout lanes to those of us who are.

on edit: This plea applies to both old and young.

[Liberal Veteran]

53. Amen! It never ceases to amaze me when computer illiterate customers...

...bring 15 items to the self scan checkout and spends 20 minutes getting the person supervising 4 different lanes to help them with EVERY SINGLE ITEM!

GRRR!!!!! And it's always friggin produce with no code!

[Nay]

14. I'll sure talk about the checkout lane problem...

For chrissakes, have a bagger at every open lane! You are wasting the cashier's time and our time if she has to bag every order she rings! And it's not good enough to have one bagger for every 4 - 5 cashiers.

Secondly, would it kill you as managers to OBSERVE your baggers and either motivate, train, or FIRE the ones who bag so slowly that you might as well let the cashier do it?? And when you get a good employee, PAY 'EM A LOT MORE. That's how the capitalist system works, in case you didn't know.

[liberalhistorian]

15. What I hate is at 10 p.m.

on a Saturday night, when NO ONE is at the store except a few people like me who have no life, EVERY SINGLE CHECK-OUT LANE IS OPEN AND STAFFED! Yet, during the peak periods, we're lucky to have three or four out of the eighteen lanes open.

And the self-scan check-outs are even worse, I ALWAYS seem to have problems with them that one of the staff has to come and help me with (it won't ring up something right, etc.). And because there are the self-scan check-out lanes, the majority of the staff thinks they don't have to do anything and they stand around yakking while you're trying to figure out yet ANOTHER problem with the fucking self-scan lane. And just TRY to get anyone's attention, you might as well try to call Santa Claus.

And speaking of the elderly-WHY do they ALWAYS have to have five million coupons for every single item in their cart, that they then take forever to find and expect everyone backed up behind them to just wait until next Christmas while they find them?????????????

[BlueJazz]

22. Five Million Coupons for every single item.......

ROTFLMAO!!!

It does seem that way, Doesn't it ??

[Rowdyboy]

33. I think its sort of a "social security income" thing...If they want to eat

they use all the coupons they can, so I try to be really patient. Medicine eats up their income.Come on guys, have a heart...its only time.

[underpants]

16. You shouldn't be upset

Old people are really easy to push down (especially when there is no one there to see it)

and

I LOVE THE SELF CHECKOUT LANES!

[matcom]

18. SNARF*****

yeah, they DO look pretty light

:bounce:

[jarab]

19. The elderly/retired can

shop anytime they want.
I'll work my schedule around all of them. There have to be some rewards in getting old.
...O...

[Uzybone]

44. Amen to that

When I get old (Lord willing) dont want "younguns" telling me where Im supposed to be at any time.

[Skittles]

60. I AGREE

I don't get upset with the elderly. I figure, if they've survived THIS LONG ON THIS FRICKING PLANET, they WAY deserve respect! I don't,. however, have much patience for the bratty little f***ing kids that infest every g.d. supermarket I've ever beee in

[REP]

63. The Old Can Be Dealt With

It's the people with children who get in the way and try to force you to notice how cyuuuute their toddlingthing is. It isn't, and I don't want to see, hear or smell it, and get it the fuck out of my way NOW.

[LuLu550]

20. Have you ever thought about going shopping

really early or really late? Old people sleep in and never drive after dark, you know.

[SiobhanClancy]

21. Old people,moms with little kids,slow people...

people with coupons,people who write checks,people who change their minds about things at the checkout and want to go get something else,price checks,cashiers who have to wait for the manager to bring change,cashiers talking to other cashiers and not working,no baggers,bad baggers,cashiers on cell phones,customers on cell phones,etc etc etc....all reasons why I use Peapod:)

[SoCalDem]

29. What is Peapod??

:shrug:

[SiobhanClancy]

30. Online grocery ordering...

www.peapod.com
They aren't available everywhere,but I get really good service from them...plus I have a neighborhood market I can walk to to get my meat(old fashioned meat counter,really good). I don't like to buy meat sight unseen.

[alwynsw]

23. I'll beat you with my cane

Right after I have a tall, icy Geritol.

I used to live within a couple of miles of Sun City, AZ. The horror stories I could tell you about Albert the Snowbird... "he's as happy a a mole. In his big RV he can barely see, with his eyes blind as a mole. He'll never miss a siingle chance to crowd the malls and shops..." (To the tune of Frosty the Snowman)

You get the idea. "HURRY UP! It's 7:00 we've got to get out to the flea market before the good stuff is gone!" HURRY UP! "It's almost 5:00. We've got to get back to the RV park in time for the news."

Trust me. Go to any snowbird destination and you'll see ample evidence of this behavior.

If I EVER pull those stunts, take me out and shoot me.

P.S. I'm retired. I eat when I feel like it, usually at odd hours. We shop at odd hours, we travel off-peak. Are we being courteous? Partly.We also hate the lemming rush that so many retirees seem to be engaged in.

[nono]

28. You said that right

I hate crowds, and a fast pace.

[XNASA]

24. That's too bad, 'cause my supermarket rocks.

Seriously, I'm never bothered by going to the supermarket. In fact, I kinda of enjoy it.

Great service and selection and always good produce, meats, bakery and deli items.

And............we can buy beer, wine and liquor at our supermarket, except for Sundays before noon.

Guess you might have to move.

[JVS]

25. Amen. What the hell is wrong with those geezers?

How can it take them so long to get their medications, metamucil and the cat-food that they will be eating for the next week and get the hell out of the way?

;-) /sarcasm off

On edit: Maybe if we cut their benefits they won't be able to afford so much that they clog our stores ;-)

[liberalhistorian]

46. If their benefits are cut any more

they'll have to eat at homeless shelter soup kitchens!

[Mountainman]

26. You too will get old

We have a mall here that caters to the young crowd. I don't go there much because there aren't any book stores or any other stores that have things I'd buy.

Maybe you could get the grocery chains to not carry items old fogies like me want and then we wouldn't go there and wouldn't get in you way.

[liberalmuse]

31. We'll be 'them' before long...

it's not the elderly that bug me. I love talking to old folks, and besides, I'm just about there with them. I understand that when you're 80 years old, you're going to be a little slow. It's the stores that provide the STUPID humungous car/carts for the kiddies. My god, they block the entire aisle, especially when the parents park them crosswise because they have to attend to one of their 6 kids. Try living in Salt Lake--I've never seen so many kids in my life--and I like kids, just not oodles of toddlers running amok at the store--they scare me because they poke you in the worst places with stuff. In Vegas, what bothered me is the entire extended family would go shopping--I'd have to go through mom, dad, cousins, 2nd cousins, aunts, uncles and grandpa just to grab a pack of toilet paper off the rack. Here, it's the kids and the car/carts.

[matcom]

32. did a 4 years 'Sentence' in SLC

working for AmEx

couldn't WAIT to move out of there.

[Rowdyboy]

34. Suburban women ,with aisle blocking carts, chatting while

their children run wildly through the store, threatening the safety of old people and those on walkers-thats my peeve.

Also, people on cell phones, who totally ignore the cashier, treating them like inanimate objects. Its just plain rude. But I have a more generalized hatred of cell phones-they're evil and are hastening the end of civil society.

[geniph]

45. A big ditto to both of those, Rowdyboy

People who block the aisles and act unconscious of the fact that there are OTHER SHOPPERS in the store make me crazy.

And cell phones are the sign of impending doom. I truly hate them.

[Dookus]

35. my peeve....

is the "team shoppers". One gets in the checkout lane while the other continues shopping, running back to drop off stuff.

If you're not finished shopping, DON'T GET IN THE FUCKING LINE!!!

[cmf]

36. Old folks don't bother me, it's the parents with a bazillion children

I usually shop at the commissary on my husband's navy base. I avoid paydays at the commissary like the plague, because every mom with 12 children is sure to be there. They scream, they cry, they run in front of your cart. Some of the *really* good parents spank the children in the aisle. Compared to that, the retirees don't bother me at all. They all know the commissary rules and follow them. They might be slower, but the commissary is a slow place. You can't get out of there in less than an hour no matter what.

[SoCalDem]

37. Our commissary had a giant floor to ceiling "cage"

between the entrance & exit doors.. Moms had to check in all kids under 10.. After the moms checked out, they went and claimed their kids..

[cmf]

42. I wonder if I put "rugrat cage"

on the product request form, would they honor it? That would be great! What base is that? Sounds awesome!

[SoCalDem]

62. Alas, it's long gone.. Ft Clayton..Panama

:( I always wanted to take my boys down there to see where I grew up, but I waited too long.. Boys are grown men, and Panama now belongs to the Panamanians again..

[Wwagsthedog]

38. Flame on you

n/t

[Padraig18]

39. And if I may add my PERSONAL, #1 pet peeve:

Yo--- listen up, check writers! Why in the name of everything that is holy do you wait until the cashier has rung up your purchases to START digging through your purse or backpack for your g*d damned mothereffing checkbook??? :wtf:

Did you a.) not realize you were expected to pay, b.) not realize what store you were shopping in, or c.) do you just walk around in a perpetual fog ALL damned day?

/rant off

I feel better now. :P

[geniph]

47. Yup, I'm with you there

I don't get why people wait until the last second to look and see if they even HAVE a checkbook, let alone start to fill it out. What, do they think they're going to maybe win free groceries at the register? Fill out your check while you're waiting in line, for crying out loud!

Which brings up the issue of making sure you have your check card/wallet/enough money BEFORE you get to the register...don't people look while they're in line? I do. That way, you don't make everyone else wait while the clerk rings up fifty things when you only have 12 cents in your pocket.

[corarose]

40. Don't get in the 10 Items or less line with 20 Items & say you are

SHOPPING FOR SOMEONE ELSE SO RING IT UP IN TWO SEPARATE ORDERS!

URGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

[Name removed]

41. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kellanved]

43. can it be...

... that American Supermarkets are approaching the subterranean standards of German supermarkets?
Four lanes open and no bagboy sounds familiar. Just add open from 8AM to 8PM, closed on Sundays and you're there (Service-wise that is ).

[Clete]

48. Old crone here, I shop at 10:00 in the morning, MTW & Th

I hope this is satisfactory to you.:-) And I do agree with you, people who don't work should try to shop at slower times. Also, it's easier to park. Soccer moms are also guilty of this.

Just a little sympathy for old pharts though. Many of them don't always feel so good, so they may go shopping when they feel better and that could be at the wrong time for working people.

[geniph]

49. It's funny the way people keep to their old routines

People who worked for forty years keep getting up at 7 a.m., and shopping in the early evenings even after they retire, which I think is strange. I have every intention of becoming a full-blown nightowl if I'm ever in a position to actually retire (which becomes more doubtful by the day, with these damned robber barons in charge). I loved being on second shift and shopping at midnight, but it really isn't practical to do that anymore - I do have to sleep sometime.

What drives me bats is people who want to cash a 3rd party check from Uzbekistan to pay for their groceries. For heavens sake, go get a bank account or go to a check-cashing place - the grocery store is to buy groceries.

I'm also driven to distraction by people who will walk up to a checker who's got fifteen people waiting in line, and bother them about a return or an eight-cent coupon they didn't get credit for two days ago. If you want to talk to that particular checker, go get in line and wait your f***ing turn like the rest of us.

And the next checker that stands there chit-chatting with the last customer after their order is rung up and paid for when they have a dozen people standing and waiting to be rung up is going to be slapped with a wet trout. Learn to chat and work at the same time, or don't chat while you work.

[Piperay]

50. Aw

:spank:

[Kathy in Cambridge]

51. In Cambridge, it's snotty entitled yuppies and college students

cutting people in line and crashing into you without even acknowledging you. I shop at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's so hence I subject myself to this clientele. The worst Whole Foods is by the Belmont border (VERY wealthy town, where our Repuke governor is from). I have seen fights in this store at the prepared food counter where you have to take a number for service, but apparently, most of the folks that shop there don't think it applies to them. Not to mention the parking lot is a frikkin' nightmare.

I wish I smoked pot so I could sail through the aisles without a care in the world, but then again my grocery bill would be through the roof!

[SOteric]

52. *LOL* No flames...

http://edgewise.org/Edgewise.html

Just perspective. :hi:

[PapaClay]

54. As you are now,

I once was.

As I am now, you shall be.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

55. My rant: Express lines

Ten items is too many for an "express" line.

I run into the store to get ONE item, and I have to stand in line behind people who have a box of cereal, a carton of milk, a roll of toilet paper, a package of frozen vegetables, a loaf of bread, a toothbrush, a box of detergent, a carton of yogurt, a six-pack of beer, and a squeegie mop. A load of groceries that will not fit into one bag does NOT belong in the express line.

I once was able to patronize a store that had two express lines, one that was for ten items or less, and another for THREE items or less. Now that was both pleasant and handy.

[Zomby Woof]

56. no flames brother

But after my kiddie shopping cart marshmallow roast fiasco, I am not doing any more supermarket rants for some time to come. :D

[curse10]

57. Oh man, don't get me started!

The old people, the children running through the aisles, the people blocking the aisles with their carts because they can't make up there mind as to what kind of fucking ketchup to get, the people who actually have the cashier bag for them when there isn't a bagger because they are too good to do it themselves, the people who bring in coin rolls to pay (mainly old folk), the freak who complains because something was a nickel more than what the sign said.

In Denver I shopped at a Safeway. Best grocery store ever. The place was almost always empty (even on a Sunday afternoon!), and the cashiers were the best. They were quick and courteous. I occasionally braved the whole foods, but only because they had a better selection of tofu and soy milk.

[DemoTex]

58. You would love the Engle's in Brevard, NC!

1. Full of TROFs (not OUR trof), but the retired old farts. Most are Floridians, heading back to the Space Coast in a week or two. They will drive you nuts. 'Course, I'm retired too. And with my broken big toe, I look more like 75 than 55.

2. The store itself is an abomination. Their meats are terrible. The only steaks out, most of the time, are rib-eyes. A few weeks ago there were some fairly good-looking NY strips out, but way too thin. I asked the butcher to cut me four NY strips 1" thick. He did. They looked good. The price was good too. When I got home I found that he had cut me 1/2" strips and put 1/2" of padding in the bottom of the container. No damn wonder they were cheap. WTF? He is selling meat by the pound. He screwed Engles out of half again what I paid.

3. The check-out lines are horrible, consistently. Worse than any I see in Dallas, even at the trendy Highland Park Village Tom Thumb (a regular grocery store chain in Texas). They do have a self-checkout, which is very ineluctable, but offends my pro-labor sensitivities.

It is a 34 mile treck to the Engles. One must plan ahead when one lives in the heart of the wilds. I carry a cooler with a freezer pack and now, usually, stop at the Winn-Dixie for meats. Their meats are much better than Engles'.

[Kat45]

59. At my supermkt on a Sat, you can often go right up to the cashier

No lines (or hardly any). It's great--not very crowded at all. Sounds counterintuitive, right? Well my supermarket has a large Jewish clientele, as in Orthodox, Hasidic (sp), i.e. those who observe the Sabbath. So Saturday is the best day to shop!

[JanMichael]

61. *FLAME*

<jm too tired to actually flame at this time, we apologise for the inconvenience and hope that your night goes on uninterrupted>