Saturday, October 10, 2009

October 10, 2009

I was in line at the grocery store today and I saw the weirdest thing. This man in front of me had a pretty full cart, and in the upper part of the cart, it was essentially all produce, a big selection of fruits and vegetables. Being that today was the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, it was pretty busy as people stock up like they're anticipating a nuclear fallout rather than simply a grocery store being closed for 2 days.

But I digress...back to the man in front of me in line.

After waiting in a longer than normal line, this guy is putting all of his stuff on the belt, but as he picks up each piece of produce, he takes a bag off of a pile that he has taken from the produce section, opens the bag and places the produce in the bag before he puts it on the belt. I was confused because it seems normal to just do that as you're in the produce section, doesn't it? You just put the item(s) in the bag and then the bag goes in your cart, right?

Why on earth would you take the time to pull off the number of bags you needed, place them in the cart, and then later use them to hold the items? I was trying to figure out what it could be, whether it was some odd form of OCD, or maybe some sort of germ-related issue, but none of that made any sense. If it was OCD-related, wouldn't he just not do it at all instead of just delaying the same task? And if he was a germophobe, he would get his summer squash in that bag as soon as he possibly could, wouldn't he? The only logical conclusion I could come to is that if you were in a hurry, and were rushing around the store, you might do that, only to save time while you were in line, and put the stuff in the bags then.

But the thing about this guy is that I waited in line behind him for about 5 to 7 minutes while he did nothing. Didn't read a magazine...didn't check his blackberry...nothing. He just stood there. And then when it was his turn to put the grocery items on the belt, he put everything up, leaving the produce until the end, and then just casually started putting everything in the bags. So he ended up taking the entire belt, with a line of 8-10 people behind him, and was taking his sweet ass time to the point that the cashier caught up to him and was waiting for him to bag the next item and put it on the back of the belt, so she could pull it forward to the front and scan it.

Seriously, this seems like a moronic idea on the best of days, but in a busy grocery store at 5 pm on the Saturday before Thanksgiving?

Your thoughts? Would you have said anything? Maybe offered to bag his groceries for him?

5 comments:

nicki said...

hahaha...GOTTA love the grocery store the day before a holiday..mmhmmm...lol i pity the poor people who actually WORK in those grocery stores....OH...WAIT...lol ;)

Dawn said...

LOL!

I can't say I wouldn't have just taken the bags nicely from his hand (like taking the PB knife from the child and finishing the sandwich for him after painstakingly watching him try for himself) and politely offered to bag them for him while he bagged his groceries at the other end.

People do strange things on regular days but for some reason are DOUBLY DUMB during holiday seasons. After having worked in several customer service venues in my time...I have learned to stop asking those unanswerable questions of..."Why do people...?" LOL!

HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING!

Rob said...

of course i would have said something-he was being an ignorant a hole--you see ,that is what is wrong today,nobody wants to get involved---well speak up for f*** sakes,and say something.--its like everyone is afraid to stand up for themselves when something is not right,and thats why we are in the state we are in now..ignorant people,no manners,respect whatever you want to call it..well i am sorry,you do that to me in a grocery store you are going to hear about it,maybe in a nice way maybe not,depends on the situation.What are we,cowards-i dont want to get involved--come on.I hope your in need of help one day,because if you are i will stop and try to help you....
By the way just call it lawn bowling sean....

Sean said...

Rob...you're content to call it "lawn bowling"...really? A good Italian like you, I'm disappointed. :)

Anonymous said...

My grocery store story is that every year on the Thursday before Good Friday (or Holy Thursday) I go to Fortino's and stand by the fish section and watch the frenzy of short Southern Italians duke it out over the barrels of clams, mussels,baccala, etc. I giggle to myself and walk away after about 10 minutes. 3 years ago a fistfight broke out, no joke. I love the grocery store.....always something to see!!!!!!!