in the bag… and the bag… and that one… and that one

I am going to have to find a bag boy at Kroger who seems to have a brain and isn’t going to quit anytime soon, make him my favorite and train him to bag my groceries my way. Because otherwise, the manager will get tired of hearing me complain.

It’s hard to explain because it’s kinda hard to even understand myself, but going to Kroger yesterday was, well, fun. I don’t know what other word to use for it. I went without a plan and left with a cart full of food for three dinners and lunches and breakfasts. It was all easy to find. It was all the brands I’m used to. I found raclette cheese (note to self for winter). There was a pile of fresh corn. Bagels. Cream cheese. Sour cream. I could go on and on.

But then, I got to the checkout lane. No, that isn’t fair. The checkout itself was fine. It was the bagger that nearly made me scream.

I had two of my big Carrefour shopping bags with me. I knew it wasn’t enough for everything I was buying, but I knew it would make a dent. Besides, they are the only ones I have with me right now. I handed them to the cashier. She handed them to the bagger. And next time I looked over at him, he was stuffing the bigger bag with all of the jars I was buying. And he was searching through my things for more. I said “Hey! I know that bag holds a lot, but I do have to pick it up. See… you can put light items on top.” And I demonstrated by finding a loaf of bread and placing it on top.

Then he opened the second bag and started to put a six-pack of water in it. “NO! That doesn’t have to go in any bag.” He just sort of stared at me. Before he had a chance to try, I added “the beer doesn’t need a bag, either.” Idiot.

I have to say, this boy does not seem to take constructive criticism well. Because after he filled that second bag of mine, he made a joke of using the plastic bags. He put two items in each bag. A couple of bags were graced with one thing. One thing? Then he loaded my cart by putting those bags on top of the bigger bags… smashing down the bread I’d clearly shown him goes on top of the bag.

I don’t normally complain. No, really, I don’t. But now that I can do it, I’m not going to keep quiet anymore. On the way out, I saw a manager. I stopped and told her about the lousy bagger inside. I didn’t even tell her about his effort to dislocate my shoulder with the over-stuffed bag. I just told her about the under-stuffed plastic bags. She said that is not how they’re told to load the bags. (I’d hope not.) She marched in there to find him and, I hope, tell him off.

Just wait till my things get here and I go to the store with my insulated bags for cold items.

2 Responses to “in the bag… and the bag… and that one… and that one”

  1. Debbie says:

    OMG it drives me crazy when they don’t know how to bag groceries!!! I’m constantly telling them how to do it too. They look at me like I’m annoying them. Helloooo, who wants smashed bread??

  2. Amanda says:

    I have the same problem when I go to our Kroger. You’ll have to explain the freezer/cooler bag. The last time I went, I didn’t explain and all the shelf items were put in the cooler bag. All of the freezer and cold items were put in a regular bag. The bread was put in the cooler bad and got smashed when he went to close it. He got it closed and ended up breaking the zipper. I now go to the self-checkout, I don’t care how much stuff I’m buying. At least I know I won’t smash my bread or put my ice cream in the wrong bag.

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