Top ten ways to annoy a cashier: bonus ways II

#14 - Lack of division: This one's fairly simple: on the conveyor belt, we have divider bars for you to place between the items of your own order and those of another person. The idea is that it shows the cashier where to stop; where one order ends and another begins. But you'd be amazed at how many people simply don't bother - they think that leaving some space between their order and the person in front of them is enough. Newsflash, people: it's an automatic belt. If there's nothing in the way, it'll roll your stuff right up to the front, and we cashiers don't always notice that there wasn't something there before. All sorts of confusion can ensue, often involving us having to void off items that belonged in somebody else's order and ending up needing to call for an override. And that's no fun for anybody.

#13 - Bags, not rags: Like most grocery stores these days, Shop Rite offers a small refund for each bag you bring in and reuse - two cents for each paper or plastic bag, and five cents for every cloth or canvas bag you use. Generally, I like the canvas-type bags - if made well, they hold themselves up better, are more durable, can have more packed into them more easily, and are just generally better than the old plastic bags. However, some people, whether out of a desire to avoid using plastic bags for environmental or durability purposes, or simply for the five-cents-per-bag refund incentive, bring in bags that were simply not made for grocery packing. Deep, heavy cloth book bags with no defined bottom fold that don't hold themselves up at all and are impossible to pack neatly or efficiently. Beach bags made of net that small items tend to slip out of. Now if you're going to pack your own groceries, hey, pick your poison. Be my guest. But if you expect us to bag your groceries for you, it'd be nice if it's with a bag that's not a total pain in the ass. Mind you, we'll pack without complaining either way - it's our job, after all - but that's one way to make it a little easier.

On the note of bags, let me take this opportunity to say that the reusable bags sold by A&P suck in comparison to the one Shop Rite sells - the A&P bags are made of a thick, stiff canvas material which, aside from holding dirt easily and generally being easy to make filthy, tends to mold to its creases when folded, and will keep trying to fold itself back up as we're trying to pack with them. Shop Rite bags, on the other hand, are just as durable, but hold up easily, unfold without trouble, and even have a little hook to hang them on the bagging rack with t stop them from falling over or anything. And they're also cleaner.

Buy my employer's product.

So Dad's gone again. He left last night after I got home from work. He'll be coming back again tomorrow morning in time for me to take the car to work (again), but today, I've got the house to myself. My neighbor's giving me a ride to work in a couple hours, and Augusta'll be picking me up tonight. She wants to watch Vantage Point (which she's borrowed from the library where she works) tonight at her house, so I guess that's my plan for the day. Should be nice - it'll be good seeing her and relaxing a little bit in the middle of my working spree - I worked Thursday and yesterday, I work today, and I work tomorrow and Monday as well. Then I get another three days off, during which the Jagush brothers and their mom will be visiting from Texas. I get to see Gabe's new short hair in person, and he gets to see my new long hair. Heh.