The Do's & Don'ts of Grocery Shopping

          I've worked in Customer Service for years; I started in Retail and then moved on to Administrative positions. I was employed by a construction company until I was laid off in May, and in August I landed a cashier position in a grocery store. Being that I've been out of the Retail game for a few years, returning to it has been a bit of a culture shock; I'd almost forgotten how rude people can be. So in my search for this week's blog subject, I decided to write up a few tips for efficient and polite grocery shopping. In addition to receiving a good grade and amusing my readers, I'm hoping to vent a bit and get a few things off my chest.

NOTE: The names of my employer and co-workers are being with-held to protect the innocent.

DO put your grocery cart where it belongs. 
          So many people refuse to put their carts back when they are finished using them. It's extremely frustrating to watch a customer push their cart into a corner, remove their bag(s), and then exit the store. A lot of people don't realize that us cashiers are the ones cleaning up the front end- this means that if I have to take time away from my register to clean up after people, that's less time that I'm spending ringing up your groceries so you can get to your next destination. 

          This sign is displayed in the Exit foyer, which is right next to the Entrance foyer. They are separated by a glass wall, which means that as a customer is viewing this sign, they can also view the correct destination for a discarded shopping cart. Sadly, right in front of this sign is where people park their carts. It's almost as if this is an act of willful defiance.

DO NOT leave trash in your cart. 
          Today, I watched a woman (rudely) park her cart in the Exit foyer, leaving behind the remains of her Starbucks coffee and taking her grocery bag. As she did so, the edge of the bag caught the lid of the coffee cup, tipping it over and spilling its remaining contents onto the floor.

   

          In addition, my store does a LOT of sampling. This practice yields a high number of little plastic cups and spoons which make their way to the bottoms of carts and baskets. I touch germ-infested items all day, i.e. money- please do not make me touch something that was actually IN your mouth by leaving it for me to dispose of.

Speaking of money...
DO NOT hand me crumpled tender.

          No one over the age of 10 should be carrying their money around in this fashion. Get a wallet! When you hand me a fist full of wadded-up bills, you are creating a vortex of wasted time. I have to stand there and flatten out the bills in an attempt to get them into my drawer. Waste of time. When I try to use that aesthetically unpleasant money as change in another customer's transaction, they usually hand it back to me and ask for money that doesn't look like it just survived a natural disaster. Waste of time. Sometimes I take an exceptionally horrendous bill and hide it underneath the inoffensive ones. Waste of time!

          I hope that this has been an informative and entertaining experience.

Animoto Project

Below is the video I've created for my Digital Storytelling course. As the subject, I chose the tale of my cats, Esteban & Beatrix, and how special they are to me.

Looks Can Be Deceiving...

Just wanted to pop in quickly and let you all know that I will probably be changing my blog's appearance quite frequently. I have another blog on Wordpress, but it isn't nearly as navigable and user-friendly. If you spy any problems or find it difficult to read, please do let me know!