A good sighting (Parenting!)

[Hotfoot]

Why so negative?

So I was at a store with a big bullseye today, and feeling a bit peckish after waiting nearly three hours for the cable guy, I stopped off at their little meal shop/coffee place and picked up some food. While I was in line, a mother and her two children were getting some food. Here are some choice bits.

GM: Good Mother
OB: Older Boy (9-11)
YB: Younger Boy (5-7)

GM: So what do you want?
YB: Can I have a pretzel?
GM: Okay, but it's kind of big.
YB (to OB): Would you like to share a pretzel with me?
OB: Okay.

YB: Mommy, can you open my juice?
GM: No, honey, we have to wait until we pay the nice lady for it.
YB: Mommy, can you open my juice please?
GM: No, you have to wait until we can pay. That's how this works.
YB: Why?
GM: Because it's not yours yet until we pay for it.
YB: Okay.

The lady behind the counter and I shared a smile as they went off to eat. I love seeing good parenting in action. A+ Mother, A+ Kids, I wish I had more like them in my classes.

Have a good one!

[ShinyGreenApple]

I'd high five that lady if I could! I was beginning to think I was the only one raised on the belief that you don't open and/or consume stuff until it's paid for. My Mom would usually even make us wait until we were in the car, if it were candy or gum or something like that.

[Grumpy]

I've often eaten or drank something while I'm grocery shopping, being careful to give the empty container to the cashier so it would be rung up. Is this something cashiers hate for people to do? I guess that would make me an unintentionally sucky customer.

[jnd4rusty]

Here is another example of good parenting-I was cashiering tonight and a lady and her son (about 10 or 12 yrs old) came in. He says "may I have a taco please", "may I have a potatoe ole please", "may I have a small drink please". Then he said "thank you". I was soooo impressed that I complimented the woman on her son's manners. I told her that is very rare to have a youngster as polite as him. She beamed from ear to ear!! What an excellent job of teaching your children to be polite and considerate. I wish all parents would do that, unfortunately that is not the case. I get too many "give me this, give me that", no please, no thank you...just give me!!

[XCashier]

to that mother and those well-mannered kids!

Kudos to the younger boy for offering to split his pretzel with his brother. Not many kids can see that as a solution.

Further kudos to mom for explaining that they have to pay for the item before they can open it. Alas, if only more people were that decent.

[Emrld]

ok I admit it . . .
I have been in a store with a bulk section (where you decide how much to buy and put it in a bag or a tub) and just couldn't wait to enjoy the goodness I was buying. I do weigh it and print my label prior to consuming any.

I will say this I now know of two stores that if you comment that you wonder what something tastes like - they will open up the product for you to sample . . .and leave the rest for other customers to sample.

(example: I need more Omega3 and found a Granola cereal with a product that I wasn't sure about eating and its possible side effects (my naivete at work) the clerk didn't know what it tasted like . . .opened it up . . .put some in my hand and then some in hers. I liked it and offered to buy the opened box . . .she wouldn't hear of it. She handed me a sealed box and then started giving out samples to other customers. (She was able to assure me that the un-named ingredient would not have side effects or show up on a work urine test as I was eating it . . .not burning and creating the non legal side of it)

[Hotfoot]

On the subject of consuming before paying:

On a very basic level, it can be considered theft, because you are benefiting from a product without having paid for it. Moreover, there's no chance of recovery because you have consumed it, and even if they could induce vomiting and recover it, the product has been tainted and is unsuitable for sale. From another standpoint, you might not be able to pay for the item (maybe you forgot your wallet, or you don't have enough cash on you, whatever), which makes for a very awkward moment at the register.

From a personal standpoint, it's about self control. You shouldn't be in a state where you can't wait the extra 5-10 minutes it takes to check out to enjoy whatever it is you bought. There are obvious exceptions, however: A diabetic who needs to stabilize their blood sugar, someone who is in danger of being dehydrated, or other similar situations where health is at risk. The reason such activities are not commonly stopped is because the store can't easily determine what is an emergency and what isn't, and as long as the customer pays for it at the end, there's no real harm done.

Moreover, it is a bit of a point of courtesy. Cashiers have to stand there the entire time and watch food, often delicious-looking food go right past them. Easily enough avoided to fight urges and cravings if you reduce the stuff to a box or just an item, but when a customer is consuming it a few feet from you, well...you get the idea. At least in restaurants (fast food or otherwise) you have the option of grabbing some of the stuff a little later, or being so sick of it that the sight and smell no longer appeases you.

Sampling, meanwhile, isn't THAT bad, especially if you ask permission beforehand, but I would think after a while you'd have a pretty good idea of the general quality of the goods, and when the store itself is handing out free samples, well then, by all means, go nuts. After all, that sort of is the point.

[taxguykarl]

AWESOME.

Please, dear lady, bring more kids like that into this world. Heaven knows we need them to balance out the SC's.

[One-Fang]

I sometimes do the "eat before purchase" thing, but ONLY if I have enough CASH on me to pay for it. You never know when the electronic payment systems will go down or your bank will make a mistake and empty your account.

I couldn't imagine eating something in front of the cashier though. It's gone by the time I get there, but ew. Just ew. If it wasn't I would probably make sure to finish it in line so it's an empty packet then.

[Emrld]

When I say I can't wait to enjoy the goodies, I am not talking about eating an entire pound. I am talking about items that I do not keep in my cupboard on a regular basis that in and of themselves are a treat. And when I say I eat on it after weighing - I am talking about 1 or 2 pieces - not my entire purchase.
99.99999% of the time I do not eat prior to being out of the store at my vehicle, paid for in full.
I am not going to get into a leagal debate over the definition of theft as that would end up being a fratching conversation and different laws for different parts of the world.

With cashiers standing there watching the food and having the smells etc go past all day long. People chose where they work by turning in an application alone. I also have to wonder (especially on a busy day) how much attention is actually paid to every persons purchase(s).

Back to the main point of the topic. True that was great parenting. I enjoy it when parents actually teach their children basic/ common rules to have a happy, productive, non cs life.

[Kogarashi]

Awesome parenting!

Regarding eating before buying....

As a cashier, I was always grateful for the customers who actually handed me their empty deli bags or soda bottles to be rung up, because that meant I wouldn't find those same packages tucked behind the candy in my candy rack later (shame on those people who didn't pay). I got more annoyed with the product that had to be weighed at the register, such as most produce, because that's always going to ring up cheaper when partially eaten. In those instances, I would take something similar and weigh it in its place. For instance, I once had a customer come through my line and hand me an apple core to be rung up. I explained that they were sold by weight, and double-weighed another apple she had instead (choosing the largest in her pile). Deli meats and the prepared chicken and potato wedges, on the other hand, are weighed at the deli and a barcode tag printed out, so those are no problem.

As a customer, I've eaten something I hadn't paid for yet only once. I was pregnant at the time, and near fainted due to low blood sugar in the middle of our bi-weekly shopping trip. I hurried to the deli and got some chicken nuggets (mmm...barbecue) and nibbled on those as we finished our shopping, and made sure to have the bag rung up when we were done. I chose that product because, as mentioned, it's weighed at the deli and has a barcode on the bag, and I wouldn't have to open a sealed package to get at it.

And as a cashier, the smells of food going through my line have only driven me nuts when I was pregnant and my least-favorite CSM had once again forgotten to send me on one of my scheduled breaks, leaving me extra hungry at the register. Customers eating in front of me don't even bother me unless they're doing it while I'm trying to conduct the transaction with them. ::grumble:: The most I've ever done, though, is comment on how good something smells and joke with the customer that I'll have to get some of it myself when breaktime comes.