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I figured I'd share some of the situations I encountered working as a bagger during my college days. Some funny, some memorable, some SCs, but experiences nonetheless.
The model family
I was working the eight to midnight shift. Around 11, this pair comes in with a 2 year old child in their cart. They shop for about 20 minutes, gather about half a cart full, and check out. I bagged up their order, and during the checkout process these two start into a full blown argument. They were yelling so incoherently, it was impossible to tell just what they were fighting about.
Off they go towards the exit, and when they get to what I called the 'airlock' (the area between the inner and outer doors where the red candy machines are usually found), their yelling match exploded into full blown war. Nearly half of their just-purchased items became impromptu projectiles as they hurled insults and groceries at one another, all the while their child watching like this was perfectly normal. Their fight proceded all the way to their car, and they loaded what was left, hopped in and drove off. I had to pick up several oranges and grapefruits from the parking lot, and mop up an entire gallon of grape Kool-aid they'd thrown in the airlock (the jug exploded on impact), splattering the doors, floor, and candy machine. This one ranks as the strangest situation I had working that summer.
Softener, anyone?
Never caught the one that did this, but they'd dropped an entire bottle of Downy on the floor. I got called to clean it, and this is where I learned that fabric softener is the most slippery substance known to man when exposed to water. Even after I'd mopped up most of it, the floor was extremely slippery, so much so that I had to keep mopping what looked like a clean floor, then put up lots of 'wet floor' signs to keep people from falling on their butt. (Which I'd done myself, about 5 times, trying to mop it.
)
You forgot something...
This elderly couple came through one day with a cartful. The wife was in a wheelchair, and after they'd checked out, I helped them with their cart, and helped him get his wife into their car. After he'd gotten her belted in (and I admit, I wasn't paying attention either), he got in, waved, and drove off. It was then that I noticed their entire cart full of groceries still sitting there on the curb.
Put the cart in the cooler so nothing would spoil, and he came back later to pick it up. He was cool about it, bless him.
The Towering Inferno
That's a nickname I picked up while playing basketball with friends, because of my height I could get almost right under the basket, toss the ball up and in with little effort. While working at the store, that came in handy several times. One I remember was this kid who wanted one of the mylar balloons, but the one he wanted had come out of the net and floated to the ceiling. Fortunately, it had a long string on it, hanging down where I could get it with a good jump. A little running distance, a leap, one balloon for the kiddie. This is one of the happier memories.
The cheapskate
This one happened when I was working the deli the next summer. (That was a short run... a whole different story all together). They put me on the register, something I'd never run before, and they put me on it during lunch. While I was working, this guy comes up and asks for a bowl. I've got a line about six deep, it's just a bowl, so I give him one. Fortunately, my dad worked at the Lowe's nearby, and was eating lunch in the deli/restaurant there that day. Turns out the guy took the bowl and got himself a bowl of soup from the salad bar. The constant 'burn through your skull' glare my dad gave him convinced him to fess up and pay for it. Had my dad not been there, the guy would have gotten away with it.
The model family
I was working the eight to midnight shift. Around 11, this pair comes in with a 2 year old child in their cart. They shop for about 20 minutes, gather about half a cart full, and check out. I bagged up their order, and during the checkout process these two start into a full blown argument. They were yelling so incoherently, it was impossible to tell just what they were fighting about.
Off they go towards the exit, and when they get to what I called the 'airlock' (the area between the inner and outer doors where the red candy machines are usually found), their yelling match exploded into full blown war. Nearly half of their just-purchased items became impromptu projectiles as they hurled insults and groceries at one another, all the while their child watching like this was perfectly normal. Their fight proceded all the way to their car, and they loaded what was left, hopped in and drove off. I had to pick up several oranges and grapefruits from the parking lot, and mop up an entire gallon of grape Kool-aid they'd thrown in the airlock (the jug exploded on impact), splattering the doors, floor, and candy machine. This one ranks as the strangest situation I had working that summer. Softener, anyone?
Never caught the one that did this, but they'd dropped an entire bottle of Downy on the floor. I got called to clean it, and this is where I learned that fabric softener is the most slippery substance known to man when exposed to water. Even after I'd mopped up most of it, the floor was extremely slippery, so much so that I had to keep mopping what looked like a clean floor, then put up lots of 'wet floor' signs to keep people from falling on their butt. (Which I'd done myself, about 5 times, trying to mop it.
)You forgot something...
This elderly couple came through one day with a cartful. The wife was in a wheelchair, and after they'd checked out, I helped them with their cart, and helped him get his wife into their car. After he'd gotten her belted in (and I admit, I wasn't paying attention either), he got in, waved, and drove off. It was then that I noticed their entire cart full of groceries still sitting there on the curb.
Put the cart in the cooler so nothing would spoil, and he came back later to pick it up. He was cool about it, bless him. The Towering Inferno
That's a nickname I picked up while playing basketball with friends, because of my height I could get almost right under the basket, toss the ball up and in with little effort. While working at the store, that came in handy several times. One I remember was this kid who wanted one of the mylar balloons, but the one he wanted had come out of the net and floated to the ceiling. Fortunately, it had a long string on it, hanging down where I could get it with a good jump. A little running distance, a leap, one balloon for the kiddie. This is one of the happier memories.
The cheapskate
This one happened when I was working the deli the next summer. (That was a short run... a whole different story all together). They put me on the register, something I'd never run before, and they put me on it during lunch.
While I was working, this guy comes up and asks for a bowl. I've got a line about six deep, it's just a bowl, so I give him one. Fortunately, my dad worked at the Lowe's nearby, and was eating lunch in the deli/restaurant there that day. Turns out the guy took the bowl and got himself a bowl of soup from the salad bar. The constant 'burn through your skull' glare my dad gave him convinced him to fess up and pay for it. Had my dad not been there, the guy would have gotten away with it.
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