Cloth Bag Ranting and other issues...

[fireheart]

aka why I am hating re-usable bags.

So yes, as you've all heard by now, we have until May 4th to get rid of plastic bags. So now we're getting in loads more people bringing green bags yay!
Downsides though...

Dirty and Smelly

I have come across some very odd things in the green bags, but please learn to wash them once in a while. I don't know if you have HIV/AIDS or some other disease.

Leaving them in the car

STOP TELLING ME THIS! Seriously, whyyy do I keep hearing this from people? I really don't care if you have bags or not. If you do, just toss them over. If you don't, I don't care. I'll use plastic. I don't care if you left them in the car, at home, they were chewed up by your neighbour's penis-sized dog or whatever, but stop telling me this. Please.

Weight Issues:

I'll keep this simple. Yes, I can fill the bags how you like. But we are required to keep to our own weight limits for OHS reasons. So if you bitch at me for not overfilling the bags, then please be prepared for me to send them down so you can finish packing them. (the main idea behind this is that I'll pack it to my limit, then send it down so the customer finishes packing it)
Also, jokes about my strength are not appreciated. Next time you'll be meeting Mr. Salmon

Hygiene/Safety Issues:

This is more of a pet-peeve here concerning babies. While I don't mind entertaining them while packing, please don't let them climb onto my bag carousel area or let them ride on the conveyor belt. Besides being unhygenic, it is also a safety issue. And issue number three involves the cords we use to secure off our registers (we wrap them around trolleys). Please don't let your child play with the cords, or get snappy at me when I tell them off. We've seen kids wrapping them around their necks.

ID checking

Not sure if it's state law or not, but yes, we do check ID for vanilla essences, as well as food colouring and knives. Knives are obvious (we only check for the larger knives, not the plastic or cutlery knives) and the reason why we check is because of the alcoholic content in vanilla essence. Don't believe me? A bottle of vanilla essence can have as much as 22 standard drinks in one little bottle. So if you're gonna get pissed, please, go get my manager. He'll support me for saving your life.

(As for why we don't check for mouthwash, which also has alcohol in it, some mouthwashes are now alcohol free and I think that the alcohol content in mouthwash is lower...but it's standard so )

[Broomjockey]

(As for why we don't check for mouthwash, which also has alcohol in it, some mouthwashes are now alcohol free and I think that the alcohol content in mouthwash is lower...but it's standard so )

Also, it's not the standard drinking alcohol. It's wood alcohol, rather than grain. Therefore, it's not meant for consumption, and possibly lethal to drink, so most places just take the position of "Most people aren't that stupid."

[Nyoibo]

People drink methylated spirits, if they can do that they can drink mouthwash.

I was in Coles the other day and heard one of the girls on the registers saying she's had cockroaches come out of the cloth bags before, they are now no longer allowed to accept dirty bags, perhaps your manager should implement something like that?

[Buglady]

penis-sized dog

Good thing I have tomorrow off work - I'll never see a chihuahua the same way again... :rofl:

(I always WAS a bit suspicious of those tiny little alleged dogs...)

[lightmylamb]

Also, it's not the standard drinking alcohol. It's wood alcohol, rather than grain. Therefore, it's not meant for consumption, and possibly lethal to drink, so most places just take the position of "Most people aren't that stupid."

Where I'm from, people aren't. There are so many thefts of mouthwash for drinking. They used to steal rubbing alcohol so frequently we had to lock it behind the counter. So, yeah, you might die, but at least you'll die drinking.

[fireheart]

Pretty much the reason's above are why we have to check for ID. But because vanilla essence is sweet and can mask the taste of alcohol, it's more common.

And Ny, as for refusing dirty bags, we can only do it if it's obvious they're dirty. Cockroaches does count. But I do get sick of hearing the 1001 excuses as to why people leave their bags at home. A simple "I don't have my bags" will suffice.

[PepperElf]

If vanilla essence is the same thing as vanilla extract... they're bloody insane if they want to drink it.

it's great for adding flavor but... i've always found it a bit harsh tasting just by itself. but in my coffee or in a soda... and yum yum

[Can I Help Your A$$?]

I don't think you'll get AIDS from a dirty bag. If you're concerned, make sure you put bandaids on any cuts on your hands. The bags are bloody?

You could be at risk of lots of other things, hepatitis, flu, salmonella (especially). But AIDS? Are you talking used hypodermic needles in there? If I saw a needle in a bag, exposed, I'd definitely not have a problem asking them to remove it themselves, or refuse the bag outright.

[tamezin]

If vanilla essence is the same thing as vanilla extract... they're bloody insane if they want to drink it.

There is a reason for that, Vanilla is one of the strongest and most concentrated flavorings evah. Think about it, 1 tsp is enough to flavor 2 batches of cookies, a gallon of ice cream or a sheet cake. (we could go on and on) I have never heard of ID being checked for it though.

[ralerin]

Hm, I can see the knives and I can see the vanilla essences...but why the food coloring?

[sirwired]

What size bottle of vanilla extract (as it's called here) do you sell? The size bottles commonly sold here couldn't be more than a half-dozen drinks, even if it were pure grain.

The "standard" alcohol-based mouthwash here, Listerine, does indeed contain diluted grain alcohol (rather than wood alcohol), about 22% or so. However, there is no ID required, and it isn't taxed like a drink, because the other things in it that make it an antiseptic mouthwash (menthol and eucalyptol) also make it undrinkable. You would probably feel very sick and vomit before your body could even process the alcohol.

Chugging rubbing alcohol though... damn, that's desparate.

SirWired

[Bramblerose]

YOur little alkies would luuuuurve my vanilla flavoring- 3/4 c mid-range vodka and a vanilla bean. Put both in a bottle and let sit for 4 months.

[fireheart]

OK, I shall explain a little bit more about why we're required to check for ID for essences/food colouring. I can do this in one word: mixer.

A common method of getting drunk off of vanilla essence is to buy vanilla essence or food colouring (dunno why food colouring...) and mix it in with Coke or some other soft drink to create cheap alcoholic drinks. It masks the taste of the alcohol and basically turns it into an alcopop (or bitch beer)
Sirwired, we sell both really tiny bottles of vanilla essence and other flavourings (orange essence too) and bigger bottles. The biggest size that's standard is 250ml.
And whoever stated the Listerine thing is pretty much right and is the reason why we don't check ID for mouthwash.

But at least we don't check ID for newspapers and coloured pens...(crack pipes? )

[mattm04]

I have refused to bag with some reusable bags before. They smelt like rotting meat and had stains on them and flys appeared. The SC bitched and moaned, said "fine use plastic since you don't care about the environment" and stomped out leaving her bags behind.

We bagged her reuseable bags in a garbage bag and held it for the rest of the day. That night we tossed it.

[UncleImpy]

Also, it's not the standard drinking alcohol. It's wood alcohol, rather than grain. Therefore, it's not meant for consumption, and possibly lethal to drink, so most places just take the position of "Most people aren't that stupid."

I do believe Aaron from the War Stories threads would beg to differ!