Are you SURE you don't want me to smash your stuff?

[Despina83]

So I was cashering and about fifteen minutes before I leave, this woman came through. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: "Hi!"
Her: "Alright, here's how it is. *slams arm down on belt* Everything behind here is on the same bill, but goes in seperate bags. And let's try not to smash them!"
Me: "..............."

Seriously, did she think I was going to crush her chips with her bottle of Draino, or what? How fucking dumb do these people think we are, seriously? I've been doing this almost two years. I can handle it, honey. Don't speak to me like I'm about five years old.

[Aethian]

I have a feeling...she had a bad bagger once...a very bad bagger at a very imopertune time.

[Taboo]

Well, she was incredibly rude about it, and yes, she was a sucky customer.

However, I've found that I almost ALWAYS have to ask (politely) for certain things put on top of the bags at my local, large grocery store. Despite them having had the same people bagging groceries for the last 6 months that I've been going there, every 2-3 weeks someone sticks a container of eggs in the bottom of a bag and puts a giant thing of bleach on top of it, or puts bananas on the bottom with bottles of soda on top. So, while her behavior was inexcusable, I still get where she's coming from.

[Arcade Man D]

sticks a container of eggs in the bottom of a bag and puts a giant thing of bleach on top of it

This probably doesn't speak well of me, but I probably would lose it if someone stacked bleach on top of any food. Because, you know, that whole BLEACH IS POISONOUS thing.

>.>
<.<

[Gerrinson]

The only reason I want my meats and soft foods bagged seperately is because meat tends to leak and soft stuff tends to get squished.

Any soap/bleach/cleanser/etc. that I buy comes in a sealed container. As long as you don't abuse that container you should have zero issues and little if any threat of contaminating your food.

In the 5 years I spent at the grocery store the only times we had any issues with it in the store was when:

A) an idiot grocery stock guy decided to be lazy and cut down the side of the box - simultaneously cutting open 5 seperate gallons of bleach. Because it was a minimum of 5 gallons the store had to be evacuated and hazmat called. Less than 5 gallons can be cleaned up by store personnel.

B) when the same stock guy stacked it twice as high on the endcap as he was supposed to and crushed the tops of the bottom layer. Again, because more than 5 gallons of bleach were involved, we had to evacuate and call hazmat.

And C) when I accidentally dropped a bottle and it landed upside down on the cap. The cap cracked and I managed to splash bleach all over my pants when I picked it up off the floor.

So, honestly, tossing a bottle of bleach into a bag with packaged food is a pretty minor risk. I still err on the side of caution and only put it in with canned goods or sealed plastic containers. Thus, if it spills, they can be washed.

But I see no point to reacting with an irrational amount of fear towards bagging bleach/soap/etc. & food together. I have, on a number of occasions, just tossed my meat/cheese/etc. into the bag with the bleach/soap/etc. when I was only buying a couple of items. It's really not a big deal as long as you pay attention to the way you handle the container of poisonous chemicals.

[Nurian]

"Listen here, get your damn arm off of my belt before you WEAR those groceries."

[PepperElf]

eh, i usually jsut the put the stuff that goes on the bottom (like cans) at the front of the belt and the stuff that msut go on top at the end (eggs).

most of the in-between stuff i dont care much about. and when they ask me if i want my frozen salmon in a separate bag from other groceries i jsut want to start laughing... i mean who cares? (eh SCs must tho), the fishies are sealed in heavy duty plastic, and then in a heavy duty plastic bag... they can go in any bag they'll fit in as far as i care.

[Salesmonkey]

Maybe I'm compulsive, but I make sure that things are bagged the way I like by sorting them into different areas during my shopping, and then loading them onto the belt in the way I like: frozen stuff all together, canned stuff all together, meat and dairy segregated, etc. So the cashier scans similar stuff and then puts them into the bag carousel together.

[Android Kaeli]

The thing with bleach is that even if it's all properly sealed and everything, it's still a poisonous product no matter how it's contained. I wouldn't want something I put into my mouth to be put in with the stuff I use to clean clothes and wash the floors with. To each their own I suppose.

Usually if I need something to put in separate bags or no bags at all, I'll tell the cashier nicely or do it myself. That was just rude of the customer to do that.

[Setsunaela]

we actually stopped going to our local Safeway because of baggers doing stupid things (like our eggs in the bottom of a bag, then six cans of chunky soup on top.) and getting snotty. My mom usually separates her shopping so heavy stuff is in the front of the belt and light stuff in back, but our bagger actually HELD ASIDE heavy things and then put them on top of light things!! That was kind of the last straw and we stopped shopping there..
Point being though, that if you've had such an awful experience with baggers at a given store, maybe you should either complain to management, or shop elsewhere? IMO, being sucky at cashiers/baggers just makes them more likely to be sucky to every customer..

[Despina83]

Who in God's green earth would put a heavy container of bleach on top of eggs and think that's okay?? That just seems like common sense. I was going to make a joke about putting bleach on top of eggs, but I never thought anyone would actually do that. I suppose someone has also put Draino in with bread. I do think people tend to be a little paranoid about soaps and stuff being with food, since there's so much packaging, seals, etc. protecting everything. It would be virtually impossible to have a problem. But I don't bag them together because I know how people are about it.

[bainsidhe]

As both cashier and a shopper, I don't mix chemicals/food/raw food. I also try to keep light stuff with light stuff. Perhaps I'm paranoid, but I don't want my raw chicken with deli meat (happened, even after I asked the cashier to bag it separately) or my drano with my potatoes (again, this also happened *sigh*).

I try not to get upset, because I realize everyone has their own way of bagging things and many customers assume cashiers can't bag at all. But tone has a lot to do with the asking. If a customer takes the tone with you, it's that much harder not to get upset. I'm also pretty aggravated by the "double-bag everything" crowd. We're supposed to save bags, yet they want their bread and eggs double-bagged.

[Broomjockey]

Any soap/bleach/cleanser/etc. that I buy comes in a sealed container. As long as you don't abuse that container you should have zero issues and little if any threat of contaminating your food.

Except as you pointed out, some careless guy spilled 5 gallons by cutting down the side. You throw out the rest of the bleach from there? 'cause it's all got bleach down the sides. You then put that in a bag with something damp, and the dried bleach becomes wet bleach again. Only this time it's in direct contact with whatever food was damp enough to do it. I have no idea if this has happened at the store I'm shopping at. All I know is, I dislike being called paranoid because I take reasonable precautions against something which may be a threat. I mean, in-store issues aside, I walk home. What if I drop a bag? Or accidentally hit it on a door frame, and the bottle cracks? If it's in with my food, it's all junk now. It's not unreasonable to guard against wastage when it's such a simple task.

Now, to act like an @$$&#&@ about it, that's unreasonable.

[Arcade Man D]

The only reason I want my meats and soft foods bagged separately is because meat tends to leak and soft stuff tends to get squished.

Any soap/bleach/cleanser/etc. that I buy comes in a sealed container. As long as you don't abuse that container you should have zero issues and little if any threat of contaminating your food.

Because I don't know if there was spillage on the sides in transit, or in production, or if there's a pinhole somewhere it may drip from. Or if some idiot will rear-end us on the trip back home and the impact will crack the packaging. Too many variables.

Admittedly, I rarely buy cleaning products and groceries on the same trip for this very reason. I'd just rather make certain I don't have to worry about this happening. If I do have to buy them on the same trip, I put the cleaners on the bottom of the cart, away from the other stuff, or in a separate basket, and put it up first, making sure it gets bagged separately.

[Nayeli_Sabia]

I had a bagger put my cleaning chemicals in the same bag as my babyfood.

I'm not normally that worried... just don't squish my stuffs ^_^

But when it comes to my KID.... hells no. I complained to management. Politely, I might add.