Grocery store etiquette

[BoneDaddyKool]

At the store today, I went into the checkout aisle, and a guy was just finishing writing out a check for a few items. He then proceeded to balance his checkbook as the checker and I were waiting to run my items through. It look him about three minutes to do so, and he looked oblivious to anyone else. Now I realize this is not a long time, and I wasn't in any hurry, but it seemed to take a month for him to do this. This is something that as Peter Griffin would say "Really grinds my gears." Is it just me? Or is that just a case of poor etiquette?

 

Edit: Title spelling.

[bullox]

Yeah, that definitely is selfish on his part. Really, just the fact that he still uses checks for a small purchase like that (Debit card, hello) makes me think that he's a bit out of touch.

[Gobias Industries]

Was he older (70+)? I've had an elderly man do this in front of me at the grocery store and was completely oblivious that the people behind him were ticked off.

[BoneDaddyKool]

he was about in his 40's I'd say.

[Chio151]

To write a check is poor.

[paul253]

I hate it when people are so focused on finding the right brand of the right product that they are oblivious to the fact that not only is their cart blocking half of the aisle, but they themselves are blocking the other half. Also too, I dont like it when people bring their kids and let them run wild. I cant tell you how many times I've almost run over a kid as I am about to turn into an aisle because the kids found what they wanted and come running back down the aisle like a bat out of hell.

[trwi7]

I hate it when people are so focused on finding the right brand of the right product that they are oblivious to the fact that not only is their cart blocking half of the aisle, but they themselves are blocking the other half. Also too, I dont like it when people bring their kids and let them run wild. I cant tell you how many times I've almost run over a kid as I am about to turn into an aisle because the kids found what they wanted and come running back down the aisle like a bat out of hell.

 

This was my biggest pet peeve when I worked at a grocery store. I would always have a big crate of stuff that I would be hauling to an aisle to put on a shelf. A kid running around turning right into that possibly knocking down the entire shipment of stuff that costs the store money or getting hurt and then probably have some pissed off parent wanting to know why I hurt their precious little Billy/Sally.

[Tailgat0r76]

Working at Walgreen's during the summers and sometimes working up front as a cashier I honestly worry for society with some people's etiquette. The women who have to put everything back in their purse exactly how it was before they start to walk away get to me. Or the lady (a big women no less) who recently came in, sweaty-as-can-be, and reached into her bra to give me her soaked five dollar bill; I almost puked. Or there's always the people that come to the register and look around and cannot decide on the type of cigarettes they want. I could go on and on....

[uecker9]

My favorite is the people who buy scratch off lottery tickets and scratch them off at the cashier stand with a line of people behind them. Maybe that's more a convenience store/ gas station type of deal, but it cracks me up everytime. There is this lady in Cross Plains who will spend about 15-20 minutes doing this at KwikTrip. If she gets a winner, she'll buy more and just leave the losing tickets on the counter. She's a peach. All I wanted was a pepsi...

[Oldcity]

When I worked at Pick 'n' Save during high school we all feared Bag Lady. She was an old woman who would shop once a month and buy like $400 worth of groceries, then demand double paper in double plastic. Then she would inspect each bag before leaving the line. Not really a story about etiquette as much as a story about crazy.

[2008 world champs]

I worked at Pick N Save as well. I was a shelve stocker. One time this little girl thought it was funny to sit on my cart while it was half full of stuff to be put on the shelf. I was down to the other end of the aisl putting spaghetti jars away when i heard a crash. The girl and knocked the boxes of some kind of noodles down on top of her. ..she was uninjured. lucky it wasn't the spaghetti sauce. And yet, i still had a angry grandmother at me even though she watched the whole thing while on her cell phone. AYE!

[Patrick425]

The original post is most definitely one of my biggest pet peeves. If you have a checking account, you should have a check card and be using it. I remember all this talk about possibly using finger prints or eye scan or having a chip in your drivers license that would be universal for everything including purchasing groceries. This technology would help streamline the shopping process, although, I understand the security pitfalls. It's clear that some people are so afraid of any technology beyond a checkbook or cash, so I doubt any further attempts to make the shopping experience more efficient would ever work.

 

Basically, I get very annoyed at any situation where a person is completely oblivious to there surroundings or any inconvenience that they may be causing others. Or, worse, they are aware, but just don't care.

[PeaveyFury]

It's clear that some people are so afraid of any technology beyond a checkbook or cash, so I doubt any further attempts to make the shopping experience more efficient would ever work.

 

I do give Woodman's serious credit for implementing 'self-checkout' express lines for 20 items or less, that virtually eliminates the absurd Woodman's wait times at the checkout for those that so choose.

 

But if you're ever there at the same time an elderly person is trying to figure out how it works, whoa boy.

[RockCoCougars]

Working at Walgreen's during the summers and sometimes working up front as a cashier I honestly worry for society with some people's etiquette.

What is it with Walgreen's stores and skeezy people? It seems like every time that I am in one (no matter where) the place is full of weirdos.

[TooLiveBrew]

Basically, I get very annoyed at any situation where a person is completely oblivious to there surroundings or any inconvenience that they may be causing others. Or, worse, they are aware, but just don't care.

 

The chicken -- egg question, to be sure. Which is worse? Being completely & legitimately oblivious, or being aware & just being a prick?

[burniebrewer]

I do give Woodman's serious credit for implementing 'self-checkout' express lines for 20 items or less

I use those almost every day. One of the best things to ever happen to grocery shopping. The real secret (if you shop at Woodman's West) is to use the self-checks at the far end of the store, those are usually wide open. But it's still cool that by bringing those in, there are 12 express lanes.

 

[brewers19]

But if you're ever there at the same time an elderly person is trying to figure out how it works, whoa boy.

 

Exactly. If you don't know how to use the self-checkout line, then please don't try to use it.

[temke]

I do give Woodman's serious credit for implementing 'self-checkout' express lines for 20 items or less, that virtually eliminates the absurd Woodman's wait times at the checkout for those that so choose.

self check lines are great, but i could never get out of woodmans with less than 20 items!!

 

[PeaveyFury]

self check lines are great, but i could never get out of woodmans with less than 20 items!!

 

I always make sure I have less than 20 items just so I can use the express lanes! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[fondybrewfan]

I'll 2nd the idea that there really is no good reason to be using checks for these types of purchases anymore. A. It's faster to use a debit/credit card, B. It's cheaper to have a debit card than ordering checks and C. the advent of online banking makes it almost unnecessary to balance your checkbook because virtually every transaction is completed within 3 days time. I have never balanced a check book in my life, but because of online banking I always know exactly how much I have in my account.

 

I almost always go grocery shopping in the middle of the night just to avoid the traffic at the grocery store. There is nothing worse than a kid screaming that he wants the Spongebob fruit snacks.

 

EDIT: Also when using your bank card always use the credit option if you can, your chances of identity theft are exponentially reduced if you don't enter a pin number.

[Patrick425]

I have never balanced a check book in my life, but because of online banking I always know exactly how much I have in my account.

 

I don't think the point of balancing a check book is to determine how much you have in your account. It's more to see that the bank did not make some error (i.e. you made a deposit of $345.67 and they gave you $34.56 - it's happened to me), or someone did not make some unauthorized transaction in your account, or some store that you went to didn't charge you twice for a purchase, etc. In addition, maybe you wrote a check to someone (there are occasions when you don't have a choice - for example, my son's school fees pretty much have to be done with check or cash), and they don't cash it for a long time, then, at some unexpected moment they cash it when you are low on funds. Your online balance won't reflect uncashed checks.

However, all that being said, it does annoy me when people have to record there purchase right there in the check out lane as you wait.

[Chio151]

I have never balanced a check book in my life, but because of online banking I always know exactly how much I have in my account.

 

I don't think the point of balancing a check book is to determine how much you have in your account. It's more to see that the bank did not make some error (i.e. you made a deposit of $345.67 and they gave you $34.56 - it's happened to me), or someone did not make some unauthorized transaction in your account, or some store that you went to didn't charge you twice for a purchase, etc. In addition, maybe you wrote a check to someone (there are occasions when you don't have a choice - for example, my son's school fees pretty much have to be done with check or cash), and they don't cash it for a long time, then, at some unexpected moment they cash it when you are low on funds. Your online balance won't reflect uncashed checks.

However, all that being said, it does annoy me when people have to record there purchase right there in the check out lane as you wait.

All Online Banking products should both have check imaging and a transaction register. It is more complete record than anyone could do individually. You literally have your scanned checks in an online database. If you want to take it a step further you can simply integrate your transaction report into a personal finance manager like Quicken or Money.

 

Online Banking is by far the greatest security enhancement to have ever entered the banking world, and the research proves this out.

 

[Patrick425]

All Online Banking products should both have check imaging and a transaction register. It is more complete record than anyone could do individually. You literally have your scanned checks in an online database. If you want to take it a step further you can simply integrate your transaction report into a personal finance manager like Quicken or Money.

I understand this and I use all of what you just mentioned. However, unless you check your account online very frequently and verify every transaction, you still could miss errors, mistakes, and unauthorized charges. Also, no matter how much you check your account, uncashed checks will never show up in your online balance.

 

Since both my wife and I use the same account and make frequent transactions (Gas, groceries, atm, resturuants, shopping, automated billings such as water, electric, mortgage, etc) it's not always easy to just scan online and make sure every transaction makes sense or is posted for the correct amount. Keeping a seperate record and balancing the check book is really the best way to verify that what the bank has as a balance is correct.

[Chio151]

... no matter how much you check your account, uncashed checks will never show up in your online balance.

Unless you use a product with a register to lay out your checks. Some online banking products and any personal financial manager would. To some, it is just a matter of habit to write the checks down. We write about 12-15 checks a year, so for me it's not too tough to handle.

 

[tristarscoop]

I have no problem with people writing checks if they're on the ball about it. If I've had to write a check, I have the checkbook out and have my signature, the store's name, the date and my phone number written before I ever get to the front of the line. If it's a short line, I do this before I get in line. THen all I have to do is fill in the amount.

 

I don't see why this is a problem and why more people can't figure it out. I think it's wrong to assume that someone should have to have and use a check card. I have both and have needed to write a check on occasion because I can't find my check card/left it at home/etc...