Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I can definitely dig the organized bagging thing.  One bad bag of lunchmeat found in the back of your car with the can goods "I`ll take in tomorrow" will put you in that mode.  

I too put everything on the conveyor in a specific order and make sure the checker understands when I ask, "can you bag these the way I have them organized?"  I`ve had pretty good luck so far!

And Eric, NO, I don`t have a super strong swiper arm. I think someone cast a self scanner hex on me as I`ve never broken the swiper in the regular checkout. 

CG

OH MY GOSH...you can do that!? You can ASK them to bag them appropriately!!!?? Man...I never thought about that...I guess I just assumed they were rulers of their little domains there behind their checkers! I will have to try that the next time I go to the grocery store! I once found this amazing checker...she was just about as anal retentive about putting the things in bags as I was about putting them on the conveyor...I even told her how much I appreciated it...and that I would look for her when I came back...and then damned if she didn`t go and quit! Probably realized she should be doing something else...like accounting...or organizational management!

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Leah Tucker

How about Home Despot where they have those .000001 micron thick bags and tear if you put anything sharper than a warm marshmallow in them.

I know they`re saving money by making 1000 bags out of an ounce of material but COME ON!! 

My favorite bags? Trader Joe`s Paper. They`re really strong and fully recyclable.

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~Eric
JE Design Group, LLC
If all you do is what you`ve done, then all you`ll get is what you`ve got.
www.jedesigngroup.com

Oh man...and they come with the best handles!!! I love Trader Joes! Okay...I never understood that either...Lowes has the same issue. They sell CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS...one would guess that they would want you to be able to ACTUALLY get it to the job site!!!  I hate going to Lowes and getting home only to discover that I have slowly lost every tiny piece of plumbing or hardware from a small hole in the bottom of my bag....like I was trying to leave a trail back to Lowes so I would know how to get there!?

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Leah Tucker

Okay...I`ll admit it...just don`t nobody tell anyone. When I`m bored, waiting and standing in line at the checkout counter, I pull out my handy-dandy Swiss army knife and loosen screws wherever they happen to be. Sometimes they`re in big machines, and I don`t know for sure, but they may be the central supports for self-checkout counters. I dunno...I just know my therapist keeps trying to convince me it`s not a valid form of expression, to loosen screws. He`s Freudian, though, and tells me it`s a projection of my mother telling me I had a screw loose for all those formative years. I guess I thought those periodic crashing sounds I heard were similar to the voices that talk with me...just another annoying problem I have to deal with. But now, using careful logic and a reasoned approach, I`m wondering; maybe it`s self-checkout machines falling over? I also wonder...is there a connection? I dunno...it`s a mystery! (It`s hard being me.....<sigh>)

Craig! Are you the guy that loosens bathroom stall doors and the wheels on the shopping carts? I always figured that it was a prankster, but if it was a person trying to come to terms with a troubled youth, then I`ll look at those loose objects and wonder if that person has by now found some sort of resolution............wait a sec.........NO I won`t! For Pete`s sake stop loosening things you goof! :)

I have this picture of you loosening a card reader while purchasing a can of peas. .....odd?

Kathy, yes one of the drawbacks with the self checker is when they have to come help you clear something but look at how often that happens with the regular checkout...."PRICE CHECK ON EX-LAX MAXIMUM STRENGTH ON ISLE 4!".......cringe!

I also don`t like that you can`t do a "Multi" scan if you have forty of one thing. You have to scan each and every one. Ugh!

 

 

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~Eric
JE Design Group, LLC
If all you do is what you`ve done, then all you`ll get is what you`ve got.
www.jedesigngroup.com

I knew it wasn`t just faulty equipment!! I had this funny feeling it was someone doing those things!!! Now I know...I am keeping my eye out fo rguys like you Craig...I am watching now!!!  

Okay...have to admit...definitely don`t like those two points about self-checkout. I usually get caught up because I fail to put it in the bag...I hold things so I can place them in together properly...and then it yells at me! I agree...should work more like a normal checkout!

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Leah Tucker

CRAIG,

ROFL!

I have one word for you: vandalism!

Now I know why the entire credit card machine fell off when I swiped...you were in Fort Lauderdale last winter weren`t you??

I`ve been thinking about a Title for you, (I was thinking Resident Philosopher), perhaps it should be:

Vandalosopher

CG

How odd that you should mention the Germanic people of the Vandals. I was told I might likely spend some time in Vandalia. That being said, and based on intensive research, I`ve learned that there are varying categories of screw looseners. In my sad case, it involves only self-checkout machines, or other large pieces of box-like machinery. (I once nearly was caught loosening the screws on a commercial refrigerator.)

There are, however, other people with a similar problem. It`s not exactly the same, and comes from different sources. Some of these are likely the culprits in loosening shopping-cart wheels. The ones who concentrate on doors in lavatories have what`s called "sh*t for brains." It`s not to be confused with having a screw loose complex, as I`ve mentioned is the case for me.

Although I wish I could stop from doing this, and realize how difficult it must be for some---those who believe self-checkout machines just fall over for no reason---there just isn`t any real cure at the moment. Fortunately, the Americans w/Disabilities Act covers this, although whenever I buy a screwdriver I`m forced to register. <sigh> Oh well, at least I`m sincere in my remorse, right?

YvetteM:  That was totally hilarious.  I don`t shop Walmart since I read a book by Bentley Little called "THE STORE" (great horror fiction if you`re into that stuff).  However, I must confess..... I am one of the dysfunctional in the self-checkout aisle.

Either I am trying to rush through and in my haste bag too fast and end up mucking up the works causing the stupid sirens to go off and assistance to come waving their arms and running towards me or evidently, I stand too close to some people (probably trying to let them know I`m in a hurry and I don`t have time for them to muck up the works).  My last trip to the market a man standing in front of me turned around and said, "exCUUUUse ME!!"  as if I was looking over his shoulder into his wallet or trying to snag his Pin#.  How embarrassing!  He probably was buying Rogaine or something.  Gotta stay far........far.......away from the self checkout lane.