Hey folks...ok...so I do not usually do 'rant' posts and I'm sure by rant standards this will be mild...but I just had to.
I am not what one would call a 'tree hugger' or huge Earth Day fanatic. I believe in taking care of what God gave us and respecting it just as we'd respect anything we have the blessing to be in possession of. For me, many of my 'green' life decisions also happen because they are economical and I will be green as long as my pocketbook allows. I'm not strapping myself to trees a la Lisa Simpson but I will do my very best to leave the lightest carbon footprint around.
As I've said for some time, I was Green before Green was cool...back then it was called being Poor! (Like that? Feel free to purchase it in my Cafepress shop!
So, I headed off to a local ahem, grocery store today for my weekly shopping. I was inspired by Walkinthewoods to bring my reusable grocery bags which I've had for some time but had always seemed to forget! So I threw my bags in the car and off I went, toddler in tow.
I had my usual buggy full of groceries...and put my bags on the groceries so the cashier would realize I was using them. Mind you, two of them are HUGE sturdy ones that basically stand up on their own, they don't flop over, and one was a smaller one.
Remember, it's Earth Day.
She ACTUALLY calls another cashier OVER to bag for her! To HELP her bag! She asks this, loudly, in between shooting me dirty looks. I, normally a pleasant person (ok, MOST of the time...) was not taking this nicely. I wasn't ugly or anything but I said, "Really, it's NOT a big deal, I will bag my OWN groceries. It's NOT THAT HARD." She never really responded to me and got her friend to come over. The friend basically said I'm not helping you bag..and proceeded to play with my baby (to make a point to her friend who was lazy or what I know not.)
So I ended up bagging my own groceries (no big deal but NOT my job...that's what THEY get paid to do.) and the cashier barely communicated with me other than the dirty looks. I was trying to casually explain how much more I can fit in the big reusable bags and what not. Nope, nothing. Just ticked off that I dared to bring in bags and not use their plastic bags!
Okay, so I realize it is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it was really bad mojo on Earth Day of all days!! I know that where I live, they are WAY behind on eco-friendly, modern, or new ideas. However, if one thinks about it, LOTS of green ideas have been around for a LOOOONG time...reusable bags, handmade soaps, laundry detergents, etc. These are not new ideas! So I hope one day that cashier realizes that A) it is not evil or an inconvenience for your customers to use reusable bags B) that how you treat your customers reflects a lot..I will never go in her line again C) do good and good will come to you....be ugly to people and you will get ugly back!
Okay, rant over, I told you it was mild, I just thought it was ludicrous to whine over using reusable bags...Oye.
HAPPY EARTH DAY everyone!! :)
5 comments:
This is another reason why I love shopping at my BJ's Wholesale club. They don't bag anything. They have bins of boxes. They put out boxes from what they just unloaded from stock and bring it out for us to use. Then we can recycle the boxes, makes it so nice that there's no trash...
I can't imagine what would happen if someone did that to me, I have a big mouth and I probably wouldn't have been as nice and well refined as you were...
Eee-freakin'-gads! I probably would have hailed the attention of a manager. Tsk. Tsk. Then again, maybe she was just having a "bad" day ... still, from a customer service perspective, such behavior is (in my book) simply unacceptable.
In any event, her tune will change as more and more markets offer $ credits for using your own bags ... or, better yet, as the trend is showing, CHARGE customers for not using their own bags.
:D
I'm so sorry to hear about this Amy, but I thought I should give you a bit from a grocery person. Yep I work retail grocery. Where I work we not only support the reusable bags, we were giving away free ones today if you brought in your old plastic bags to exchange. In fact my company is one that supports the ban on plastic bags, that our state is looking to enact, similar to the one in Cali I believe. We also were giving away free CFL's today to help out the environment, thanks in part to our Local Electric company. We also take all those plastic bags that we collect, and we have bins that we do collect year round, and turn them into trash bags. We then resell the trash bags and give all the profits to local schools. So this shocks me, since I live in TX which is known for it's big trucks and not always the most earth friendly, and we are doing things like this. So your local grocer should too!
--James (ClosetCreature on BHR)
I would be curious to know if the store you were at sells its own reusable bags? If yes, then I would make it a point to call the manager and tell them all about your cashier. That is rude and uncalled for. I don't put up with rude cashiers. I've gotten many of them transfered for that type of behavior. If a customer doesn't have a good experience then they might not return to that store. And guess what? People have friends! lol anywho you go girl for using your reusable bags!
Yup they sell reusable bags..
it is a big box store..u can guess which one..just not saying..dont wanna get sued :)
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