Grovery bags -- Paper or Plastic?

[mikey]

I think the practice of putting coins on top of bills arose with cash registers that computed change.

Before technology, the normal way to count change was to start with the amount of the bill and dispense change from smallest to largest, counting up to the amount tendered. Since computing cash registers, the custom is to count out the amount of change, largest to smallest until the amount of change is reached. The real problem comes at a drive-through window, where you have to balance the coins on the bills across the inaccessable area between the window and the car-like carrying an egg on a spoon. Hardly anyone knows how to count change any more. And yeah, they probably are trained to count it that way.

[elyse]

Explain the coins on the bills to me? I don't understand.

Where do I start? Hmm...

It comes down to two things really-- counting back change properly, and facilitating getting your change back in your pocket, purse, wallet, etc.

If I buy something for say $12.53, and pay with a $20, the cashier should put $0.47 in my empty outstretched hand and say "13", and then hand me the bills counting "14, 15, 20". This doesn't work when they just hand you a few bills and then slap the coins on top.

Also, what do I do with a stack of bills with coins balanced precariously on top with one hand since my other hand is holding my wallet? If the coins are put in my hand first I can kinda palm them while putting the bills back in my wallet. If they don't do this, I have to put my wallet down, pour the coins off the bills into my hand, stuff them in my pocket, and then put the bills in my wallet.

Am I being too much of a nut case here?

No.

[elyse]

No, I just didn't understand. I was thinking of the food counters in Italy where the cashier will do everything possible to avoid touching a Lire. Thought is was a cleanliness issue 

What exactly do cashiers do in Italy?

[elyse]

I think the practice of putting coins on top of bills arose with cash registers that computed change.

Before technology, the normal way to count change was to start with the amount of the bill and dispense change from smallest to largest, counting up to the amount tendered. Since computing cash registers, the custom is to count out the amount of change, largest to smallest until the amount of change is reached.

No, there were old registers that computed the change and sent it down a curved chute. Remember those?

Anyone who wants no bag, or paper only, or whatever, repeat it until they change it over for you, or change it yourself. You don't have to go away unsatisfied. I rarely, if ever take bags. I keep old plastic bags in my bag, and my bag is almost always with me.

[hillbill]

No, there were old registers that computed the change and sent it down a curved chute.  Remember those?

Some places have a neo-computerized version of those. I'm pretty sure that Wendy's does.

[elyse]

I was just at a Wendy's in Jersey. None there.

[hillbill]

I was just at a Wendy's in Jersey.  None there.

I think that the burger club is going to have to explore the culinary delights of the Staten Island's Wendy's.

BTW, isn't Elyse in a Wendy's a scandal on the order of, say Rush L. abusing drugs or (insert your favorite scandalous behavior by the famous here)???????????

[elyse]

Because of my Burger Club?

[hillbill]

Because of my Burger Club?

Yes, that is scandalous behavior for the president of the Burger Club, n'est-ce pas? And even if it isn't the tabloids will turn it into one! (But it is! )

[NHCountryGirl]

My grocery store used to give a credit for reusing bags (paper or plastic) but for some reason gave it up a couple of years ago.

I usually get plastic, and I reuse them for many of the same things already mentioned.

I don't understand their bagging methods, though. Like knowing how to count back change, I think grocery bagging is a lost art. They'll put 3 or 4 light things into two bags, then put a 1/2 gallon of milk and o.j. in one bag.

Sometimes I redistribute the items, and hand them back the 2 or 3 bags they used in excess. Usually, I just thank them and shake my head.

I agree with the post about those plastic produce bags. They can be very difficult and frustrating to open. I never use those little yellow or orange plastic closers - just tie them in a knot. And. I only use them for things like green beans or nuts that have to be in something. A bunch of bananas, 3 oranges, whatever - they don't need to be in a bag.

Have any of you tried using the self scanners? That way you can make sure the prices are going in right, and bag your own. I have to admit, that unless I have just a few items, I prefer the full service.

[mudbug]

oops! feel free to delete this

Edited October 26, 2003 by mudbug (log)

[mudbug]

It's hard to find good help nowadays... isn't it? Either as cashiers or the proper training for them.

Anyway, I heard a certified arborist speak this spring. Cindy Garner, urban forester for the Missouri Department of Conservation. She said it is more environmentally friendly to choose paper because it is from a renewable resource which can be grown in our lifetime as opposed to plastic bags which are made of a non-renewable petroleum resource.

While there are pros and cons to both in many aspects, I prefer 'paper' primarily because I can bring extras to the recycling center and of all things they don't accept plastic bags. Wal-Mart is the only place I know of which accepts plastic bags for recycling. So in all reality, it would be best to use canvas bags because then I wouldn't have to worry about it!

Here's an interesting article on the topic.

[MHesse]

For the August version of this topic click here.

We like to get the paper / plastic combo because the paper stiffens up the bags in the shopping cart we push around the streets of NYC (no car). The plastic provides either rain protection, handles to carry the paper with, and disposal containers for cat litter clumps. I give the extras to a friend who walks dogs.

They still know how to pack bags at Fairway, though it doesn't hurt to put the heavy items at the front of the belt so they end up in the bottom of the bag.

--mh

[elyse]

Anyway, I heard a certified arborist speak this spring. Cindy Garner, urban forester for the Missouri Department of Conservation. She said it is more environmentally friendly to choose paper because it is from a renewable resource which can be grown in our lifetime as opposed to plastic bags which are made of a non-renewable petroleum resource.

Interesting. The Council for The Environment in NYC used to say the opposite.

[v_wang]

When doing a big grocery shopping, I always take my backpack. Though often my eyes are bigger than my bag, so I end up with a super-huge backpack and two or three bags, tottering precariously on my bike all the way home. I generally carry a pretty large shoulder bag anyway, so when I'm only getting one or two things, I toss 'em in there, though I have forgotten cheese there overnight before...yum. On the rare occasion that my everyday bag is too small and I don't have my backpack, I get plastic, cause those are easier to balance on a bike. And somehow, with all this effort, we still have a whole cupboard of bags at home.

And yeah, trying to pack up my backpack at that tiny little checkout counters with the cashier and lineup all glaring at me...that irritates me.

[bloviatrix]

I was at Fairway uptown this morning. The bagger put my groceries into 3 bags. Keeping this thread in mind, I asked if she could combine everything into 1 bag. So she put two of the bags each with groceries into the last one. I returned home with 3 bags, when all I wanted was one.

[foodie52]

Well, I'm still a part-time checker and have been enjoying your responses! The latest news is that I have developed an allergy to the paper bags: I guess it is the wood fibers? Anyway, unless I wear long sleeves, the constant brushing up against the bag while filling it causes red welts to come up on my arms.

Nice.

My favorite customer ( and I mean this ) this last week was the gal who

1. brought her own canvas bags and,

2. sorted her groceries on the belt according to wet/dry, heavy/light.

I know, I know....let's not get too anal here! BUT...I was able to check her out quickly, she had something to do while in line and we were both happy at the end of the transaction!

I am making the effort to give customers their change in a user-friendly way. I give them the loose change first. Then the bills. Then the receipt.

This is all new to me: I'm a foodie and am checking temporarily while hiring is going on. It's been an eye-opener.

Remember: your cashier is a real person! A smile goes a long way. And keep on bringing your own bags. Think of it as a grass-roots campaign.

[Al_Dente]

I am making the effort to give customers their change in a user-friendly way. I give them the loose change first. Then the bills. Then the receipt.

A convert! Another example of eGullet making the world a better place!

[hjshorter]

2. sorted her groceries on the belt according to wet/dry, heavy/light.

Is that weird? I always do that.

I also have my master grocery list on my desktop, sorted by category/aisle. Maybe I am a nutcase.

[coolranch]

I usually go for the paper--I use it to hold paper recycling.

I really should do the canvas bags, mr. coolranch and I were talking about that the other day.

Foodie---I had a great bagger at the south store. She was slower than a pregnant pole vaulter, but everything was packed so well we could forgive that. It is a dying art.

Does David Letterman still have the champion grocery bagger on his show every year? I remember he used to compete against them.

I usually try to pre-sort the groceries on the conveyor belt.

[hillbill]

2. sorted her groceries on the belt according to wet/dry, heavy/light.

Is that weird? I always do that.

I sort stuff both out of consideration and because it is much more likely that the stuff will go into the bags in a reasonable way instead of just being thrown in any which way.

I also have my master grocery list on my desktop, sorted by category/aisle.  Maybe I am a nutcase.

There are numerous "shopping list" programs for PDAs so if you're a "nutcase" you have plenty of company!

[tryska]

i typically get plastic and one paper bag, well it depends on my shopping really.

i liek the plastic bags for all kinds of stuff, garbage bags for little trashbins, kitty litter holder, prep refuse all of that stuff.

i use them allt he time for soemthign or the other. the brown paper bag when i get one is for ripening fruit in, or as someone else said, to have a standing trash bag during prep.

[KateW]

Every time I go grocery shopping I think about posting here and I'm finally doing it.

I got so tired of asking for paper and getting paper within plastic that now I just let them do their thing with plastic only and I rearrange stuff when I get to the car. Why must they pack by category? I appreciate them trying to organize my stuff for me but it's all going to the same place in the end...my kitchen...so I don't need all the bread (light) in one bag and all the produce (heavy) in another, and so on...and a separate bag for one tube of toothpaste, what's up with that? The meat together and the frozen stuff together is ok, but those end up pretty heavy too. I have to lug these things across my parking lot and up 3 flights of stairs, sometimes taking 4 trips or so. I suppose if I'm so picky I should just jump in and do it myself instead of waiting for the bagger, who in turn waits for ALL my groceries to be rung through before he/she starts bagging.

I organize my groceries by type when they go to be rung through, for the cashier's convenience but I don't expect them to be bagged that way.

I guess I'm being to hard on them. It must be hard to not mix ready to eat and raw food, put heavy food on the bottom, breakable things on top, separate chemicals, and STILL end up with managable bags.

[foodie52]

Well, I forgot to tell you all that , where I work, the checker is also the bagger. So while I am checking, I am also bagging and talking to the customer if it appears that he/she is in a sociable mood!

Everyone has an opinion about how their groceries should be bagged. I say,"Paper or plastic?" The responses vary as follows:

1.Paper, please

2.Plastic

3.Dry stuff in paper and wet in plastic, please

4.Dry, heavy stuff in paper. Put the wet stuff in plastic, but then put it into a paper bag.

5.I don't care. Whatever is easiest for you.

6.I don't care. Whatever will get me out of here the fastest.(I usually don't talk to these customers, but concentrate on "speed bagging!")

7.Neither. I brought my own bags.

8.I don't need a bag for that.

9.Paper. And double bag it because that stuff is heavy.

10.Plastic. And double bag it because I have to drive two hours to get home and I don't want the ice to melt. In fact, if you could double bag it and put it all in a paper bag, that would be great.

And there you have it....

Thanks very much and have a great day!

[therese]

"Counting up" is a lost art. I worked a register (at a McDonald's, don't tell anybody) that didn't compute change, and also didn't compute tax, so I had to do it in my head. I also worked a cinema concession stand where there were no registers all, just brains.

Anyway, counting up is making change starting with the smallest coin and finishing with the largest denomination bill.

These days cashiers are so clueless that they frequently can't handle it if you give them change with a bill such that they don't have to give you as many coins in return: if the bill is $5.25 and you give them $10.25 it takes them a minute to figure it out. If the bill is $17.27 and you give them $20.02 you can expect them to hand back the pennies. Not always, but pretty frequently.