Today I would like to discuss this innovative idea, which I have been recently observing in the grocery store. It’s a little area with a bag setup, so while you are waiting around for the cashier to scan your groceries, you can start bagging them yourself.
On the one hand, you almost want to go “Bravo—well done!” to whatever efficiency consultant just up and moved that bagging station over to your side, because that IS going to save a lot of time, and why didn’t someone think of that before? That’s the kind of innovative thinking that will probably someday appear in one of those grocery store studies, where “This store cut an average of 3 minutes off of their checkout time, increased customer satisfaction with the store by 12%, and won the innovation consultant an award for clever usability.”
So—in THEORY I think it’s genius to move it over there, and maybe it will shut up some of the people who are screaming into their cellphones instead of making actual eye contact with the cashier.
But, on the other hand…..
Yes, there is another hand, because things can’t just be simple, ok?
I’m conflicted about this concept. For one thing, I did not train in the grocery bagging arts, so I have NO IDEA where to put the groceries in relation to one another. I do have a graduate degree, so I am smart enough to know not to put eggs and bread on the bottom, but seriously—don’t they give you some kind of bagger training when you actually work at the store, so you know not to put a whole bunch of cans in one bag or they might break? What about including something like Clorox Clean-up in the same bag as, say, fruits and vegetables? Again, I think I’m reasonable enough to discern that this would probably not be a good idea, but is everyone? What about liability issues, if the food doesn’t make it home because someone doesn’t bag it properly, or if someone (God forbid) gets sick or dies because of mishandling of food during the bagging process?
This brings me to my next point, which is—I’m at a grocery store, not a farmer’s market. The food costs more because it includes the cost of getting it there, AND the cost of checkout, meaning that if they move the bagging station over to my side, I am actually paying that cashier’s wages AND performing her job. They’re not offering me a discount for bagging, and yet the presence of the bagging station implies that I should pitch in and help, and now I’m the a-hole if I don’t, right? I can only pretend I don’t see it for so long before I am just blatantly acknowledging that I DON’T WANT TO HELP THEM BAG THOSE GROCERIES, ok? THAT IS NOT MY JOB. I don’t know how to do it, and to be honest, I don’t want to know. Not to get too far onto my high horse here, but seriously. SERIOUSLY! I am not helping with that.
Do they have this in your store? Are you on the fence, or did you dig right in there and start bagging those groceries up yourself, and I am the only one who thinks this way and now I am a horrible person?
Also—today’s writing prompt was: “Do you listen to music when you’re writing,” and the answer is yes, I do, and sometimes I listen to old tv shows in the background when I’m writing, because I have the kind of brain that goes too fast, and so loud music and/ or tv creates a Ritalin effect in my brain and allows me to focus and get things done. Here is an interview all about what kind of music I listened to while I was writing Hollywood Car Wash, which you should totally read if you haven’t already. Oh, and did I mention I have not only a YA novel, but also a marketing guide for authors coming out soon? I listen to A LOT of music, and I write a lot, and sometimes I am distracted by the internet, so I drive to a remote locate, blast music in my headphones, and write in the back of my car. Does anyone else do that?
