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Original poster

I'm not being weird thinking this is a bit odd, am I?

110 replies

MrsChemist · 20/01/2011 18:17

Went to the shop to pick up some bits, and when the lady was packing my bag she asked me if it was ok to snap a baguette in half so it would fit in the shopping bag. She then added, 'or you could have it sticking out of the bag,' in a tone that seemed to say that letting it stick out would be pure madness.

It's not angered me or anything, I'm just wondering if it's odd for shop staff to essentially, cheerfully offer to damage shopping for their customers.

I declined, and put it under my pram. She seemed a tiny bit put out that I didn't take her up on her practical offer.

It was weird, right?

OP posts:
MissMarjoribanks · 21/01/2011 11:42

Nonono. You break the baguette. Then fold the bag over.

oldraver · 21/01/2011 11:38

I'm weird then. I snap it in half

Quenelle · 21/01/2011 11:38

"Having trouble fitting that large box of cornflakes into your shopping bag? Why not just empty out the contents. They take up far less room."

But if you snap a baguette doesn't it make the two inside ends dry so you can't eat them?

GetOrfMoiLand · 21/01/2011 11:34

Add message | Report | Message poster Scaredycat3000 Fri 21-Jan-11 10:54:06
I used to break my baguette in half, to fit in my bag better, or it became difficult to turn corners on my moped with a full length baguette between my legs.
I once took 30+ cucumbers to the staff after finding some dear child had been allowed to bite a chunk though the plastic and flesh of every cucumbers.

thenightsky · 21/01/2011 11:24

Am I the only person who is wondering how the hell breaking a baguette in half helps with packing Confused

the accompanying bag is only wide enough to fit one loaf. You couldn't fit the two halves side by side in the bag could you? Or do baguette snappers also tear your bag in half? But if you do that you are gonna end up with one half of bag that is open at both ends. Argh.

And shops that don't tape up the end of the bag piss me off. How much does an inch of sellotape cost FFS.

MackerelOfFact · 21/01/2011 11:03

"it became difficult to turn corners on my moped with a full length baguette between my legs"

PMSL Grin

BendyBob · 21/01/2011 10:57

Oh no! Then it'd dry out where it had been brokenSad.

Imagine having that conversation in France...blimey that'd go down well I don't thinkGrin

pipplin · 21/01/2011 10:54

Haha how bizarre!

Scaredycat3000 · 21/01/2011 10:54

I used to break my baguette in half, to fit in my bag better, or it became difficult to turn corners on my moped with a full length baguette between my legs.
I once took 30+ cucumbers to the staff after finding some dear child had been allowed to bite a chunk though the plastic and flesh of every cucumbers.

EvelynTension · 21/01/2011 10:50

In medieval and Renaissance siege warfare, a common tactic was to dig a shallow trench close to the enemy gate, and then erect a small hoisting engine that would lift the lit petard out of the trench, swing it up, out, and over to the gate, where it would detonate and hopefully breach the gate.[citation needed] This procedure might go awry; the engineer lighting the bomb could be snagged in the ropes, lifted out with the petard, and consequently blown up.

from Wiki

sue52 · 21/01/2011 10:50

I've been on Atkins for 9 days. I'd sell my soul for a baguette, snapped or whole.

SoMuchToBits · 21/01/2011 10:48

Dictionary says a case containing an explosive.

SoMuchToBits · 21/01/2011 10:45

I always imagined a petard to be some sort of flagpole...... Hmm

Honeydragon · 21/01/2011 10:44

Sad I can't afford a whole baguette to be snapped...not when it works out 11p cheaper to buy two medium ones Grin

This works out better as it means the dog gets four noggins instead of two. Smile

belgo · 21/01/2011 10:38

I sometimes break them in half to fit them in a bag. Is this wrong?Blush

They always need to be eaten the same day anyway so they don't have time to get dry.

EvelynTension · 21/01/2011 10:37

I think a petard is actually a device used to hurl explosives at a wall or building etc, a bit like a sort of catapult.

I could be wrong. You could easily be hoist with one if so.

Original poster
MrsChemist · 21/01/2011 10:20

I wonder how she would have done it?

OP posts:
mommmmyof2 · 21/01/2011 10:18

I am going to request someone do it for me next time just to see what they say Grin

FruitSaladIsNotPudding · 21/01/2011 10:16

Staff in my local sainsburys always offer to do this. Maybe a regional thing (although I can't think why on earth it would be!) We're in se London.

mommmmyof2 · 21/01/2011 10:08

Thing is, its wrapped up so breaking the actual baguette is one thing but how was she going to break the wrapper properly?

Original poster
MrsChemist · 21/01/2011 10:07

Sounds like a plan Mackerel Grin though it doesn't help the baguette much. Baguette packaging isn't very cumbersome to begin with.

OP posts:
MackerelOfFact · 21/01/2011 10:01

I think I was asked this once, and agreed not quite knowing what she meant. And then I was seething because I had intended to cut my baguette into 3 equal sized pieces.

Next time I go shopping I'm going to unwrap everything once it's been through the scanner, tip everything in my bag, and leave all the packaging at the till. I'm sure it'll fit better in the bag that way, especially if the liquid items permeate the porous onces.

MrsEricBana · 21/01/2011 09:57

Was it raining and she didn't want you to have an, erm, soggy end?

(have to say I do jab my baguettes well down after an unsnapped one which must have had an uncharacteristically high centre of gravity escaped from my shopping bag while I was struggling to unlock the front door and made off down our hill. This has also happened to my raspberries - grrr Grin)

BuckBuckMcFate · 21/01/2011 09:46

Baguette breaking is bonkers!

I am going to make a confession of my dimness now, I knew what the expression 'hoisted by one's own petard' meant as in trip yourself up, however, I didn't know it was an explosive. I've always imagined it to be a 1920's swimming costume/leotard type thing and it meant giving yourself a wedgie! Blush

Heroine · 21/01/2011 09:45

baguette rage is so [courgette]

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