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Original poster

To hate supermarket tillers commenting on my groceries

120 replies

rightothatsmethen · 25/08/2011 11:49

I know they are being kind but I always seem to have them pick up stuff Im buying, look ate me with a raised eyebrow and question how much it costs.

This morning I was buying a bag of cherries and the lady picked them up and halted proceedings with a "These are five pounds" "Are you sure you want them?"

Cue me feeling like I was in some onscure game show, while two of them gathered with shocked faces afore me and in back of me in the queue while, against the clock, I had to decide.

"Will I? , Wont I?. Oh my god, is £5 a lot for cherries? Will I look cheap if I say no? Will I look frivolous if i through caution to the wind and buy these gold plated cherries?"

Really its too much. Anyway I bought the cherries.

OP posts:
BigBangersTheory · 25/08/2011 12:32

I thought it was cashier!?

I've never had this, thank god. I do feel a bit embarrassed when a young male cashier rings up my 3 month tampon stash, or 3 for £7 frilly knickers though!

I love to have a good gawp look at other people's shopping at the till though. A few weeks ago we had a home delivery messed up and received half of someone else's groceries. We got a bottle of gin, loads of pot noodles, 16 cans of pepsi and a giant bar of chocolate. The supermarket in question wouldn't take them back! A student somewhere is starving.

SocialButterfly · 25/08/2011 12:33

Haha Bloodymary it certainly tingles Grin

hester · 25/08/2011 12:34

I like to make conversation at the checkout, but I hate hate hate it when they comment on what I'm buying. This may be partly because I used to have anorexia and really feel invaded when people notice what I'm eating, or planning to eat. But it really bothers me.

Also bothers me when they leaf through the magazine I'm just buying, to have a quick read before they take my money. Unbelievably cheeky.

DontCallMeBaby · 25/08/2011 12:36

The cherries thing is kind of okay, I've had that done to me - do sympathise with the 'how do I react?!' dilemma though. :o

I REALLY disliked having one Tesco cashier comment on how MUCH my shopping came to. I think there was an 'ouch' involved. I know I'm not the most frugal shopper in the world, but I can afford it, and people like me keep people like her in jobs.

Mind you I also don't know quite how to react to M&S cashiers admiring my purchases - I guess they're trained to do this, it seems pretty consistent? "Oh, this is a lovely colour." "Yes, that's why I'm buying it."

Crosshair · 25/08/2011 12:37

SocialButterfly :o

claracluck71 · 25/08/2011 12:41

Last NYE I popped to the local supermarket to get some champagne (nothing like forward planning). They didn't have much of a choice left, but I selected a reasonably pricey bottle - about £35 I think. I went to the checkout and the young girl at the till ran it past the scanner and said 'bloody hell that's expensive'. I felt myself going red and mumbled something along the lines of it being a special occassion, and she started telling me how they had some really good stuff on offer and I could get two bottles for a tenner! Not just that, but that it was better to buy cheaper stuff as it didn't cost so much to get drunk. I think I must be getting old!

beanandspud · 25/08/2011 12:45

Grin at SocialButterfly

I did some 'tillling' as a Saturday job and always remember a man just buying Durex and squirty cream. I was far too young and Blush to comment but I do wonder whether he enjoyed his evening...

DoMeDon · 25/08/2011 12:48

You mean people make converstation and sometimes it's not your cup of tea!?!? Shock Anyone would think we're all different and have different levels of what is/not acceptable!! Hmm

tootiredtomakeupagoodname · 25/08/2011 12:49

It doesn't bother me at all but when my FIL died last year I went to supermarket with MIL to buy food and drink for the wake. I was 39 weeks pregnant at the time and the cashier asked if we were having a party to which MIL replied straight faced "no, it's for my husbands funeral". I think the poor woman wanted the ground to swallow her up.

NevermindtheNargles · 25/08/2011 12:50

I quite like it. I got a "good luck" when I bought a pregnancy test once. Nothing else, no intrusive questions or anything. I thought that was nice.

I also get a lot more questions now that I buy baby stuff. I never take DS with me, so I always get "what have you got?" "how old?" All that kind of thing.

I find it really awkward not talking when you have to stand there with someone for ages while they do something for you.

I must admit though, I've never had anyone comment on the size of my pants vs amount of ice cream I've bought. There is a line.

NevermindtheNargles · 25/08/2011 12:50

I quite like it. I got a "good luck" when I bought a pregnancy test once. Nothing else, no intrusive questions or anything. I thought that was nice.

I also get a lot more questions now that I buy baby stuff. I never take DS with me, so I always get "what have you got?" "how old?" All that kind of thing.

I find it really awkward not talking when you have to stand there with someone for ages while they do something for you.

I must admit though, I've never had anyone comment on the size of my pants vs amount of ice cream I've bought. There is a line.

SequinsAndSparkles · 25/08/2011 12:50

Yes, I had this on Monday! In fact, I nearly started a thread about it myself because it is SO annoying.

There is a guy in our local tesco that I always avoid if I can, because he will make mindless comments about every item I am buying, bitch about colleagues, yet if somebody walks past he will stop them and chat, midway through scanning my bloody shopping.

I had to go through his till on Monday, his was the only one with a reasonably short queue. I was stocking up on lentils, different types of beans/whole foods...and on every one, he would pick it up, frown at it, try and pronounce the name and say 'What are these? What do you use them in? Are you vegetarian? I don't like those healthy foods' Hmm

Just scan the effing shopping!

I don't, however, mind the friendly lady who tells me that something I'm buying is particuarly nice. She is the kind who always says 'Oh that is delicious, my husband and I had that at weekend.' That I don't mind, the constant questions and analysis of my shopping trolley however...so annoying.

Thankyou, OP, for giving me a place to get this off my chest! Grin Grin

catpark · 25/08/2011 12:50

The correct term is actually Checkout operater not tiller . I work as one part time while the girls are young and we are told to make conversation with customers and if appropriate comment on the purchases. e.g. Sun tan lotion, we can use that to talk about holidays etc. But we aren't suppossed to be rude or judgemental to customers.

Jugglingjemima · 25/08/2011 12:53

A friend of mine took her two pre-schoolers to Tesco and did a massive shop, mainly wine and nibbles (and I think hired glasses). As she paid, the girl (it was a very young woman, not that that makes a difference) said, 'Enjoy your party!'. Oops. My friend had just (obviously) had a horrific week and had held it all together until that moment. She said, slowly, 'It is not for a party, it is for my fucking husband's funeral'. Poor girl.

SouthernShepherdess · 25/08/2011 12:54

Unless they are being negative in some way..what's really the problem? They are just trying to make conversation and maybe attempting to be helpful and friendly in their own way. Not really worth getting uptight about imo..unless someone is being horrible or negative in some way. They have quite a dull job and maybe chatting and commenting makes their job a bit less tedious. So perhaps they should just introduce robots on the checkout! lol

proudfoot · 25/08/2011 13:03

YANBU

I also think it's rude and annoying for people to comment on shopping. It is none of their bloody business what I buy!

schroeder · 25/08/2011 13:04

Oh that tingle lube is horrible! It makes your bits not feel like your own iykwim Confused

Original poster
rightothatsmethen · 25/08/2011 13:18

sorry, Im not british...maybe thats the problem (re the term tiller)

OP posts:
Original poster
rightothatsmethen · 25/08/2011 13:21

Oh and by the way, I like the conversation. I never suggested I didnt. Just dont like them questioning what I am buying.

OP posts:
EvenLessNarkyPuffin · 25/08/2011 13:25

Tillers.

Original poster
rightothatsmethen · 25/08/2011 13:26

OOOOO fabulous, they are great!

OP posts:
EvenLessNarkyPuffin · 25/08/2011 13:29

More fun than these.

Betty Boothroyd former speaker of the House of Commons was a Tiller girl. Fact of the day.

SierraMadre · 25/08/2011 13:29

I would like them to have signs like the "ten items or fewer less" sign that say "Chatty" and "Not Chatty". Chatty and quick I can cope with. Chatty and slow or, even worse, wise cracking and thinks they're above all this, I can't.

There's one guy in our local Sainsburys that manages to get the fact that he's studying for a PhD in everytime...

Feminine · 25/08/2011 13:36

I don't mind checkout banter at all,unless the cashier has bad breath.

Where I live there is one lady with that problem ,so for that reason I avoid her.

TrillianAstra · 25/08/2011 13:46

Making conversation, I'm not always in the mood but it's a reasonable thing to do. Commenting is annoying, unless it's very bland and positive like "that's nice".