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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to think the bag packers might be at the wrong end of the tills

108 replies

5Foot5 · 21/12/2013 22:46

Today I did the Big Christmas Food Shop and, after toiling my way around the supermarket, I was slightly dismayed on reaching the tills to see that the Scouts were doing a bag-pack. Now I don't want to be mean but I am really not keen to have some well-meaning but fumbling child pack my shopping at any time, when I am about to spend a small fortune on all my Christmas food then this is true in spades. I have nothing but admiration for the people who give up their own time to run organisations like this but I felt that only a man (and I know it doesn't have to be the case but today all the scout masters were men) would think this bag-pack was a good idea on the weekend before Christmas.

So, I know this doesn't have to be a problem as I can just politely say "No, thank you" and give them a donation anyway. However, as I was watching the lady in front of me put her shopping on the conveyor belt it suddenly occurred to me that there is a much more useful service that they could offer.

Have you ever been in that situation where you have bought loads and find that by the time your shopping is being scanned you are still at the end of the belt unloading your trolley? You can see all your shopping piling up at the other end and you can't get to bag it until you have finished getting it all out. That is where the bag-packers would come in handy. Not mangling your shopping by packing it in bags any old how but simply getting it out of the trolley for you so that you can go down to the other end and pack it yourself.

I ran this idea past the woman in front of me in the queue and she agreed with me.

So, to anyone out there who organises this sort of activity - just a thought for future events.....

OP posts:

soontobeslendergirl · 22/12/2013 19:54

As I said before, one person gave my son £10. He has just told me it was because he has his Gold chief scout badge and the man used to be in Scouts and recognised the hard work and commitment he had to put in to get the badge (including community work).

When they came round and did a first empty of the boxes, there were also a fair few £5 notes in there.

Clearly not everyone sees them as a nuisance.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 22/12/2013 20:35

soontobeslendergirl... I feel a bit guilty now having referred to them as a nuisance, that wasn't fair of me really - and a bit hypocritical as I gave a lovely granddad, bag-packing with his GD £5 for making me blush and laugh. That was in the Summer though, not Christmas week with mad shoppers. I do get it, it's a 'bonus' week really for bag packers.

swampytiggaa... you sound very dedicated. I'm going to see if there's a scout/beaver group locally to find out what they do. I'd be happy to do something to support them. Would never have thought of that without your posts today. :)

soontobeslendergirl · 22/12/2013 20:49

Aww Lyingwitch, that sounds really great, I am sure they would love to have you. For every beaver and Cub and Scout there who's parents support them, there is another one who is sent along to get them out from under their parents feet. It's those kids that get a chance to get to go places and do things that they wouldn't otherwise do.

And, I'll probably get flamed for this but I'll say it anyway. There are a lot of young boys being brought up without a positive male role model. Most primary teachers are female and while a lot of scout leaders nowadays are too, they tend to be the ones that are happy to be climbing trees and going camping etc. It is also good for the girls who come along to see the female leaders and male leaders mucking in and doing all the jobs (i.e. both cooking and lighting fires etc etc.

swampytiggaa · 22/12/2013 20:51

Aww thank you! I am only a lowly section assistant so I am sort of crowd control for over excited small children but they love it so much its worth it!

Fun evenings we have had this term include someone coming in to teach us all ukelele :) a campfire night - a trip to the local train station and an evening at the local community radio station. Altho I got the giggles when the DJ announced that he was doing his show surrounded by beavers ;)

Next term we are taking them to a local(ish) zoo then a sleepover in the scout hut. We may have a couple explode with excitement when they realise.

DameDeepRedBetty · 22/12/2013 21:12

soontobeslendergirl I'm certainly not going to flame you for saying that! Describing the way things are is not inflammatory, pretending that it doesn't matter is what gets my goat.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 22/12/2013 21:20

soonertobeslendergirl and swampytiggaa, I think your groups are very lucky to have you with them. I've always tended to do more with elderly folks' homes, Christmas lunches, etc. and I'd like to do more at the other end of the spectrum too, with some of the young people in the area.

... and when I next see a bag packer, I will chuck some coins in and think of you both.

PrimalLass · 22/12/2013 21:22

My kid is doing it tomorrow. I'll suggest that they might like to put the stuff on the conveyor belts instead.

soontobeslendergirl · 22/12/2013 21:33

Thank you Lying :) I'm not a leader, just a parent who doesn't feel it is too much to ask to go along and support the boys and girls. I am lucky in that my two are close in age and therefore and in it together. I appreciate that some people may be single parents with younger children to look after and/or have no transport. There were a few Grans along helping out today too though.

primal to get things going, I went to the other side of the tills and patrolled up and down and if there were elderly people, or people on their own with a big trolley, I offered to load it up for them - it kept the till queues down too and it then meant that the customers were able to go down to the packing end and either do it themselves if they preferred, or direct the boys and girls as to how to pack. It also meant that I could put all the frozen food or raw meat or cooked meat or toiletries up together meaning that the kids had a better chance of getting it right!

Just heard that we made over £2.5k today!! Good luck for tomorrow!

TheMeaningOfLifeIs42 · 22/12/2013 21:36

What about some runners up the central aisle not sure how exactly it would work maybe a flip chart in the entrance explaining but when you get half way round your shopping and think oh I didnt pick up the x from aisle 1 you could send them to get it

swampytiggaa · 22/12/2013 21:38

We like constructive criticism :) helps us be more helpful!

Dib dib dib etc

soontobeslendergirl · 22/12/2013 21:43

Themeaning there were staff on duty that were doing that today. I did run a few times and get Wine packing boxes and things but I think if you sent a scout off they may end up doing a "man look" or being gone for hours, getting distracted in the sweetie aisle and forgetting what he/she went for. They are nice kids but some are more switched on than others

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 22/12/2013 21:52

meaningoflife... YY to runners, they'd be really helpful! I'm always forgetting stuff.

liquidstate · 22/12/2013 22:01

I always put my stuff in order on the conveyor belt anyhow so it does not bother me. actually I put it in order in the trolley too

I like having the scouts and guides helping out. I agree that it would be good to have extra helpers helping to unpack as well. great Idea

soontobeslendergirl · 22/12/2013 22:17

backforgood I've just worked out that we made over £20 per till per hour!

BackforGood · 22/12/2013 23:59

Wow, that's fantastic soontobeslendergirl - all depends on the area you are in I suppose. Great news though.

Swampy - it's dyb, dyb, dyb (Do Your Best)

ChatNicknameUnavailable · 23/12/2013 00:02

In our Tesco they've just introduced a Scan and shop which I am actually in love with.

You get a handheld scanner, scan your items yourself as you go around and put them straight in the bags. When you get to the till, you just upload the scanner details (30 seconds) and pay, then leave with your already-packed shopping. Absolute heaven!

soontobeslendergirl · 23/12/2013 08:41

Backforgood it was a Morrisons on the outskirts of the town, so a real mixture of customers. We have Tesco, a huge Sainsburys, a Waitrose, M&S Food, Lidl, Aldi, Farmfoods and Asda all within a reasonable distance so I guess you do get the middle ground in Morrisons.

There were Cubs packing in the M&S food yesterday too (which is in a much more affluent area), but that only has about 6 tills and it would be the parents/leaders that were packing as they don't allow under 16s. But it will be interesting to compare.

swampytiggaa · 23/12/2013 09:20

Thank you backforgood! Have only been properly involved for a couple of years - still have a lot to learn

BackforGood · 23/12/2013 13:17

dd out again today, and tomorrow, then rest on Wednesday

DeckTheHallsWithBoughsOfHorry · 23/12/2013 16:41

I've just been to Morrisons. There were bag packers there collecting for the local children's hospice.

My girl spotted me with 6wo in sling and offered to empty trolley on to conveyor belt without prompting. She even asked if there was a particular order for them to go in...

Someone is a MNer!

Original poster

5Foot5 · 23/12/2013 16:45

DeckTheHallsWithBoughsOfHorry

Result!!!

OP posts:

BackforGood · 23/12/2013 17:04

SugarHut · 23/12/2013 17:23

They are not annoying children. They are children giving up their time to raise money for something they believe in. This doesn't change the fact that they are not particularly skilled or thoughtful in the bag packing department.

I had a young bod at Waitrose today. Cadet looking uniform. Maybe somewhere around 10-11yrs old? Whilst I was still unpacking... with the belt not even full, the cashier started scanning and he was cramming food haphazardly into bags. I didn't notice for about 20 seconds, by which time, he'd wedged custard, and two bottles of bleach firmly on top of a loaf of bread and a pack of bread rolls. Resulting in a "Oh, hold on sweetie!!" Dash over and stop him. Unpack what he's done, cashier has to call someone to replace the now unsaleable flattened items. And finishing with a "Thank you, I think I'm ok from here." Which he was openly quite annoyed about, as if I should have been grateful.

I did see this post last night though, and did say to the cashier, she should recommend that they unload, not pack. Had the queues not been down the aisles, I would have been willing to let him help with the unloading, but frankly, everyone is rapidly losing their festive spirit after doing a huge shop in a rammed supermarket, they're just wanting to get out of the place as quickly as possible, and were not in the mood to wait any longer in a 10+ trolley long queue (on every check out) while a child took twice the time to pack/unload the trolley.

I do get that it's the busiest time for them to get donations....but from a consumers view...if there's ever a time you don't want a child taking twice as long "helping" you at the check out, and squishing/piercing items that are probably more expensive than what you buy through out the rest of the year...it's when you're doing THE Christmas supermarket mission.

FortyDoorsToNowhere · 23/12/2013 17:28

Just don't mess with my system.

I just ask to scouts to talk to DS about what it's like to be a scout, in hoping he will spark an interest.

Always give a donation

BackforGood · 23/12/2013 17:37

I've just read a message on FB from one of dd's Jamboree Leaders (out on his 3rd consecutive day of bag packing) saying how lovely it is that in the last hour, about 20 people have taken the time to stop and say to him what a great job the youngsters are doing and how fantastic it is to see young people looking so smart and giving up their time to raise money together.
Clearly Sugarhut - the Leaders' there should have given direction beforehand, but that is clearly not everyone's experience.

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