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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to be irrationally grumpy when having refused help with my packing, the checkout person seems to do super speed beeping.....

63 replies

fettleandbabyfettle · 02/02/2008 16:34

That's it really! Harmless Saturday afternoon question!

Don't really like other people packing for me, as they appear not to care about how they pack and then eggs break, raw meat and bleach with fruit etc etc. But I almost feel as if I've been rude for refusing their kind offer of help, thereby making them want to prove that I can't manage packing on my own!!!

I'm probably just a slow incompentent packer, but that delivery belt always seems to keep on moving despite my shopping building up!

BTW - I'll be the first to admit that I'm a bit anal about my packing - cold with cold, fruit and veg together, raw meats together etc, but it does make unpacking at home much easier if everything is together!

OP posts:

Threadworm · 02/02/2008 19:07

When they say 'Do you need any help with your packing?' and I reply 'No,' I always feel scrutinised and judged.

If I don't keep up I imagine them thinking to themselves 'She said she could do it; she thought she could do it; but she is a more useless person than she knows herself to be.'

Furball · 02/02/2008 19:09

I always get them to turn off the belt after the checkout, otherwise everything whizzes past at lightning speed.

mylovelymonster · 02/02/2008 19:09

Don't be so British - take your time packing and complain in restaurants if necessary. End of.

Neverenough · 02/02/2008 19:12

Goodness, so much angst! Some of you think too much about it all!

InTheseShoes · 02/02/2008 19:20

If you use reusable bags, the quite firm sort of reinforced plastic ones that stand up on thier own, or their rather more chic jute ones, put them in the trolley standing up next to each other - i can get three next to each other in the main bit and one in the vegetable bit.

Then, once the stuff starts coming through (and I agree, get them to turn off the conveyor) chuck stuff into the bags - dead quick, and you can sort stuff by having a freezer and fridge bag, fruit and veg bag etc. Furthermore, I have another bag at the end of the till for light/delicate stuff (eg crisps, eggs, discloths etc) that can go on top of the bags that are in the trolley without crushing stuff underneath. I have further tweaked my method by the purchase of a Heeeuuuugggee cotton trolley bag from IKEA that I hang from the trolley handle (the bag handle is quite long) for bulkier stuff eg bottles of water/coke, broadsheet newspapers etc)

I have been complimented on my packing method on several occasions preens . And yes I am sad, but other people packing for me and the irrelevance of plastic bags are two of my bugbears

Toothyboy · 02/02/2008 19:21

What pisses me off is when I have clearly put it on the conveyor belt in the order I want to pack it, cold stuff together, freezer, tins etc - then they pick up random stuff and scan it through in any old order.

I always put fruit and veg last, so the extra time it takes them to weigh it all gives me time to catch up.

Threadworm · 02/02/2008 19:24

Since I stopped using plastic bags, packing has become so much easier and quicker. Just ram everything into two big bags.

It's quite a bonus: I gave up the plastic on environmental grounds but I've actually found it makes life loads easier.

mylovelymonster · 02/02/2008 19:34

Intheseshoes - I don't think you're sad . Your method sounds marvellous, and I bet your ice-cream isn't melted when you get it all home.

miobombino · 02/02/2008 19:41

I'm shuddering at all these...that's why I do Ocado, topped up by fresh fish/meat from butcher/fishmonger.

miobombino · 02/02/2008 19:42

fishmonger/butcher

brimfull · 02/02/2008 19:45

lol at this thread

I'm a waitrose quickcheck scanner..god once you've started you just can't go back to the tedium of hoiking all you stuff on and off the conveyer belt.Tis fab,worth the extra squillions of a waitrose shop.

Original poster

fettleandbabyfettle · 02/02/2008 20:40

thank you all for making me feel less irrational!!!

I would love to Ocado or shop&scan, but Waitrose haven't ventured this far yet (well actually they have, but just not into my local town!! and not sure I could justify the extra diesel, just to avoid speedy beeping every week!) BUT I do use the Waitrose green bags, (I know I'm naughty to use them in other supermarkets, but they are great!!! Stand up on their own and can fit 3 in my trolley so that I can quickly chuck my shopping into the correct catergorised bag as it whizzes past me! (and yes, like intheseshoes, my icecream is always still completely frozen when I get home - there is some joy to being so anal!!!)

I'm just off to sort my CD collection into alphabetical order.....

OP posts:

rantinghousewife · 02/02/2008 20:49

Oh yes, makes me quite 'bah humbug'.
In fact I think I might get a tee shirt in the same vein as that Conway MPs son. 'Fuck off, I'm packing'!

Emprexia · 03/02/2008 01:27

Lol.. i'm fairly good, my dad is really anal about the way he packs his groceries so i learned from him. Fruit and Veg together, cooked and raw meat seperate, frozen and cold in together. I usually put the eggs on top of the bread so nothing gets squished.

And yes, i do bang things through really quickly, but if i can see i'm overwhelming the customer i will either wait or help and i always say "If you need me to slow down, just yell"

monkeymagic · 03/02/2008 10:59

Must confess I often deliberately don't put the divider down, just to wind up the anal types who find it so vital to the process. You can usually feel the person twitching, and then they always bung it down slightly huffily, as if they have just averted some major catastrophe. Meanwhile I am chuckling inside about how daft it is to be bothered about something like that. Oh god I'm such a meanie.

SlartyBartFast · 03/02/2008 11:03

I REALLY REALLY CROSS AND ANNoyed, yes, that cross and annoyed.. when theydon't offer to help, and i have so much shopping that it wont fit on the conveyor belt.
and i have to ask for help,
tut.

aGalChangedHerName · 03/02/2008 11:05

God what i really hate is when they have the kids packing and you have to put money in to help their club/charity thingy out.

How do you say no when they are gonna be standing watching you getting all flustered packing on your own?

SlartyBartFast · 03/02/2008 11:07

had a big to do in waitrose, of all places, actually i stayed cool and calm and felt so much better,
had half my shopping on belt and forgot somethign vital, when i came back these eegits had started putting their stuff on!! when i hadnt finished, told them i hadnt finishedand they were furious!!! took their coke and vodka off the belt and went somewhere else in a big huff,
wankers

carmenelectra · 03/02/2008 11:12

OMG thats so true OP!!

I always refuse help with packing(except for them to just'start me off' while im still unloading trolley sometimes), not becuse they do it crap but because i quite like doing it myself.They do do it ok though!

But God yes, how fast do they swipe the stuff once you say dont need help?! I thought it was me imagining it! They scan those goods then like their life depended on it! I struggle to keep up, but am determined not to ask for help or for them to slow down. Its so true, im sure they set out to prove that i do need help! makes me mad, but i wont pay when they do that, until ive packed it all up. No way!

unknownrebelbang · 03/02/2008 14:53

Was mildly bemused yesterday when the checkout operator sat and watched me unload before she started to scan the stuff through so that I had to pack it myself.

I'm not that bothered, I tend to pack myself anyway(or get DS1 to do it if he's with me) but she never even offered, and given that they usually do offer to help, it just seemed rude when she didn't.

unknownrebelbang · 03/02/2008 14:54

aGal - you just say No thanks.

Most are usually glad of a small rest tbh.

MamaG · 03/02/2008 14:55

Its true that some do this.

But I like it [competitive emoticon] I always win

iamdingdong · 03/02/2008 15:05

I got interrogated by the nosey old bat on my checkout te other day - oooh, they're really expensive those plums, are you sure you want them um, yes please, I checked the price, am pretty sure I can afford them - they came to the huge sum of £1.32

QuintessentialShadow · 03/02/2008 15:15

Amazing you are not all doing online shopping!

When I do venture into the supermarket, I place everything in order on the conveyor belt, with large gaps between.

If they ask if they can help, I sometimes say "yes please" and find them to be most consdierate.

If they go too quickly, I say "wohei, you are way to quick for me!" That usually solves it.

It is so nice to not complain for once.!!! Please rejoice with me!

Cam · 03/02/2008 15:40

Home delivery is the answer

I hate going into supermarkets

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