The Rules You Wished Everyone Followed At The Grocery Store
Most adults say that they do not enjoy grocery shopping. It is
time consuming and expensive. In addition, it is often an
experience in frustration due mainly to the actions and
behaviors of the other shoppers. What can be done? Aside from
hiring a personal shopper, not much I'm afraid. However, if all
shoppers could agree on some basic rules and codes of conduct, I
believe that the trip to the grocery store would be much less
frustrating and maybe even enjoyable. Here are my suggestions:
1. When moving through the store, use the basic rules of traffic
that good drivers use. Stay on the right side of the aisle (in
the United States). Pass on the left. Stop and look at
intersections. If you are shopping with other people, you should
either walk single file or spread out in the store. Three or
more people walking abreast always seem to be the slowest moving
individuals.
2. When not in motion, keep carts and humans together. If you
are looking at an item, have your cart right next to you and up
against the shelves so that other shoppers do not need to
squeeze between your body and your diagonally parked cart.
3. Visit with your friends somewhere else. Most supermarkets
have a deli with some chairs and tables. Using that area to
catch not only gives the friendship the status that it deserves,
it also shows respect to the other shoppers who might need an
item that is behind the seven-foot wall that your bodies and
carts have created.
4. If you change your mind about an item, you don't have to walk
all the way back to the section where you picked it up. You can
give it to the clerk at checkout and one of the store employees
will get it back to its appropriate spot. Leaving the package of
pork chops on top of the toilet paper results in a loss for the
store and higher prices we all pay in compensation.
5. Take unhappy or misbehaving children out of the store until
they are calm. The clerk at the courtesy counter will keep an
eye on your partially-filled buggy until you return.
6. Unruly children must be contained for safety sake.
7. Once you get in a line, you are done shopping. No fair
leaving your cart to dash back after one more thing, or to send
someone else to get it while you hold the place in line. If it
is that important, you must leave the line and then rejoin after
you have everything you need.
8. Speaking of lines, when using the express lanes an item is
one bag, one box, or one package. A plastic produce bag
containing four oranges is one item. Twenty-five boxes of frozen
Salisbury steak dinners are twenty-five items.
9. If you are paying for your groceries with a check, please
fill out the date and the name of the store while the person
ahead of you is being served. Waiting for the clerk to give you
the total before even taking the checkbook out of your purse or
pocket is stealing time from the people waiting behind you. You
don't need to use your best handwriting on the check either--it
isn't going to be framed and hung on a wall. Time-efficiency is
the goal.
10. Smile at the other shoppers and the store employees. Pass
along good will and a positive outlook.
There you have it. Ten common-sense rules that, if applied,
could turn one of the major drudge-duties of the week into a
much more enjoyable experience.