Went to the grocery store with my Boomer parents today to do a large grocery run. (For reference we are in the US where it's expected that stores provide a bagger as well as someone to check you out).
As we get to checkout it's obviously busy, with multiple checkout lanes open with long lines. And none of the lanes have bangers.
My father goes to start bagging up our groceries as they're scanned, but complains to a front end manager the first second he gets in that passive aggressive way they have, "do you not have anyone working today? There's no one bagging."
A few minutes later, I realize we've "lost" my mom. I find her, 2 checkout lanes down, bitching out a front end manager who is actively working the register checking people out. My mom was not just blocking another customer from bagging their own groceries, but also preventing the manager from continuing to check people out.
I apologized to our own cashier for my parent's passive aggressive remarks. And on the way out, when I pointed out to my mom that she'd prevented other people from checking out by bitching at the manager that clearly knew they had a staffing shortage since she was working the register herself her response was "I don't care."
I'd rather not have a bagger. That way we can pack things together that are going to go to the same place when we unpack at home.
Agree… otherwise the detergent ends up next to the milk, which would end up on top of the hot rotisserie chicken…
That's awful. When I worked retail, we were trained to not put cleaning products next to food items. For safety reasons. But I so understand what you mean. Training and time allotment is not prioritized anymore, so you can't really expect workers to provide the same level of quality without the training or time to do things properly.
I worked grocery and all my training was done in a single day. It still included bagging training.
It's always the tomatoes for me. I have to put them at the end after the bread...
Ours liked to put canned goods on top of bread and avocados. And bananas. And bananas on top of bread.
I much prefer self-check.
Ditto and I'm a boomer.
I've only ever heard of baggers in America
Where do you live in the US that you get baggers? I haven't seen a bagger in years.
Edit: I get it, baggers exist.
I live in Florida. Winn Dixie and Publix both have baggers.
Florida, they probably have baggers because all those boomer would spend 30 minutes complaining about bagging their own groceries when they could have bagged their own in 5 minutes.
Honestly yes....the little old lady-boomer in front of me took items out of her cart ONE at a time, slowly, placing them on the conveyor. She stood in front of her cart and did not pull up so that I could use the bar between us to start unloading my cart. One by one..she slowly put her items out. Then, she moved up to the payment area and stood there until all of the items were scanned and THEN pulled out her check book. She didn't have her own bags so they had to use the store bags...some of what she wanted were paper bags, some were plastic. She very carefully inspected every item as it entered a bag because OMG what if it went into the wrong bag. I was pissed and then just amused as I watched her performance where she pretended to not notice people staring at her and saying things under their breath. Once the check had been filled out, she wanted to give the change part in cash so...she opened up her little coin purse and fumbled around for each coin. The older man behind me finally shouted at her..."THIS your first time shopping???" and she looked highly offended. I knew though, she did all this bullshit on purpose. It was the highlight of her morning.
"This your first time shopping??" I wish I had the nerve to say that to anyone staring at the menu board when it's finally their turn. You had time in line to look at it and decide. It's not rocket science. The only time I double check is when I'm using the self checkout, I don't want to be accussed of stealing.
This is true. They usually call an employee over and pull them away and interrupt what ever they are doing in anticipation of Boomers complaining that there is no one to bag their groceries.
There is a master and servant mentality that is strong there. They think that if you have money you can treat people anyway you want. Even though this is a general Boomer mentality it is astonishing to see because in Florida it is amplified from the culture.
I have been bagging my own groceries and Boomers just walk up and push my stuff to the side and start to stack their groceries on the counter. They start to order me and the cashier around. They would do this until the cashier has to explain to them that all the stuff they pushed out of the way was mine, he is bagging his own groceries, and they have to wait their turn.
The most astonishing thing I have seen them do is try and take certain things because they want them. They say it is not a big deal and I should just go and get another because I know where it is.
My local Publix store always has baggers, even if they're management personnel bagging. After I had surgery I had lift restrictions, and they unloaded the cart for me at the check station, and took everything to my car and loaded the car for me. There's a reason I shop there instead of Walmart or other cheaper options.
That's very kind of them. We don't have baggers here anymore and once in a while I'll help someone bag if they have a lot. I like to bag, it's a challenge putting everything in the right bag.
Publix has truly top notch baggers, they never mix food with cleaning products, and ask about weight restrictions per bag if you have anything heavy, etc. Not every lane will have a bagger, they move around as needed, and ask if you would like help loading your car, and it absolutely rocks
Interesting. I've lived in the Mid-Atlantic and the Midwest and like I said, I haven't seen a bagger in years.
It’s store specific. Fareway in Iowa has them, Hy-Vee sometimes has them. Walmart the cashier also bags—if you’re lucky enough to get a cashier. Fareway also takes everyone’s groceries to their vehicle.
Wow. Apparently our grocery stores just suck.
Fareway is the only place I've consistently had baggers.. Hy-vee does, but they float to whoever needs help. At least in Central Iowa
Fareway is also closed on Sundays. They try so hard to be old school. Sometimes it’s annoying but sometimes it’s great. I think they mostly hire high school kids to bag, its a good way to teach them how to interact with the public.
Mid-West….baggers are usually at the grocery store, especially when busy. Sometimes, they are short staffed and no bagger. The checker bags and I help in those cases. No biggy.
But baggers do exist in this area. It’s a major metro area so maybe that’s why?
Midwest also. Festival Foods stores have 'we bag' and 'you bag' checkout lanes.
I live in the Willamette Valley in Oregon and a local chain grocery, Roth’s, sometimes has baggers, or the cashier will do the bagging.
At Publix I feel like I’ve gotten away with something if I get to bag anything.
awwww - being a bagger at Publix was my first job!
Southern NH here. We often have bangers at grocery stores.
I love grocery bangers
Noisy, but entertaining, I’ll give them that.
Lots of plastic around to use for protection.
I'm starting to think I live in the wrong part of the country. 😂
I like what you did here ;)
We have them in smith's (kroger) in Las Vegas
This was a Fry's (Kroger owned as well).
I know our HEB will have baggers sometimes. Usually they are the cart pushers that are helping out when it's busy. Sometimes it's a cashier that is supposed to take over from the one on the register, and they bag your groceries to make the switch faster.
It's nice when they are there, but I don't get upset if they aren't. Half of the cashiers are so fast at bagging as they scan that I can't keep up with putting the bags in the cart.
Right. Now I'm shocked there's one.
Seriously, all these people jumped on me. I'm like, damn people, I just haven't seen them!
We have them at Fred Meyer (Kroger) in the PNW. And at Walmart.
Plenty of baggers all over New England.
Pretty much any place that isn’t WalMart.
What is it with boomers and bagging groceries? My mom and dad wouldn’t have helped bag their own groceries. They absolutely refuse to shop anywhere where they have to bag their groceries themselves. You can probably imagine how they went on and on and on the one time they tried Aldi…
Which is how I ended up getting myself a Sam’s Club membership. Every time I go there there’s nary a boomer in sight. It’s fantastic.
What's weird is that we just got an Aldi and when I went with them, I told them in advance there were no baggers and they were fine. Their issue seems to only be at places where a bagger is expected.
Because back in the day that position was usually held by someone who was mentally disabled or in work release. Boomers often consider it lowering to have to stoop to doing that job.
Self checkouts have eliminated a lot of labor in grocery stores. Now they don't have to hire as many cashiers and if the customer can scan their own items then they can bag them too. If most gas stations hadn't already converted to self serve about 50 years ago they'd probably treat gas station attendants the same way!
It's shocking how stuck in the past they are when it comes to service roles. They literally long to have people they can look down on and feel better-than.
Well, they had planned to scream at the bagger, but he wasn't there.
That's never stopped a boomer.
https://preview.redd.it/utaytjwu2u9g1.jpeg?width=360&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f75b5c24b0ff89cf7abce5a0fd7f1212a678f554
And yes, I know, Clint Eastwood is not a boomer.
What ridiculous behavior. Mom needs a wake up call. She thinks really highly of herself, eh?
Especially this is a holiday weekend that people (even baggers that still qualify as people) want off. Some maybe got no days off prior.
OPs parents need to have a little grace.
I mean, she is a Boomer. Her response of "I don't care." sums up Boomers perfectly. It's all about them and fuck everyone else.
I would die laughing if this entitled behavior got her permanently banned from the store. Hope it was worth it, Ma!
The most entitled generation of spoiled brats to ever walk the earth
150% accurate
Wow are they going to shit themselves when they see a self-checkout.
Baggers? Faaaawk...they're not hiring cashiers.
Baggers do more than just bag groceries. Most stores actually list them as courtesy clerks. They get carts from the lit. They run cold groceries back to their spots. They change trash cans. But during holisays or busy days...mostly shagging carts continuously.
What a stupid thing to lose your temper over.
Be certain that if baggers were available, they would have been working. No manager wants to have customers complain about service. Your mom chose to vent and be a Karen. Did it solve anything? Nope
I’m 67M so I’m a boomer, I would never complain about the absence of baggers, I would gladly help the process along by doing it myself. But I know many of my peers would complain. I don’t know what happened to this generation, we didn’t used to be this way. I think many of us have had it very easy and we’ve come to expect full service and demand it like a bunch of spoiled brats.
Another pick-me boomer 😭 "I'm not like other boomers" FOH with all of you
WTF I almost always bag my own groceries. I just want to get outta there faster so many hands make light work.
Why would you go grocery shopping with your parents? I’d rather stick pins in my eyes.
When you said you'd lost your mom, I felt that awful familiar sickening feeling in my stomach. I've been there many times with my parents, and more recently also with my MIL. It feels like dread and shame, except somehow worse.
You just know in that instant that you're going to find them doing something awful and humiliating. It'll be impossible to apologize enough to whoever they're harassing, and they will only make you feel worse as you drag them away. It's impossible to get them to change their behavior because they've had decades of resentful stewing to memorize all the best arguments and insults, and they suddenly have limitless energy when an opportunity presents itself to express how righteous and deserving they are.
Ive never expected a store to have a bagger no matter what state i’m in. If your lucky the cashier will do it but ive never seen any store anywhere along the east coast have a designated bagger
My in laws are old boomers/cusp of silent gen and OMG they are entitled and annoying. This is them.
Silent/Boomer cuspers are LITERALLY the WORST. Too young to experience real Silent trauma (Great Depression, WWII) but old enough to enjoy the booming economy for much, much longer than their many, many, MANY children. Now in their 80s they lean heavily into their old age and continue to enjoy benefit after benefit while pretending it's still the segregated 50s of their youth where they can be racist and abusive.
Gen X here. There’s no longer any expectation you get a bagger. I was raised to bag my own (it also was the second job I ever had) so I rarely let someone else bag.
Mom and Dad would be shopping on their own after that.....
Trader Joe's check out your food and then bag them up!
I live in a red spot that sure seemed like it was turning blue when I moved here. Boy was I wrong.
A few months ago, an old boomer lady walked to the milk area and screamed "Gavin Newsom will PAY for this!" And then she just sort of awkwardly walked off to check out. (Gavin didn't pay.) I think it was maybe $1 more?
I've seen so many little boomer tantrums. I think the best way to deal with tantrums from a 65 year old is exactly the way you deal with tantrums from a 5 year old. Ignore them.
How do you not look at them and tell them how gross they are? You actively take them home and they have no downside to acting that way. That is who you choose to be around, what does that say about you?
That’s such a quintessential boomer activity that is seems like an AI post
It's fitting, because boomers make as much sense as AI most of the time.
Here. Most large grocery stores have baggers during peak times. When there are no baggers customers often step in and start bagging themselves. When the grocery checker is done scanning in your items, they’ll take over the bagging. I’m a senior citizen and I will always step in and start bagging if there is no bagger… And I’m not the only one!
That is awful!
Honestly. "I don't care." Childish, and rude to that manager.
I live in North Carolina, and we have both Publix and Lowes foods. They both have baggers.
I actually prefer to bag my own groceries
You guys sound like boomers the way you complain about boomers.