An Open Letter to Target and Giant Cashiers

Dear Cashier People,

First of all, I want to say that I appreciate that you are making a noticable effort to get me through the line and out of the store as quickly as possible.  However, I want to bring your attention to a few matters that will make your customers infinitely happier if you correct these issues:

1.  Speed is not necessarily desirable if, in the effort to be speedy, you double-charge me for every third item, causing me to have to go to management to get my money back.

2.  Bagging is a science - physics comes into play here.  Please observe the following rules:

• Never put more than one gallon of milk in a bag at a time.  If this bothers you, request that you leave the milk out of a bag altogether - but make sure you ask your customer their preference.
• Do not put heavy items, such as juice box packages or bottles of soda or juice, in the same bag with, or on top of, light crushable items, such as Oreo cookies or crackers or bread.  Just don't.
• Do not look at your customer and ask if it is okay to put all 20+ canned items in the same bag at once and then look at them surprised when they tell you they think it's a better idea to divide them up - just trust them.
• Do not put toiletries or dishwashing soap in the same bags as food items.  If you wouldn't want to eat it, it doesn't belong in a food bag.  When my shampoo bottle leaks, I don't want to have to rinse a bag of bread - most of these bags breathe in some way, and it is hard to spread peanut butter and jelly on wet, soapy bread.
• Do not put raw meat in the same bag as fresh produce.  It's called contamination - look it up sometime.
• Do not cram cardboard boxes of items such as cereal, pop tarts, or Little Debbie snack cakes into a plastic bag - if it requires force to get the box into the bag, odds are good that the corners of the box will tear said bag at a most inopportune time, like when you are carrying them up the stairs into your house or third-floor apartment.
• Do not put frozen or refrigerated items in the same bags as paper goods - condensation does have a tendency to soak into the paper, and I really wanted to read that issue of People magazine without having to blow-dry it first.

3.  I realize that cashiering is probably not the most rewarding job in the world and that a lot of people dump shit on you that has nothing to do with you and you don't make much money, but when you make me feel like you are paying attention to me and that my concerns are important, I am much more likely to be nice and patient, than if you roll your eyes and act as though you'd rather be anywhere else, especially when I am trying to be nice about it in the first place.

I know that you all are intelligent, diligent workers, and a little more attention to detail in your job will make your customers happy.  I know that once I've had a cashier who obviously is attentive and has learned these rules, I will seek them out when I return to the store, even if their line has 10 people in it and two others only have 1, and I am much more likely to consider tips when I can.

My Oreos, and my kids, thank you for your attention and consideration in this matter.

Comments

[Summer]

Being a Giant cashier is a career. Really! They're unionized, they make decent money, and there are plenty of people who work as Giant cashiers for eons. (My informant on this is my husband, who briefly worked for Giant as a youngster.) You'd think that they'd learn how to put food in a bag, considering that it is pretty much the only thing they do all day.... Actually, I can't complain, the worst I can say about the cashiers at the Giants near me is that they tend to double-bag EVERYTHING, when really it's only heavy stuff that needs to be double-bagged. That's not bad, compared to soapy bread and Oreos fit only to be ice cream topping.

[Erin]

I've had pretty good experiences with Giant and their bagging abilities. Target has double charged me for items multiple times.