Checking Out At The Grocery Store

I was at my local grocery store the other day looking for a fast check-out line and dismayed at the unavailability of any short ones. But when I found one of the long ones that I decided to settle into, it gave me the time to think about and to evaluate check-out areas in grocery stores. You may think they are all alike, and in substance and form they are. But some interesting things can be discovered by examining the who, what and when of check out lines.

The first thing I noticed that day is that civility is a some-time thing when a shopper is looking for a check-out line. People don't give up their spot in a check-out line when a little old lady arrives as they usually do when offering a seat on a bus to an old lady. You can feel guilt free as you hold your place in line and let granny wait like everyone else, because society says there is no age rule in grocery stores. Waiting in a grocery line is an egalitarian ritual.

I also noticed that the kind of person who tries to check out 30 or so items in check-out express lanes of grocery stores that clearly say they are for only 10 or fewer items, have no guilt about their practice of ignoring the rules and inconveniencing those who are truly eligible for the 10 or fewer items. I think they probably have other character defects too. Maybe they cheat on their spouse or steal mail from someone's mailbox. They just look like unctuous reprobates. They have the "I am better than you and deserve to be served first" air to their manner and expressions.

Too, neither many clerks nor many customers in the line ever tell the jerks invading the express item line with too many times, "Can you read? This is for 10 or fewer". Grocery check-out workers are usually told not to challenge line cheaters because the store doesn't want a commotion that will upset the other customers and keep them from returning to shop at the store. But those few, brave customers who do challenge them often get into ugly arguments with the line cheaters. The average customer probably doesn't challenge line cheaters because he or she knows it is impossible win that battle.

I also notice that when people check out groceries and don't pay with their own money (the welfare crowd that gets food stamp coupons) usually buy more junk and care little about cost than those who pay with their own money. Often food stamp customers buy more expensive convenience foods rather than the the cheaper commodities like flour or butter that they could use themselves to make the finished good they desire. They also whip out cash to pay for items not covered by food stamps, tobacco and alcohol being the most common. This proves the 'law of entitlement' that says those who receive freebies have little respect for the taxpayers who work hard to give them the free food that is supposed to used to feed themselves and their families in the most efficient way possible.

The method people pay for groceries is always varied. The traditionalists pay cash or write checks, while the high tech crowd swipes credit or debit cards. But usually the low tech traditionalists keep the check-out lines moving faster than the high tech crowd. This is because the high tech payers are often chatting on their cell phones instead of following the clerk's admonitions to pay, or because those credit cards and debit payments are always very slow to process. This proves the theory that high tech methods often are slower to execute than traditional ones.

Another thing I notice in check out lines is that when shopping at grocery stores consumers buy too much of a "sale priced" item. I am not sure what a customer will do with 5 liters of milk, a perishable item. But if it's on sale they will buy too much and wind up throwing out the spoiled remains of some of what they bought. Those discount bulk buy stores are populated with people who buy too much of something only because it is sold at a lower price. No doubt they have 10 liters of olive oil stored somewhere in their kitchen, and most of it is so old it is rancid and unusable.

I also notice it's a bad idea to grocery shop with a small child if the child is a spoiled brat. When that kind of child is in a check-out line I need not look in the mom or dad's grocery basket to know that it is loaded with junk the child has whined hard enough to influence the parent or grandparent to put in the grocery cart. It's always filled with things that would never be bought by the adult if the brat had been left at home. Conversely, kids who shop with their parents or grandparents and have managed to put few or none of those wasteful things in the cart are probably the kind of children who are never any trouble for the parents when they also away from the grocery store.

I hope I haven't ruined your next grocery trip with these observations. Good luck finding a fast check-out line.