In an eight hour shift, grocery store clerks may handle more than 6,000 pounds – three tons – of groceries, reports the U.S. federal Bureau of Labour Statistics. That weight plus flicking their wrists back and forth up to 600 times per hour lead to repetitive stress injuries which account for cashiers who wear Velcro wrist supports. Roughly equivalent to the exertion by a house framing carpenter, or a mother caring for two-year-old triplets. I never earned my living in construction but I have raised two kids.
Thus I expected any cashier would be happy to see my week’s groceries arrayed in my cart, barcodes visible, waiting to be tallied with her hand-held scanner, no lifting involved on her part … except for bananas, grapes and broccoli that had to be weighed.
I was taken aback when informed of the store’s policy.
The store’s rule is all but the heaviest merchandise such as 16kg bags of dog food must travel along the conveyor belt.
I haven’t asked the manager why all items must travel on the conveyor belt. The only reason I can think of is to reduce the risk of shoplifting. But what of the fistful of used plastic bags I take along to the store to recycle those I already have? If I were intent on theft I could hide all sorts of small, expensive items in that jumble.
Stores switched to electronic scanners to speed checkout lines. Scanning items in the cart is not only faster but eliminates one lifting step for both the cashier and the customer. Only six more steps remain for me: choosing an item and stowing it in the cart, lifting it on to the conveyor belt, bagging it once scanned, and returning it to the cart, finally transferring it from the cart into my truck and at home, carrying it into the kitchen and eventually placing it in the fridge or a cupboard.
Besides reducing the lifting involved in shopping a week’s groceries, I’ve found it worthwhile before I bag my purchases to check the sales slip for the prices charged to me. If I discover an overcharge, I have easy access to the item which must be presented to the cashier so the cost on the cashier’s slip can be compared to the price posted on the display shelf. It’s far more common than you might expect to receive a refund anywhere up to three dollars just by checking the cashier’s slip.
Since everything but loose produce remains in the cart, I’m soon away from the line, no longer impeding the next customer, and can take my time bagging every item for most reliable transferring every step of the way.
The first — and so far only time — a cashier protested my lazy but efficient system, three possible responses flitted through my head: I could move to another checkout; feign an invisible injury and ask the cashier to bag and replace my groceries in the cart for me (really slowing the checkout line); or mutely exit the store leaving staff to curse while re-shelving everything I had intended to buy.
No option would welcome me as a future shopper, I suspect.
My week’s groceries easily total 65 pounds: 50 pounds dog food, 6 pounds oranges, 5 pounds apples, various vegetables and fruits, several pounds of meat or cheese, and kitchen staples. If I hoist everything seven times that’s 455 pounds. Bagging my own groceries adds up to a gym workout.