h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In America you have to add on another factor - are the people in queue x more likely to bag their own goods than those in queue y? I worked for a summer as a check-out girl in a supermarket in Rhode Island and could not get over the way you would check people's goods through, maybe over 200 dollars worth, and then the husband, wife, and 2 kids would stand there looking at you while you fought your way through packing up all their mounds of purchases, with a queue steadily forming at your check-out. It was usually the more well-off folks who never thought to help out, and would even discourage their kids from helping me (no, honey, leave it, it's her job - no, it's NOT my job, we have baggers for that, there isn't one here at the moment, I'm only doing this so your food will get off my check-out!). And they would ALWAYS want bloomin' paperbags in plastic bags which is more awkward for the bagger. The 20-something women would normally help bag, and the 30-something men, indeed often waving you cheerfully off when you tried to help. I could write a book on this whole process, it used to drive me cracked, it may be a culture thing but I found it frankly rude. I guess coming from Ireland, where if you didn't bag your own purchases they'd stay on the checkout, made me totally unprepared for this.

Over the last few years in UK, it has become trendy for supermarket assistants to be told by Management, to bag a customers' groceries.

Ranging from the girl who was upset, I wouldn't let her bag my shopping. Those who automatically start bagging, to those who ask ' do you want me to pack?'. This last class of assistants give the shopper the decision, to save her a some joules of energy in her arm muscles. Think of doing all the goods on the conveyor belt at their till, on a 7 or 10 hour shift. Working in a supermarket is hard work, considering the meagre pay when you relate the two. There are always a few assistants at all supermarkets, who go by whether they like the look of a customer. 'This one puts me off', the cashier thinks and don't offer to pack. Others negotiate with moral minded customers and compromise- settle for the assistant at till, starts with 2 items, and shopper finish bagging the groceries.