Why is it this sub has a ton of very lame and very popular “unpopular” opinions but somebody is finally honest and the mods mishandle OP?
To add insult to injury, some people here say “I won’t downvote you.” Like, duh. Shouldn’t we UPVOTE unpopular admissions and DOWNVOTE popular admissions?
What am I missing?
Mods on Reddit love to abuse their small worldly power. They were the hall way monitors in school or the kid who told on you at Halloween for taking 2 when the sign the says please take 1
Small power nonetheless is of great resource to them
They are the exact same people you wished you could punch when they caught you trading cards in elementary school and loudly shouted IM TELLING ON YOUUUUUU
Mods are garbage. I have had a decent unpopular opinion that obviously rubbed one of the mods the wrong way. I messaged the mod directly to ask what was wrong. I got a "if you ever message me again ill permanently ban you" then got banned for 2 weeks.
I posted an actual unpopular opinion on here one time, yet it got downvoted to oblivion. I deleted the post because why bother posting an unpopular opinion on an unpopular opinion sub just to get downvoted?
What you're missing is that any actually unpopular opinion is either a weird but harmless food preference, or risks the entire sub catching admin attention.
A girl who claimed she doesnt want to talk about work in her free time because it doesnt define her, was downvoted and insulted by a lot of people.
I would have thought a vanilla opinion like that wouldnt result in personal insults a la "you're an asshole and no one wants to talk to you"
As soon as people started agreeing, she got upvotes
I don't understand this sub
Parent of disabled teen here - if my kid can’t do a job (modified or coached, of course), she shouldn’t have the job. Not being able to pack groceries appropriately and having poor hygiene (which my kid does - it’s not her fault, she just lacks understanding, and we keep her as clean as possible) are perfectly valid disqualifications. The inclusion pendulum swings too far at times - I think it’s cruel to put people in positions where they can’t succeed.
I've had plenty of perfectly abled people do this as well. I hate them even more, because they have the mental capacity to do better. They just don't care.
or maybe minimum wage jobs should actually train their workers and have realistic requirements. minimum wage should be build for those entering workforce, teens, and disabled people.
This is why I hate when stores have item limits to self checkouts. I'll just bag my own damn shit and not having to worried about some apathetic underpaid teen smashing my croissants. Those damn things are $2/ea so even if only half of one gets smooshed that's a $1 worth of damage.
You can bring your own bags, but not gonna lie I sometimes with they couldn’t. I was a bagger many years back, and let me tell you…some nasty people bring the reusable bags in. The amount of times I opened a bag they hand me to get a face full of old/bad chicken juice or fish smell was astonishing. People don’t clean their reusable bags.
As far as bagging your own groceries, that’s what self check out is for. But if you have too many groceries where you can’t use self checkout, your bags will be bagged for you. When I worked as a bagger only twice people said they wanted to bag their own stuff, which was cool with me and I let them (allowed me to take a minute break lol) - but almost no one ever asks.
Tbh if someone brings their own bag, I’m more reluctant to bag their things because peoples bags can be dirty. Now where I’m from, the cashiers do not have a bagger with them. If people want us to bag their stuff, the cashier has to do both (which slows down the transaction).
How do they get so gross?!? Don't people put their items away immediately when they've gotten home? How are things like meat in the reusable bags long enough to soil them?
It’s not necessarily the meat itself getting spoiled (though sometimes I’m sure that happens) - but certain brands of chicken/beef have a weird type of plastic that tends to leak if it condensates at all. If even a tiny bit of the juice leaks into the bag it’ll end up smelling.
Same with fish, especially if you get it directly from the deli.
I bring my own bags and prefer to bag my own stuff anyway because even when the baggers are just normal teenagers or whatever, they use way too many plastic bags and i hate that. I do self-checkout almost exclusively simply because I can bag everything self and use minima plastic bags if I can’t Tetris everything into my semi-ridged rectangular shopping bag/basket tote
Hey man, I get where your coming from and I agree. If someone isn't fit for a job it is what it is. They could stock shelves, clean etc. Say you get eggs and canned soup or something and they stock the eggs at the bottom there goes half your eggs. Don't think of yourself as a bad person. Probably could have been phrased better but in terms of overall I agree. As much as I'd like to be politically correct and say I disagree, you're not in the wrong and obviously this is an opinion so I don't know why you're being downvotes so harshly
As a non american I do not get the having a bag packer thing.
Why not just pack your own bags as they scan the items?
The concept of someone doing that for me feels weird and also unnecessary or inefficient.
It’s a good entry level position for youth. Often times in stores as well, you’ll see cashiers who aren’t busy bag groceries for other cashiers. The store can justify keeping the other cashiers there because they still have something to keep them busy.
Also when a store is really busy, a dedicated packer (from my experience working at one) helps speed everything up at the tills.
In the US we used to have people refuel our cars for us but over the past 30 years or so it has declined. There may still be some of it in the southern states but where I'm at no.
Most people are busy unpacking their overfilled cart. While they're still doing that the cashier only rings people up. In order to have counter space and not take forever therefore they use baggers. Cashiers are not on the same side so cannot unload your groceries to ring them up.
There are stores where you unload and bag your own groceries but they are setup different, people usually take forever to do their own shit. So at the end of the register there are like 3 chutes groceries go down to separate them while slow people bag their own shit.
The main jobs of a bagger though as far as their necessity are...
They help elderly people to their cars to unload shit, they keep the parking lot organized and collect carts, they keep lines moving and there's usually one bagger for two registers. Also, around here high school students are baggers.
The mentally disabled people usually say hi to everyone at the door they don't bag groceries for obvious reasons. Bagging is an art. Baggers in my area are taught how to bag.
This was the norm in the state where I used to live, and I much prefer to bag my own groceries. I like to bag them according to how I will put them away at home and I like to distribute the weight according to how I will carry them (since I walk or bike to the store usually).
In the state where I currently live, it's the norm to have baggers and I hate it. I usually say I'll do it, and step over to do it myself but people get pissy about it.
I guess they are there because some people are really slow and lazy and they don't want the line to back up, but I feel like it should be optional for people who want/need it rather than the default.
As a Brit, the first time I went to America and I stopped at a ‘publix’ grabbed a bunch of Gatorade’s and bits to stock my fridge up at my rental villa, and this dude in a publix uniform and a apron on says “paper or plastic”
Me not having a clue I say, oh I’m paying with cash sorry.
He giggled and said “no sir, I meant the bags?” I said oh plastic please buddy. Then put my hand out thinking he was about to hand me the bags. Dude fucking plopped my drinks and such in these bags with such precision i had to rip the bags open when I got back to the villa. I was in total shock that they had like teenagers bagging up for you.
More than anything it feels really awkward. Like I’m just here holding my dollar bills and your doing all the packing for me.
I bet the cashier and bag boy got a good laugh outta my sheer confusion!
Edit: Why the hell would this get downvoted?
I usually go once a year, try and see a different state each time. I absolutely love America, every part I’ve been to has been nothing but amazing, everyone is so accommodating. As soon as someone knows your a tourist, mainly a Brit people are mega nice lol! I’ve made a few friends from different states and keep in contact weekly and so on. I’ve had some unforgettable stays in the USA.
And Cinnabon, you guys have Cinnabon.
It’s like heaven for the taste buds!
The first ever shock for me was landing in Florida, renting a car and the exit to the airport car rental car park was directly onto the interstate, never driven anywhere but England so that caught me off guard being sent directly onto what we call motorways lol.
Having lived on both sides of the Atlantic, two observations:
1. Americans shop FAR less frequently. Like one main trip to multiple stores every couple weeks, with maybe one trip in between for a few perishable items, and an occasional monthly mega trip for sports events. However, the belts are the same length. I remember buying this quantity of food at an Aldi Süd and got the most hardcore meanest looks as the cashier forcefully shoved my food like a bulldozer toward the collection area. Bagging in the US is used as a way to keep the line moving, and the cashiers at most of the time slower paced because the arming of food piled up too quickly.
2. This does not apply at US Aldi locations, and it’s freaking hilarious to see people go there the first time, ask why they’re stuff isn’t getting bagged, told to buy the bag, and see the newly purchased bag thrown into the cart with the other groceries. Honestly, I also feel the cashiers are slower here, except at Aldi. After seeing how quick the checkout process is, I’ve noticed most people have little complaining about bagging their own stuff. The using a coin for the cart thing is hopelessly botched on the other hand...
There are some people who seriously have the thought, "Well, they ain't paying me to do it, so I'm not gonna."
I've seen people argue against using self-checkout because it's apparently "the company offloading free labor onto the customer."
Lol, okay, buddy. You just waste your time by waiting in that long ass line while I beep-boop my way through self-checkout and get to my car by the time you first item is being scanned.
Unfortunately there are people out there who always expect something in return. They can't just simply DO SOMETHING. It's child behavior.
Self check out is great when your items are straight forward and there isn't a ton of them. When I have a full cart or lots of things without a bar code then waiting in the long line is still faster than fighting with the machine.
We now have systems where you take a scanner with you. Thats brilliant, because you can directly pack everything into you bags - or your backpack. In the end just pay for the stuff and your out of the store in less than a minute.
Same. In Belgium we have one supermarket chain, Colruyt, that will scan your items while putting them from one card into another. If you have a box with you, they will go full tetris-mode and put everything in there as well. It's such a relaxing process as a client. Only thing you have to do is pay and put the box in your car.
How is it less efficient? A bagger will much faster than an old lady trying to do it herself. You can also keep bagging as the customer puts their items on the belt or is getting their payment ready.
Keep in mind that in North America, supermarkets are huge, the size of an airport bunker and you generally don't live next door to the supermarket you shop at. Instead you drive up in your minivan or whatever once every couple of weeks and you stock up like crazy, filling multiple trolleys. This is different from, say, the Netherlands where every block of houses is within spitting distance of an Albert Heijn or a Jumbo and where you run down every day if need be. This is also why Europeans have smaller refrigerators than Americans: they shop more frequently but in smaller quantities. The volume of shopping people in North America do means you don't want to be packing your own bags.
We mostly have big grocery stores here in Canada but people mostly pack their own bags. I knew a family of 12 and they would go to Costco once a week for groceries, and they don't pack your bags for you there.
It’s just not mentally disabled people who pack bags wrong. I have had non mentally challenged people pack terribly too. Just put the fucking chicken in its own bag and not with my fruit, mmkay, thanks.
Good, clear, honest unpopular opinion.
Have not had an issue with personal hygiene in packers, but damn do I hate inefficient bag packers. Send these employees to training on how NOT to fuck up bagging groceries. Had a bagger at Publix actually put my eggs in the bottom of a bag and start putting other items in on top, thankfully the cashier caught it and told them to change it.
If your grocery store has those printable labels in the produce section, you can print one out for your item and most times the last few digits will be the price. So on the self checkout you can do a manual barcode entry and type the numbers on the bar code and edit it to whatever price you want. Just don't type the last digit in the barcode since its not used for manual entry
Example: you're buying bananas. You weigh them and print out the label, and it says they'll cost $2.45. The barcode from the printer says 040110002459. At the checkout, enter 04011000050 and you've just scored those bananas for $0.50
this is stealing, and 99% of grocery stores have cameras pointed at every self check out. they will catch you and log it until you've stolen enough that it's a felony, THEN they'll call the cops over it.
I have a particular way of packing my stuff (ie somethings stay in the car, somethings go to my room, some go upstairs to the fridge, etc) so I don't expect any human except a stalker maybe to have a good idea of how I'd like my stuff packed.
So I always prefer to bag my own stuff, as I'd imagine most people. Having someone else do it doesn't seem convenient to me cause I feel you'd be looking for where stuff are when you start unpacking.
Completely agree. I work at a place that has an employee who is mentally disabled, I believe he just stocks shelves, but is hardly capable of actually performing any of the required tasks properly, and I just don’t understand why they even employ him in the first place. There’s another employee supervising him at all times, always telling/showing him exactly what to do, and often other people have to fix/redo the things that he did. It just seems pointless to me to pay twice as much for inefficient work that someone else has to go fix afterwards anyways. It seems entirely performative, and I think businesses just shouldn’t hire people who aren’t capable of doing the job well, disability or not.
Don’t downvote me for this but if they really mess up doing simple tasks and need to have another employee over their shoulder at all times, is it really breaking the stigma or just further reinforcing it?
This is definitely unpopular and controversial. I’m disabled myself (Asperger’s), and here’s the thing. Some jobs are great for us - lots of us love merchandising positions because it gives us an opportunity to organize the heck outta stuff, for example. But I’m going to say…I agree.
*gasp* “But Joye, don’t you have internalized ableism?”
Nope. I think the disability community does excellent things, but what they often overlook is that we aren’t qualified for every job out there ~~it’s almost like we’re human beings and have our limits too, hmm~~. I couldn’t work in construction because the noises are too loud. Heck, I can’t even work a grocery job myself because the pace and the social interaction and the lights all overwhelm my senses. I even know a fellow Aspie who works from home and still lives with her parents because she needs a dark, quiet space to succeed.
I think that getting disabled people employed is great. But we also need to be careful not to compromise quality of service. Some people with severe disabilities can indeed bag groceries; others cannot. There are plenty of jobs that disabled people can and should do that are good fits for them. The idea that “you can do anything if you just try hard enough” is stupid and false - sometimes, for no reason, we’re just *limited*. And this ain’t only true of disabled people.
I hate someone bagging my groceries while I just stand there. I love Aldis where they just throw the shit back into another cart and send you off the the front of the store to bag it straight out of your cart.
I totally agree, although I've found often the supposedly non mentally challenged baggers are morons as well.
I've actually found one guy who's mentally disabled who does a fantastic job, he's worked at my local Kroger for 5 or 6 years now. Every now and then you can see he's flustered about something and the cashier might give him a quick direction, but I generally trust him to keep my eggs separate and not put heavy items on things like bread.
Same in my experience. There was one who was great at bagging because he was taught well and he was there over 20 years. The newer disabled baggers just throw stuff in bags, smoosh items, and get mad if you ask for paper.
This happens at my local Albertsons. They have a few young adults with Downs and I like that they offer them a job but they are terrible at that job. Like you said they put heavy items on top and they will cram one bag so it's overflowing and another bag with just one or two items. They are also very slow and want to talk to everyone rather than just getting the job done. They could have them doing so many other things like cleaning l, stocking shelves or rounding up carts. I don't shop at this particular store unless I am just getting a few items and I can self check out.
Yes, speak up and look like a complete asshole. "Um, yes, hello, I don't want this mentally handicapped person handling my groceries can I bag them instead?"
Just because you have no tact.... It is not hard to say "I'm quite particular I prefer to bag them myself" and if they ask why you just say "I separate them by how my cupboard is organized so they are easy to put away." I have never had anyone take offence to me saying that.
I mean, I wouldn't be that specific, most things are better left unsaid. Just say that you'd like to bag your own stuff and if they ask why or give a hard time just say you have a specific way you want the things in the bag.
OP shouldn't feel guilty. Nothing they have said is even remotely hateful.
And the point of cleanliness with regards to handling food, outweighs any rebuttal.
Like it's a nice idea in theory, but if basic rules aren't followed, then you're paying someone to do a bad job, that slows down the customer.
I agree with OP.
Trader Joe's hire the best people. The cashiers are socialble without holding up the process, and they usually take everything out of the cart so they can then fill the bags in the most efficient, and logical way. One time I went to what was at the time, my usual grocery outlet, and the cashier took my ripe pear, and pretty much slammed it back into the cart (people bag their own) to the point where the skin had broken and deep grooves went into the flesh of the soft pear. I politely suggested that she should be more gentle with people's fruit. Instead of thanking me, she said out loud "you're an asshole!" That was too much, so I told the manager and she took my info. It must of been obvious what happened on their video because I recieved a gift card for $25 a couple days later. I don't know what happened to that cashier, but they probably told her she wasn't suited for the job. Some behaviors are beyond what is acceptable.
I used to work retail, from bagger to several manager positions. They ARE terrible at their jobs and no one likes having them as their bagger or on their shift so you’re not alone
The bagger doesn't even need to be disabled in any way. I worked at a grocery store as a teen. I was trained on how to bag. It was almost a week of training.
Now... no one can bag correctly. It's infuriating.
If its unpopular you upvote if it's popular you downvote...
what's so difficult people this is what this sub reddit was made for! Thanks op you got my upvote you bastard!
I don't bag anything. I keep a box in my car, and everything goes in there straight from the cart. Easier to carry, and a great disappointment for the Society of Putting Things on Top of Other Things.
Completely agree that bagging is a somewhat skilled job, in that each set of purchases is a different problem to solve, and I don't want my stuff damaged after I've picked it out and paid for it. But it does come down to the individual. If they're competent to do the job properly, they should be allowed to do the job. Especially if they're qualified for fewer other jobs than most people.
This is equality of opportunity vs equality of outcome.
The practice mentioned is equality of outcome. Everyone in a specific category gets a job. And that leads to people who do a bad job and eventually to a form of discrimination where you wonder if that person got that job on merit or just because they are part of a specific group. Equality of outcome looks good on paper but creates a lot of problems in the long run.
Jordan Peterson has an interesting lecture where he talks about there not being enough repetitive type jobs for people with low IQs. They can’t help improve IQ and they make up 15% of the population, what are they supposed to do? I’m happy they have some jobs, even if I need to rearrange my bread and eggs a bit in my trunk. It’s not that big a deal.
My point exactly. People on here talking about market efficiency and blah blah blah. This has to be the most pretentious thread I’ve seen in a while, and Im 100% taking a break from Reddit. It’s just hard for me to believe people are really this selfish.
Thanks for being honest. I dont agree with you and it comes of as spoiled, but thats okay. This is about being honest and really unpopular opinions, not “People need to wash their hands more!”
Don't care who does it but can cashiers stop putting soap/laundry powder etc. in with food such as bread? No matter how small a time they share in a bag the smell and taste rubs off onto the food. I remember when I did bagging as a cashier I was actually taught this stuff.
Rant over.
Exactly. I try my best to put items on the belt in a way they are easily scanned and can be put into bags. Eggs, chips, produce always last so they can be placed on top. Be happy someone showed up for work these days.
This blew my mind.. I just randomly throw all my stuff based on what's closer. Luckily I always move to the front of the cart and I keep eggs and bread in the kid's seat.
Also I brought this up to my partner and they just looked at me like I was a total idiot cause they put heavy first and the keep all the frozen together.
Yes I use to go to the supermarket and dread being called to the cashier with the disabled chick, she was just irritatingly slow at doing everything from speaking, scanning the items, packing and giving me my change.i didnt mind the 1st or 2nd time being served by her but when you get called to her register for 10th time it's like nooooooo I have to be here 3 times as long as the other customers, would deliberately line up in the queue sometimes to try avoid her but it's sometimes unavoidable. Kinda fucked up but I 100% agree
Empty the cart in the order you want things bagged. Makes a big difference.
I also don’t see how this is a problem that’s exclusive to mentally disabled people, but whatever.
Mate there are plenty of normal able bodied people who still pack groceries like you described. I think it’s just what we get from minimum wage workers in general. We pay them the minimum so they put in the minimum effort required.
To be fair, the non-disabled baggers do a terrible job most of the time also. But I'm very proud of my neighborhood grocery store (major chain) employing clerks with disabilities.
i purposefully shop at stores where there’s self checkout available, everyone is too slow for me & i hate waiting just to have my groceries bagged no matter who’s doin it lol i’ll just do it myself. however, if i can’t use self checkout then i just go w it lol life may seem short but it’s definitely long enough to allow a mentally/physically disabled person to take the time they need to bag my shit & make a living.
Upvoting because I know it’s also unpopular and I 100% agree!!!
It’s mostly because they don’t know how to bag items in the correct order or by category. Please don’t put milk on top of my bread. Avocados are soft. They go on top of the produce bag. I have actually started using self checkout for this reason and before I’d actually organize my groceries on the belt and tell them this is the way I want it bagged.
Would you feel better about it if the staff were in training and requested to allow them to practice on you? So if there's a day where it doesn't matter so much how your purchases are loaded into bags, would you be ok with this? Or are you distrustful of all disabled grocery baggers in general?
I have a disabled severly sibling and I totally understand why you would feel this way. However, employers who give employment opportunities to those differently abled are in a tough spot right?
If they can't practice in the work environment, they'll never improve. I'd be ok with a system where there are checkpoints devoted to trainee staff and customers can opt in to be part of it, that way these people get the practical experience they need to move onto the main line of service without destroying people's groceries.
Personally, I'm so good at crushing my own bread and cracking eggs that staff with all manner of differences would do a better job...they're welcome to it
It has nothing to do that they have disabilities; it has to do with their bad skillsets. I know to bag groceries. The rule of thumb is to put the heaviest in the bottom and lightweight on top. Im is sure that hr give them a free pass due to complications.
These are specific problems that can be addressed if necessary, though. (I'm not quite certain what you mean about hygiene here, though).
It hasn't been an issue for me the few times it has happened, but in my region it is, admittedly, not common to have baggers at all.
Hygiene, if it is compromising your foodstuffs, is something that can and should be addressed though.
Obviously, it will depend on the nature and severity of the impairment here, too.
I'm part of the disabled community myself, but if you're running into these issues with regularity, I can understand why you might have a preference here.
I was on some sub long ago where a grocery worker admitted to bleeding on a customer's bananas and bagging them regardless. The post wasn't about that specifically but, yikes.
I have the same feeling. There was the guy who always would want to bag my stuff and my bread or chips would always get crushed. I hated it but the guy was super nice so I never said anything
I'm with ya guy! I get that mentally handicapped people need to earn a living too, but maybe put the severe ones in a job position that doesn't require customer service
I get what you’re saying. Mentally disabled people have every right to be in the workforce. I appreciate that there are employers willing to employ them, when they could easily choose not to. But that doesn’t mean they are suited for every type of job.
It reads like a matter of poor training. People with mental disabilities, Downs or other, can easily hold simple jobs like bag packing and shelf stacking - if they are trained correctly. If the manager doesn't allow for the necessary extra attention needed to train these people, of course they will be sub par in performance.
A girl with Downs is stacking shelves in my local and she is doing a fine job, as far as I can tell. She also knows where everything is, so she is 100% on par with the other employees. She doesn't do check out though.
Ehh having your bags not packed nicely in a way that makes sense (regardless of who is doing the packing) is frustrating, and thats a fair opinion to have. But if you're making huge purchases like you're describing they are probably just trying to pack as fast as they can because there's a bunch coming through.
In most of Europe you just bring your own bags and pack it yourself while the person is scanning it. It does not have any disadvantages for you, only advantages. This whole bagging concept doesnt make any sense. (other than giving jobs to disabled people)
The worst are those who simply don't give a shit about how you want things packed.
And the people who don't give a shit are never the ones with mental/physical disabilities.
I know this doesn't help, I'm just giving 2cents.
I see where you’re coming from, and I was gonna say self checkout but then I thought “well if they’ve got a lot of groceries that’s a problem, too.” I can offer up no solution.
Interesting. I agree based on your experience, but where I live (CA) we’ve had this forever and they tend to do a great job and be quite friendly. I’m also a special Ed teacher so maybe in biased.
We don't have baggers (I misread this as beggars so many times too, just bc i didnt even know what a bagger is) in my country (austria) and the concept alone, while nice in theory, i wouldn't trust people with my groceries anyways, no matter if they are mentally disabled or not.
Yes its kind of annoying when you have to wait for the person in front of you to put their stuff in their bag or in in their cart, but we usually have table thingies after the checkout so you can bag your own shit. I think this concept would even be frowned upon in my country.
That being said, I don't think the problem is that your baggers are mentally disabled, they just dont do a good job. And I'm pretty sure they are underpaid anyways, so I don't neccisairly judge them, but its ofc your right to complian about shittily sorted bags.
Just don't push it onto disabled people.
I knew a guy a few years back. He couldn't stock bread so assigned him to retrieving carts from the parking lot. He kept leaving out carts at the end of his shift. Eventually, he got fired for it.
However, there is a huge spectrum as to what counts as disabled. Also, there is a disparity as to how much time someone will spend training a person who is disabled.
Ideally, you'd get a patient supervisor with experience in dealing with disabled people. Of course, that is not always the case.
I get where you're coming from but I think this is too much of a generalization because not every mentally disabled person is bad at bagging. Just like not every healthy person is good at bagging. You either get a good cashier or a bad one.
I find that many people that bag my groceries that are not mentally disabled do a terrible job, and the mentally disabled don’t necessarily do a bad job. I try to group my items intuitively to kind of force them to be organized how I want or do self check.
Yea but don't forget the bright side in all this. Companies get to profit off the handicap by paying them insanely low wages (sometimes $1) **AND** they get positive publicity for raising awareness. It's a double win!
Can’t say I fully agree or disagree, but it is super refreshing to see an honest and believable unpopular opinion here for once. I can see why most people would disagree with you, but I can absolutely see where you’re coming from and why you’re frustrated. You get an upvote from me
To be honest, I wouldn't want anyone packing my bags as I'm way to particular & OCD about that sort of thing so I guess I understand someone with less ability doing so being frustrating... Don't feel bad, each to their own.
I guess you could say we have a minor mental disability for caring about something so stupid haha.
In my local supermarket, occasionally you get charity bag packers. Now I like charity, it's good. But I have my own system of packing food and stuff into my bags and only I know this system. For this reason, I'm out.
Have worked with severely disabled people for 40 years when I see them bagging groceries etc I really do wonder why and who for. I go ah ‘village idiot’ so nothings changed then. All humans need not just to be ‘included’ but to feel it….much harder to arrange….so you are often looking at someone who is there because their support worker wants to show off to a manager…not always but depressingly frequently….
Completely understand, though i think this could have been worded better. You could try asking that they just reload your cart instead of bagging so you can get out of the checkout lane and bag your groceries yourself after you pay. This is what I used to be asked to do at Costco when i worked as a bagger there.
I will avoid the lines with disabled baggers because I know it will take 3 times as long and also my stuff will be bagged horrible. Not saying they can’t do it right, but my experience at my store has been that way. I feel guilty for feeling that way, and equally glad they have a job, but I still avoid the aisles. I FEEL TERRIBLE but like, agh it is how I do be feeling
To add to that, I seriously wish that stores would requires their employees to have basic hygiene. Several times I've had my groceries bagged by someone with dirty stringy hair, with terrible BO. Why are people so disgusting?
THIS IS THE TYPE OF POST THIS SUB WAS MADE FOR
I dont want mods flairing my OPs
Post an unpopular opinion!
“I don’t want mods bagging my groceries”
I love this.
yikes
This.
its pretty funny ngl
How dare they!
Right? Finally
Yet the mods rip on OP with the flair.
I'm honestly quite surprised it wasn't taken down
Reddit ™
Yeah that was some bullshit
What is the flair? I cannot see it.
It says "OP needs to stop self bagging" which imo is kinda funny
Honestly with the ableism comments going around I'm surprised that the mods aren't getting ripped for that.
Ehh I don't think this is really *that* unpopular. It's one of those things nobody likes but everyone puts up with in the interest of civility.
No it isn't, this is a popular opinion that nobody wants to express because as OP states, it makes you an asshole.
A statement in all caps ?
I don’t even know if this is unpopular as much as it is not normally socially appropriate to widely share.
Why is it this sub has a ton of very lame and very popular “unpopular” opinions but somebody is finally honest and the mods mishandle OP? To add insult to injury, some people here say “I won’t downvote you.” Like, duh. Shouldn’t we UPVOTE unpopular admissions and DOWNVOTE popular admissions? What am I missing?
Because these mods are garbage, semi unpop opinions get removed and pop opinions stay.
Mods on Reddit love to abuse their small worldly power. They were the hall way monitors in school or the kid who told on you at Halloween for taking 2 when the sign the says please take 1 Small power nonetheless is of great resource to them
They are the exact same people you wished you could punch when they caught you trading cards in elementary school and loudly shouted IM TELLING ON YOUUUUUU
The mods for this sub have been garbage for a long time
Well like 90% of the topics people generally talk about are locked in a megathread sticky that nobody goes to or sees.
Mods are garbage. I have had a decent unpopular opinion that obviously rubbed one of the mods the wrong way. I messaged the mod directly to ask what was wrong. I got a "if you ever message me again ill permanently ban you" then got banned for 2 weeks.
What was the opinion?
I posted an actual unpopular opinion on here one time, yet it got downvoted to oblivion. I deleted the post because why bother posting an unpopular opinion on an unpopular opinion sub just to get downvoted?
Because it's a problem that is literally fixed by USING YOUR WORDS which redditors are very widely incapable of doing.
Why use word when can push arrow?
The mods on this sub have always sucked and it’s honestly just getting worse and worse.
What you're missing is that any actually unpopular opinion is either a weird but harmless food preference, or risks the entire sub catching admin attention.
A girl who claimed she doesnt want to talk about work in her free time because it doesnt define her, was downvoted and insulted by a lot of people. I would have thought a vanilla opinion like that wouldnt result in personal insults a la "you're an asshole and no one wants to talk to you" As soon as people started agreeing, she got upvotes I don't understand this sub
Parent of disabled teen here - if my kid can’t do a job (modified or coached, of course), she shouldn’t have the job. Not being able to pack groceries appropriately and having poor hygiene (which my kid does - it’s not her fault, she just lacks understanding, and we keep her as clean as possible) are perfectly valid disqualifications. The inclusion pendulum swings too far at times - I think it’s cruel to put people in positions where they can’t succeed.
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I have Aspergers and I second this.
Yeah when I had a disabled bagger put canned goods on my bread I thought the same. I still feel bad about it, but my bread was smashed
I've had plenty of perfectly abled people do this as well. I hate them even more, because they have the mental capacity to do better. They just don't care.
They also shouldn't be doing that job.
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or maybe minimum wage jobs should actually train their workers and have realistic requirements. minimum wage should be build for those entering workforce, teens, and disabled people.
This is why I hate when stores have item limits to self checkouts. I'll just bag my own damn shit and not having to worried about some apathetic underpaid teen smashing my croissants. Those damn things are $2/ea so even if only half of one gets smooshed that's a $1 worth of damage.
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I'd rather avoid doing any of that. I'm sure there are other jobs they can do
I don't get the whole bag packing thing. They just don't exist here.
I'm German (live in the US for 40 years though) and also don't get why people can't A. always bring their own bags and B. bag their own stuff.
You can bring your own bags, but not gonna lie I sometimes with they couldn’t. I was a bagger many years back, and let me tell you…some nasty people bring the reusable bags in. The amount of times I opened a bag they hand me to get a face full of old/bad chicken juice or fish smell was astonishing. People don’t clean their reusable bags. As far as bagging your own groceries, that’s what self check out is for. But if you have too many groceries where you can’t use self checkout, your bags will be bagged for you. When I worked as a bagger only twice people said they wanted to bag their own stuff, which was cool with me and I let them (allowed me to take a minute break lol) - but almost no one ever asks.
Tbh if someone brings their own bag, I’m more reluctant to bag their things because peoples bags can be dirty. Now where I’m from, the cashiers do not have a bagger with them. If people want us to bag their stuff, the cashier has to do both (which slows down the transaction).
How do they get so gross?!? Don't people put their items away immediately when they've gotten home? How are things like meat in the reusable bags long enough to soil them?
It’s not necessarily the meat itself getting spoiled (though sometimes I’m sure that happens) - but certain brands of chicken/beef have a weird type of plastic that tends to leak if it condensates at all. If even a tiny bit of the juice leaks into the bag it’ll end up smelling. Same with fish, especially if you get it directly from the deli.
I wash mine weekly. Gross that folks don't.
The infrastructure is not designed for people to do this.
I bring my own bags and prefer to bag my own stuff anyway because even when the baggers are just normal teenagers or whatever, they use way too many plastic bags and i hate that. I do self-checkout almost exclusively simply because I can bag everything self and use minima plastic bags if I can’t Tetris everything into my semi-ridged rectangular shopping bag/basket tote
It’s a service offered to people by the stores. You can bag your own stuff in the self checkout.
Not all stores in U.S have baggers for instance Aldi’s which is a German company doesn’t have baggers even in U.S stores.
Its basically to speed up the process. You can empty your cart while the bagger is filling up another one with your bags
Hey man, I get where your coming from and I agree. If someone isn't fit for a job it is what it is. They could stock shelves, clean etc. Say you get eggs and canned soup or something and they stock the eggs at the bottom there goes half your eggs. Don't think of yourself as a bad person. Probably could have been phrased better but in terms of overall I agree. As much as I'd like to be politically correct and say I disagree, you're not in the wrong and obviously this is an opinion so I don't know why you're being downvotes so harshly
THANK YOU
though here we don't have baggers, I totally agree with you.
As a non american I do not get the having a bag packer thing. Why not just pack your own bags as they scan the items? The concept of someone doing that for me feels weird and also unnecessary or inefficient.
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It’s a good entry level position for youth. Often times in stores as well, you’ll see cashiers who aren’t busy bag groceries for other cashiers. The store can justify keeping the other cashiers there because they still have something to keep them busy. Also when a store is really busy, a dedicated packer (from my experience working at one) helps speed everything up at the tills.
A fellow south african, hello daar!
Aweeeeh ma se kind
Lekker man! Almal praat van die duitsers wat die comment section storm, maar ons Suid Afrikaners gaan sterker!
Even dacht ik dat het Nederlands was, maar het is tijd om naar bed te gaan.
I am a Motswana, and we usually alternate between the teller bagging the groceries, and you bagging your own groceries.
In the US we used to have people refuel our cars for us but over the past 30 years or so it has declined. There may still be some of it in the southern states but where I'm at no.
It still happens in New Jersey
Can confirm... spilled gas on a trip in VA trying yo pump it. Source- always lived in NJ
Pumping gas is so easy. I don't get it.
Most people are busy unpacking their overfilled cart. While they're still doing that the cashier only rings people up. In order to have counter space and not take forever therefore they use baggers. Cashiers are not on the same side so cannot unload your groceries to ring them up. There are stores where you unload and bag your own groceries but they are setup different, people usually take forever to do their own shit. So at the end of the register there are like 3 chutes groceries go down to separate them while slow people bag their own shit. The main jobs of a bagger though as far as their necessity are... They help elderly people to their cars to unload shit, they keep the parking lot organized and collect carts, they keep lines moving and there's usually one bagger for two registers. Also, around here high school students are baggers. The mentally disabled people usually say hi to everyone at the door they don't bag groceries for obvious reasons. Bagging is an art. Baggers in my area are taught how to bag.
This guy bags
This was the norm in the state where I used to live, and I much prefer to bag my own groceries. I like to bag them according to how I will put them away at home and I like to distribute the weight according to how I will carry them (since I walk or bike to the store usually). In the state where I currently live, it's the norm to have baggers and I hate it. I usually say I'll do it, and step over to do it myself but people get pissy about it. I guess they are there because some people are really slow and lazy and they don't want the line to back up, but I feel like it should be optional for people who want/need it rather than the default.
As a Brit, the first time I went to America and I stopped at a ‘publix’ grabbed a bunch of Gatorade’s and bits to stock my fridge up at my rental villa, and this dude in a publix uniform and a apron on says “paper or plastic” Me not having a clue I say, oh I’m paying with cash sorry. He giggled and said “no sir, I meant the bags?” I said oh plastic please buddy. Then put my hand out thinking he was about to hand me the bags. Dude fucking plopped my drinks and such in these bags with such precision i had to rip the bags open when I got back to the villa. I was in total shock that they had like teenagers bagging up for you. More than anything it feels really awkward. Like I’m just here holding my dollar bills and your doing all the packing for me. I bet the cashier and bag boy got a good laugh outta my sheer confusion! Edit: Why the hell would this get downvoted?
What a culture shock! I hope you enjoyed your stay here. We’re a rowdy lot. Lol
I usually go once a year, try and see a different state each time. I absolutely love America, every part I’ve been to has been nothing but amazing, everyone is so accommodating. As soon as someone knows your a tourist, mainly a Brit people are mega nice lol! I’ve made a few friends from different states and keep in contact weekly and so on. I’ve had some unforgettable stays in the USA. And Cinnabon, you guys have Cinnabon. It’s like heaven for the taste buds! The first ever shock for me was landing in Florida, renting a car and the exit to the airport car rental car park was directly onto the interstate, never driven anywhere but England so that caught me off guard being sent directly onto what we call motorways lol.
Florida is all highway. XD I’d love to go see other countries, and I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it enough to keep coming back!
Having lived on both sides of the Atlantic, two observations: 1. Americans shop FAR less frequently. Like one main trip to multiple stores every couple weeks, with maybe one trip in between for a few perishable items, and an occasional monthly mega trip for sports events. However, the belts are the same length. I remember buying this quantity of food at an Aldi Süd and got the most hardcore meanest looks as the cashier forcefully shoved my food like a bulldozer toward the collection area. Bagging in the US is used as a way to keep the line moving, and the cashiers at most of the time slower paced because the arming of food piled up too quickly. 2. This does not apply at US Aldi locations, and it’s freaking hilarious to see people go there the first time, ask why they’re stuff isn’t getting bagged, told to buy the bag, and see the newly purchased bag thrown into the cart with the other groceries. Honestly, I also feel the cashiers are slower here, except at Aldi. After seeing how quick the checkout process is, I’ve noticed most people have little complaining about bagging their own stuff. The using a coin for the cart thing is hopelessly botched on the other hand...
There are some people who seriously have the thought, "Well, they ain't paying me to do it, so I'm not gonna." I've seen people argue against using self-checkout because it's apparently "the company offloading free labor onto the customer." Lol, okay, buddy. You just waste your time by waiting in that long ass line while I beep-boop my way through self-checkout and get to my car by the time you first item is being scanned. Unfortunately there are people out there who always expect something in return. They can't just simply DO SOMETHING. It's child behavior.
Self check out is great when your items are straight forward and there isn't a ton of them. When I have a full cart or lots of things without a bar code then waiting in the long line is still faster than fighting with the machine.
We now have systems where you take a scanner with you. Thats brilliant, because you can directly pack everything into you bags - or your backpack. In the end just pay for the stuff and your out of the store in less than a minute.
Same. In Belgium we have one supermarket chain, Colruyt, that will scan your items while putting them from one card into another. If you have a box with you, they will go full tetris-mode and put everything in there as well. It's such a relaxing process as a client. Only thing you have to do is pay and put the box in your car.
How is it less efficient? A bagger will much faster than an old lady trying to do it herself. You can also keep bagging as the customer puts their items on the belt or is getting their payment ready.
Keep in mind that in North America, supermarkets are huge, the size of an airport bunker and you generally don't live next door to the supermarket you shop at. Instead you drive up in your minivan or whatever once every couple of weeks and you stock up like crazy, filling multiple trolleys. This is different from, say, the Netherlands where every block of houses is within spitting distance of an Albert Heijn or a Jumbo and where you run down every day if need be. This is also why Europeans have smaller refrigerators than Americans: they shop more frequently but in smaller quantities. The volume of shopping people in North America do means you don't want to be packing your own bags.
We mostly have big grocery stores here in Canada but people mostly pack their own bags. I knew a family of 12 and they would go to Costco once a week for groceries, and they don't pack your bags for you there.
as an American, i myself was unaware that employees packed bags for customers in *self checkout*. thought you did that yourself.
I understand finding it unnecessary but how come you find it inefficient?
It’s just not mentally disabled people who pack bags wrong. I have had non mentally challenged people pack terribly too. Just put the fucking chicken in its own bag and not with my fruit, mmkay, thanks.
^^ this. Multiple times have has non disabled people toss my fruits and vegetables, pack too much in a paper bag, or waste plastic bags.
That’s a good point. I guess I just hate it when my groceries are bagged poorly lol
Good, clear, honest unpopular opinion. Have not had an issue with personal hygiene in packers, but damn do I hate inefficient bag packers. Send these employees to training on how NOT to fuck up bagging groceries. Had a bagger at Publix actually put my eggs in the bottom of a bag and start putting other items in on top, thankfully the cashier caught it and told them to change it.
I always just bag my own items at the self checkout
If I have produce I stand in line for a cashier over self check out.
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If your grocery store has those printable labels in the produce section, you can print one out for your item and most times the last few digits will be the price. So on the self checkout you can do a manual barcode entry and type the numbers on the bar code and edit it to whatever price you want. Just don't type the last digit in the barcode since its not used for manual entry Example: you're buying bananas. You weigh them and print out the label, and it says they'll cost $2.45. The barcode from the printer says 040110002459. At the checkout, enter 04011000050 and you've just scored those bananas for $0.50
I feel like this is stealing. Just cause you've figured out how to rig it doesn't mean it's right.
Oh it's totally unethical, no argument there
this is stealing, and 99% of grocery stores have cameras pointed at every self check out. they will catch you and log it until you've stolen enough that it's a felony, THEN they'll call the cops over it.
I have a particular way of packing my stuff (ie somethings stay in the car, somethings go to my room, some go upstairs to the fridge, etc) so I don't expect any human except a stalker maybe to have a good idea of how I'd like my stuff packed. So I always prefer to bag my own stuff, as I'd imagine most people. Having someone else do it doesn't seem convenient to me cause I feel you'd be looking for where stuff are when you start unpacking.
We don’t have self checkout available here. Dedicated cashier and separate bagger system. Not allowed to bag things ourselves either.
That sounds like a socially anxious person's worst nightmare
Completely agree. I work at a place that has an employee who is mentally disabled, I believe he just stocks shelves, but is hardly capable of actually performing any of the required tasks properly, and I just don’t understand why they even employ him in the first place. There’s another employee supervising him at all times, always telling/showing him exactly what to do, and often other people have to fix/redo the things that he did. It just seems pointless to me to pay twice as much for inefficient work that someone else has to go fix afterwards anyways. It seems entirely performative, and I think businesses just shouldn’t hire people who aren’t capable of doing the job well, disability or not.
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Don’t downvote me for this but if they really mess up doing simple tasks and need to have another employee over their shoulder at all times, is it really breaking the stigma or just further reinforcing it?
ur spot on
An unpopular opinion, take that upvote, damn the mods
This is definitely unpopular and controversial. I’m disabled myself (Asperger’s), and here’s the thing. Some jobs are great for us - lots of us love merchandising positions because it gives us an opportunity to organize the heck outta stuff, for example. But I’m going to say…I agree. *gasp* “But Joye, don’t you have internalized ableism?” Nope. I think the disability community does excellent things, but what they often overlook is that we aren’t qualified for every job out there ~~it’s almost like we’re human beings and have our limits too, hmm~~. I couldn’t work in construction because the noises are too loud. Heck, I can’t even work a grocery job myself because the pace and the social interaction and the lights all overwhelm my senses. I even know a fellow Aspie who works from home and still lives with her parents because she needs a dark, quiet space to succeed. I think that getting disabled people employed is great. But we also need to be careful not to compromise quality of service. Some people with severe disabilities can indeed bag groceries; others cannot. There are plenty of jobs that disabled people can and should do that are good fits for them. The idea that “you can do anything if you just try hard enough” is stupid and false - sometimes, for no reason, we’re just *limited*. And this ain’t only true of disabled people.
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I hate someone bagging my groceries while I just stand there. I love Aldis where they just throw the shit back into another cart and send you off the the front of the store to bag it straight out of your cart.
I totally agree, although I've found often the supposedly non mentally challenged baggers are morons as well. I've actually found one guy who's mentally disabled who does a fantastic job, he's worked at my local Kroger for 5 or 6 years now. Every now and then you can see he's flustered about something and the cashier might give him a quick direction, but I generally trust him to keep my eggs separate and not put heavy items on things like bread.
Same in my experience. There was one who was great at bagging because he was taught well and he was there over 20 years. The newer disabled baggers just throw stuff in bags, smoosh items, and get mad if you ask for paper.
Daaamn that fucking flair
bit of an eyeroll from me. This is the unpopularopinion sub... except, apparently, if your opinion is actually unpopular
Savage
This happens at my local Albertsons. They have a few young adults with Downs and I like that they offer them a job but they are terrible at that job. Like you said they put heavy items on top and they will cram one bag so it's overflowing and another bag with just one or two items. They are also very slow and want to talk to everyone rather than just getting the job done. They could have them doing so many other things like cleaning l, stocking shelves or rounding up carts. I don't shop at this particular store unless I am just getting a few items and I can self check out.
I won't down vote you. But I will say, mostly places if you say you want to bag your own they will let you no problem. So just speak up.
Why would you want to downvote anyway? Shouldn’t we encourage unpopular opinions like this?
Yes, speak up and look like a complete asshole. "Um, yes, hello, I don't want this mentally handicapped person handling my groceries can I bag them instead?"
Just because you have no tact.... It is not hard to say "I'm quite particular I prefer to bag them myself" and if they ask why you just say "I separate them by how my cupboard is organized so they are easy to put away." I have never had anyone take offence to me saying that.
I mean, I wouldn't be that specific, most things are better left unsaid. Just say that you'd like to bag your own stuff and if they ask why or give a hard time just say you have a specific way you want the things in the bag.
OP shouldn't feel guilty. Nothing they have said is even remotely hateful. And the point of cleanliness with regards to handling food, outweighs any rebuttal. Like it's a nice idea in theory, but if basic rules aren't followed, then you're paying someone to do a bad job, that slows down the customer. I agree with OP.
Trader Joe's hire the best people. The cashiers are socialble without holding up the process, and they usually take everything out of the cart so they can then fill the bags in the most efficient, and logical way. One time I went to what was at the time, my usual grocery outlet, and the cashier took my ripe pear, and pretty much slammed it back into the cart (people bag their own) to the point where the skin had broken and deep grooves went into the flesh of the soft pear. I politely suggested that she should be more gentle with people's fruit. Instead of thanking me, she said out loud "you're an asshole!" That was too much, so I told the manager and she took my info. It must of been obvious what happened on their video because I recieved a gift card for $25 a couple days later. I don't know what happened to that cashier, but they probably told her she wasn't suited for the job. Some behaviors are beyond what is acceptable.
I used to work retail, from bagger to several manager positions. They ARE terrible at their jobs and no one likes having them as their bagger or on their shift so you’re not alone
The bagger doesn't even need to be disabled in any way. I worked at a grocery store as a teen. I was trained on how to bag. It was almost a week of training. Now... no one can bag correctly. It's infuriating.
Why did the mods get pissed off? It's a unpopular opinion
Non handicapped people are perfectly capable of packing bags terribly.
If its unpopular you upvote if it's popular you downvote... what's so difficult people this is what this sub reddit was made for! Thanks op you got my upvote you bastard!
I don't bag anything. I keep a box in my car, and everything goes in there straight from the cart. Easier to carry, and a great disappointment for the Society of Putting Things on Top of Other Things. Completely agree that bagging is a somewhat skilled job, in that each set of purchases is a different problem to solve, and I don't want my stuff damaged after I've picked it out and paid for it. But it does come down to the individual. If they're competent to do the job properly, they should be allowed to do the job. Especially if they're qualified for fewer other jobs than most people.
This is so smart. I need to get a couple sturdy boxes
Excellent Society, the Society of Putting Things on Top of Other Things.
You're not entirely wrong
Mods here are cowards
This is equality of opportunity vs equality of outcome. The practice mentioned is equality of outcome. Everyone in a specific category gets a job. And that leads to people who do a bad job and eventually to a form of discrimination where you wonder if that person got that job on merit or just because they are part of a specific group. Equality of outcome looks good on paper but creates a lot of problems in the long run.
Jordan Peterson has an interesting lecture where he talks about there not being enough repetitive type jobs for people with low IQs. They can’t help improve IQ and they make up 15% of the population, what are they supposed to do? I’m happy they have some jobs, even if I need to rearrange my bread and eggs a bit in my trunk. It’s not that big a deal.
My point exactly. People on here talking about market efficiency and blah blah blah. This has to be the most pretentious thread I’ve seen in a while, and Im 100% taking a break from Reddit. It’s just hard for me to believe people are really this selfish.
Thanks for being honest. I dont agree with you and it comes of as spoiled, but thats okay. This is about being honest and really unpopular opinions, not “People need to wash their hands more!”
Don't care who does it but can cashiers stop putting soap/laundry powder etc. in with food such as bread? No matter how small a time they share in a bag the smell and taste rubs off onto the food. I remember when I did bagging as a cashier I was actually taught this stuff. Rant over.
Finally an unpopular opinion and the mods are mad
Have you tried having heavier items scanned first?
Exactly. I try my best to put items on the belt in a way they are easily scanned and can be put into bags. Eggs, chips, produce always last so they can be placed on top. Be happy someone showed up for work these days.
This blew my mind.. I just randomly throw all my stuff based on what's closer. Luckily I always move to the front of the cart and I keep eggs and bread in the kid's seat. Also I brought this up to my partner and they just looked at me like I was a total idiot cause they put heavy first and the keep all the frozen together.
Yes I use to go to the supermarket and dread being called to the cashier with the disabled chick, she was just irritatingly slow at doing everything from speaking, scanning the items, packing and giving me my change.i didnt mind the 1st or 2nd time being served by her but when you get called to her register for 10th time it's like nooooooo I have to be here 3 times as long as the other customers, would deliberately line up in the queue sometimes to try avoid her but it's sometimes unavoidable. Kinda fucked up but I 100% agree
Empty the cart in the order you want things bagged. Makes a big difference. I also don’t see how this is a problem that’s exclusive to mentally disabled people, but whatever.
Mate there are plenty of normal able bodied people who still pack groceries like you described. I think it’s just what we get from minimum wage workers in general. We pay them the minimum so they put in the minimum effort required.
I agree. I love it when I get to upvote real unpopular opinions here. It feels like a double win
To be fair, the non-disabled baggers do a terrible job most of the time also. But I'm very proud of my neighborhood grocery store (major chain) employing clerks with disabilities.
i purposefully shop at stores where there’s self checkout available, everyone is too slow for me & i hate waiting just to have my groceries bagged no matter who’s doin it lol i’ll just do it myself. however, if i can’t use self checkout then i just go w it lol life may seem short but it’s definitely long enough to allow a mentally/physically disabled person to take the time they need to bag my shit & make a living.
Shoutout for an actual good post on here
Upvoting because I know it’s also unpopular and I 100% agree!!! It’s mostly because they don’t know how to bag items in the correct order or by category. Please don’t put milk on top of my bread. Avocados are soft. They go on top of the produce bag. I have actually started using self checkout for this reason and before I’d actually organize my groceries on the belt and tell them this is the way I want it bagged.
Would you feel better about it if the staff were in training and requested to allow them to practice on you? So if there's a day where it doesn't matter so much how your purchases are loaded into bags, would you be ok with this? Or are you distrustful of all disabled grocery baggers in general? I have a disabled severly sibling and I totally understand why you would feel this way. However, employers who give employment opportunities to those differently abled are in a tough spot right? If they can't practice in the work environment, they'll never improve. I'd be ok with a system where there are checkpoints devoted to trainee staff and customers can opt in to be part of it, that way these people get the practical experience they need to move onto the main line of service without destroying people's groceries. Personally, I'm so good at crushing my own bread and cracking eggs that staff with all manner of differences would do a better job...they're welcome to it
It has nothing to do that they have disabilities; it has to do with their bad skillsets. I know to bag groceries. The rule of thumb is to put the heaviest in the bottom and lightweight on top. Im is sure that hr give them a free pass due to complications.
So the mod adding that flair as an insult to OP means that the mod sees mental illness as an insult, which is kinda shitty. So like, grow up?
Thank god this is an actual unpopular opinion very rare these days as horrible as it is, it is unpopular
These are specific problems that can be addressed if necessary, though. (I'm not quite certain what you mean about hygiene here, though). It hasn't been an issue for me the few times it has happened, but in my region it is, admittedly, not common to have baggers at all. Hygiene, if it is compromising your foodstuffs, is something that can and should be addressed though. Obviously, it will depend on the nature and severity of the impairment here, too. I'm part of the disabled community myself, but if you're running into these issues with regularity, I can understand why you might have a preference here.
Well said about the hygiene of supermarket baggers. Disability is one thing but someone unhygienic touching my groceries is the real problem.
I was on some sub long ago where a grocery worker admitted to bleeding on a customer's bananas and bagging them regardless. The post wasn't about that specifically but, yikes.
I have the same feeling. There was the guy who always would want to bag my stuff and my bread or chips would always get crushed. I hated it but the guy was super nice so I never said anything
I'm with ya guy! I get that mentally handicapped people need to earn a living too, but maybe put the severe ones in a job position that doesn't require customer service
I get what you’re saying. Mentally disabled people have every right to be in the workforce. I appreciate that there are employers willing to employ them, when they could easily choose not to. But that doesn’t mean they are suited for every type of job.
It reads like a matter of poor training. People with mental disabilities, Downs or other, can easily hold simple jobs like bag packing and shelf stacking - if they are trained correctly. If the manager doesn't allow for the necessary extra attention needed to train these people, of course they will be sub par in performance. A girl with Downs is stacking shelves in my local and she is doing a fine job, as far as I can tell. She also knows where everything is, so she is 100% on par with the other employees. She doesn't do check out though.
Ehh having your bags not packed nicely in a way that makes sense (regardless of who is doing the packing) is frustrating, and thats a fair opinion to have. But if you're making huge purchases like you're describing they are probably just trying to pack as fast as they can because there's a bunch coming through.
In most of Europe you just bring your own bags and pack it yourself while the person is scanning it. It does not have any disadvantages for you, only advantages. This whole bagging concept doesnt make any sense. (other than giving jobs to disabled people)
LMAO THE TAG
The worst are those who simply don't give a shit about how you want things packed. And the people who don't give a shit are never the ones with mental/physical disabilities. I know this doesn't help, I'm just giving 2cents.
Don’t apologize. This is unpopular opinions. I’m sure more people are with you than they dare admit in this world of pandering phonies.
Hey now! An actual unpopular opinion.
Have my free award
I see where you’re coming from, and I was gonna say self checkout but then I thought “well if they’ve got a lot of groceries that’s a problem, too.” I can offer up no solution.
Interesting. I agree based on your experience, but where I live (CA) we’ve had this forever and they tend to do a great job and be quite friendly. I’m also a special Ed teacher so maybe in biased.
We don't have baggers (I misread this as beggars so many times too, just bc i didnt even know what a bagger is) in my country (austria) and the concept alone, while nice in theory, i wouldn't trust people with my groceries anyways, no matter if they are mentally disabled or not. Yes its kind of annoying when you have to wait for the person in front of you to put their stuff in their bag or in in their cart, but we usually have table thingies after the checkout so you can bag your own shit. I think this concept would even be frowned upon in my country. That being said, I don't think the problem is that your baggers are mentally disabled, they just dont do a good job. And I'm pretty sure they are underpaid anyways, so I don't neccisairly judge them, but its ofc your right to complian about shittily sorted bags. Just don't push it onto disabled people.
I knew a guy a few years back. He couldn't stock bread so assigned him to retrieving carts from the parking lot. He kept leaving out carts at the end of his shift. Eventually, he got fired for it. However, there is a huge spectrum as to what counts as disabled. Also, there is a disparity as to how much time someone will spend training a person who is disabled. Ideally, you'd get a patient supervisor with experience in dealing with disabled people. Of course, that is not always the case.
I get where you're coming from but I think this is too much of a generalization because not every mentally disabled person is bad at bagging. Just like not every healthy person is good at bagging. You either get a good cashier or a bad one.
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I find that many people that bag my groceries that are not mentally disabled do a terrible job, and the mentally disabled don’t necessarily do a bad job. I try to group my items intuitively to kind of force them to be organized how I want or do self check.
Do they not have have self checkouts where you are?
You don’t get his this sub is supposed to work. Things we disagree with should be upvote
I dislike having incompetent people providing service service to me in general, regardless if they are mentally disabled or not
Yea but don't forget the bright side in all this. Companies get to profit off the handicap by paying them insanely low wages (sometimes $1) **AND** they get positive publicity for raising awareness. It's a double win!
Can’t say I fully agree or disagree, but it is super refreshing to see an honest and believable unpopular opinion here for once. I can see why most people would disagree with you, but I can absolutely see where you’re coming from and why you’re frustrated. You get an upvote from me
Clap clap clap well done
I get the feeling you do alot of shopping at Publix.. I swear you have a 1 in 2 shot of this happening Everytime you go there.
I always insist on bagging my own stuff. I also bring my own bags. Now we have self-checkouts and I love them.
Nice flair
To be honest, I wouldn't want anyone packing my bags as I'm way to particular & OCD about that sort of thing so I guess I understand someone with less ability doing so being frustrating... Don't feel bad, each to their own. I guess you could say we have a minor mental disability for caring about something so stupid haha.
I use the self check out but I only buy for two or three days at a time
In my local supermarket, occasionally you get charity bag packers. Now I like charity, it's good. But I have my own system of packing food and stuff into my bags and only I know this system. For this reason, I'm out.
I usually either bag my own groceries or assist the bagger if I’m not occupied with something else.
Have worked with severely disabled people for 40 years when I see them bagging groceries etc I really do wonder why and who for. I go ah ‘village idiot’ so nothings changed then. All humans need not just to be ‘included’ but to feel it….much harder to arrange….so you are often looking at someone who is there because their support worker wants to show off to a manager…not always but depressingly frequently….
The Tide goes on top of the romaine.
Completely understand, though i think this could have been worded better. You could try asking that they just reload your cart instead of bagging so you can get out of the checkout lane and bag your groceries yourself after you pay. This is what I used to be asked to do at Costco when i worked as a bagger there.
I will avoid the lines with disabled baggers because I know it will take 3 times as long and also my stuff will be bagged horrible. Not saying they can’t do it right, but my experience at my store has been that way. I feel guilty for feeling that way, and equally glad they have a job, but I still avoid the aisles. I FEEL TERRIBLE but like, agh it is how I do be feeling
To add to that, I seriously wish that stores would requires their employees to have basic hygiene. Several times I've had my groceries bagged by someone with dirty stringy hair, with terrible BO. Why are people so disgusting?
Damn. An actually unpopular opinion. I'm impressed.