On-going supermarket saga

As much as I complain about long lines or the woman in front of me who can't find her credit card/debit card/checkbook/ID when checking out, I really don't like coming upon a totally empty checkout lane because the checker starts ringing up my purchases before I've finished unloading my cart and I can't keep an eye on things.

Yesterday was such an example. By the time I unloaded my cart, a third of my groceries had already been rung up. I protested when I saw that my pound of asparagus was being rung up at $5 (the sign had said $1.49/lb).

"Oh, was that your frequent shopper card?" the clerk responded. She then scanned my card, which was on the conveyor in front of all my food. The price dropped and she started muttering, "Hallejulah" and other similar things. I wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or apologetic, so I let it pass.

I paid the final tally, which seemed awfully high, but checked the receipt before I left. Silly me. I must have bought a dozen heads of lettuce. Or so the receipt said.

Back to the cashier and an $11 refund. Needless to say, I'll avoid that clerk in the future.

Agree on not using an empty lane for the reasons you state. Much prefer self scanning/checking. We go to considerable lengths to avoid buying things that have to be weighed. The only problem with using them regularly is that you end up with a pocket full of pennies. Two things the government should do away with are the penny and the dollar bill.

Agree on not using an empty lane for the reasons you state. Much prefer self scanning/checking. We go to considerable lengths to avoid buying things that have to be weighed. The only problem with using them regularly is that you end up with a pocket full of pennies. Two things the government should do away with are the penny and the dollar bill.

During a 2 week vacation in NZ and Oz last summer, I certainly did not miss the penny. And after hearing that it costs more than a penny to manufacture a penny, I wholeheartedly agree that the penny has got to go!!! OTOH, I wasn't enamored of the paper money coming in multiple sizes, way too hard to keep organized. However, I may have to get used to it.....IIRC, a judge in America ruled that different denominations need to be different sizes as an accommodation to the visually impaired. The ruling was recent so change is not likely imminent.

[Jenise]

Larry, you're so funny. Why not spend the time you spend waiting on the customer in front of you (or less) scanning your receipt before you roll away? That's what I do.

Carl, it's worth mentioning that the National Federation of the Blind has attacked the decision in a well thought out press release:

The National Federation of the Blind, the largest organization of blind persons in America and known as the voice of the nation’s blind, criticized as dangerously misguided a federal court ruling saying that the design of U.S. currency discriminates against the blind.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “The blind need jobs and real opportunities to earn money, not feel-good gimmicks that misinform the public about our capabilities. Blind people transact business with paper money every day. This ruling puts a roadblock in the way of solving the real problem, which is the seventy percent unemployment rate among working-age blind Americans that severely limits our access to cash. The ruling will do nothing to alleviate that situation; in fact, it seriously endangers the ability of the blind to get jobs and participate fully in society. It argues that the blind cannot handle currency or documents in the workplace and that virtually everything must be modified for the use of the blind. An employer who believes that every piece of printed material in the workplace must be specially designed so that the blind can read it will have a strong incentive not to hire a blind person.”

Maurer went on to enumerate the real needs for access to information by the blind and made a distinction between those needs and the issue of identifying currency. “Access to information of all kinds, such as that contained on Internet Web sites and in the press, is certainly critical to the ability of the blind to become productive members of society. Blind students need educational materials in Braille and other alternative formats so that they can prepare for employment and ultimately earn an income for themselves and their families. Given the urgent need for access to the kind of information that is required for success in America’s information economy, the matter of identifying the denominations of paper bills is of relatively little concern.”

Blind people traditionally identify paper currency by folding bills of different denominations in different ways. “In reality, blind people do not routinely find that we have been short-changed,” Maurer commented. Machines are readily available to identify paper money for blind people who run businesses or handle large amounts of cash. “Essentially, the United States Treasury has been ordered by the courts to come up with a solution for a nonexistent problem,” Maurer said.

Jeeez! All I said was I wanted to do away with the penny and the dollar bill. By the latter, I mean change it to a coin, which in this neck of the woods anyway, is already available.

Jeeez! All I said was I wanted to do away with the penny and the dollar bill. By the latter, I mean change it to a coin, which in this neck of the woods anyway, is already available.

Apparently they're going to have another go at replacing dollar bills with dollar coins. This time they're going to put George Washington's face on the new dollar coin. Given that the biggest complaint about the previous dollar coins was that they were too easily confused with quarters, and that the quarter has George Washington's face on it, I don't know if ole George was the right choice.

IMO, the only way they're going to get public acceptance of dollar coins is to simply stop printing dollar bills.

-Paul W.

Oh, Carl, I'm sorry -- I meant to reply to MikeH's comment on the Federal Judge's decision last fall. Posted in too much haste -- I had just gotten a nice letter from the Federation updating donors on some of their programs.

My apologies, regards, Bob

Larry, have you ever considered ordering your groceries online and getting them delivered ? It's all the rage here in Oz - the big supermarkets are doing it - and they often have nice gourmet product on their lists. It all comes at a premium, of course, but what the hey, it might save you some angst.

You'll be pleased to know, fellow breadmaker, that I've now found bread I can make that the kids are happy to take to school (focaccias and baguettes), which means that the number of trips to the supermarket have been halved ! :-)

Larry, have you ever considered ordering your groceries online and getting them delivered ? It's all the rage here in Oz - the big supermarkets are doing it - and they often have nice gourmet product on their lists. It all comes at a premium, of course, but what the hey, it might save you some angst.

You'll be pleased to know, fellow breadmaker, that I've now found bread I can make that the kids are happy to take to school (focaccias and baguettes), which means that the number of trips to the supermarket have been halved !

There's no way I'm going to have someone else choose which items to pick for my grocery order (I can picture wilted lettuce, bruised onions, etc.). And I would never find bargains (like the dehydrated mushrooms in another thread) or get menu ideas just by strolling down the aisles.

Besides, grocery stores are not alone in screwing things up: I bought new tires a couple of days ago. The manager told me that the garage next door would give me a $10 discount for an alignment if I bought the tires from him.

Can you guess what happened next? Of course, you can. The alignment store manager never heard of such a thing. (But to his credit, he will give me $10 off, obviously believing that some is better than none--a good business tactic).

I am pleased with your breadmaking skills. I give away half of my output whenever I bake (it makes a great present). It feels good and other people are thrilled. Everyone loves homemade bread.

Larry, you're so funny. Why not spend the time you spend waiting on the customer in front of you (or less) scanning your receipt before you roll away? That's what I do.

I'm unclear on your concept. How can I scan a receipt if there's someone in front of me. My groceries haven't been rung up yet.

There's no way I'm going to have someone else choose which items to pick for my grocery order (I can picture wilted lettuce, bruised onions, etc.).

Actually, and surprisingly, the big companies that offer this service here seem to do that bit remarkably well. The few times we've used them, we've had spectacular fruit and veg. On their website they offer a ranking of quality. As I said though, this all comes at a premium, and you don't get a lot of specials on raw produce.

And yes, I give away about half of what I bake as well. Last week I put on my floral hippie pants and filled a lined basket with bread and walked around the neighbourhood offering bread to the masses. Lots of jokes about red riding hood and loaves and fishes ensued... :)

There's no way I'm going to have someone else choose which items to pick for my grocery order (I can picture wilted lettuce, bruised onions, etc.).

Actually, and surprisingly, the big companies that offer this service here seem to do that bit remarkably well. The few times we've used them, we've had spectacular fruit and veg. On their website they offer a ranking of quality. As I said though, this all comes at a premium, and you don't get a lot of specials on raw produce.

And yes, I give away about half of what I bake as well. Last week I put on my floral hippie pants and filled a lined basket with bread and walked around the neighbourhood offering bread to the masses. Lots of jokes about red riding hood and loaves and fishes ensued...

Perhaps when I'm an invalid I will consider someone else shopping for me, but I enjoy grocery shopping. And I don't see how adding another level of bureaucracy would preclude any all-too-often human mistakes.

I gave away two loaves of bread yesterday to my favorite pharmacists. After all the thanks, etc., I heard that most familiar of questions: "Do you have a bread machine?"

I pointed to the star-slashed glazed boules with fennel seeds and coarse sea salt on top and replied that I'd like to see a bread machine that can make bread like that. Sheesh!

I gave away two loaves of bread yesterday to my favorite pharmacists. After all the thanks, etc., I heard that most familiar of questions: "Do you have a bread machine?"

Arrrrrggggggghhhhh!

However, in all fairness, most people don't know anyone personally who still bakes bread.

It's wonderful of you to not only feed their bodies and hearts, but expand their worlds as well!