General Chit Chat

@HavaDrPepper do they charge you for that bag?

Most of the grocery stores in my area don't bag groceries, you have to do it yourself!

Walmart still bags your purchases and uses plastic bags, but you have to pay for them.  I use the self checkout but still have to pay for the bag. They are plastic but are suppose to be reusable.

We still have to pay for plastic bags if you want them. Most places now expect you to bag for yourself...even some Walmarts. I refuse on principle to use the self check out. I am paying to be served and shouldn't be expected to do their job, although I do prefer to bag myself since I find most of the cashiers have no idea how to properly do it. And don't even get me started when they can't even count change!

I self check out because it's faster. The line ups are usually so long for regular check out.

on counting change, so true.

Nope, they don't charge me for the bags. I'd be paying an awful lot because sometimes they only put 1 or 2 items in a bag or double bag heavy items.

Our Wal-Mart has gone to more self-checkout lanes but I refuse to use them. Yes, I'll stand in line for a checkout instead.  A couple of reasons... I either pay in cash or I am using my debit card and getting cash back.  I never go to the bank to get cash. I get it at Wal-Mart as change.

I do not like the way some of the cashiers bag and have even told them a better way to do it and I've never bagged groceries in my life!  I do put the groceries on the conveyor in the order I want them bagged.  Unfortunately, there is one cashier that will pick and choose what to scan.  When I do take my Wal-Mart bag, I prefer to have all box items put in it first. You can get a lot in there by doing that.  One cashier moved my first on the conveyor box items to put cans and jar items in first then she couldn't get the box items in and reached for the plastic bags.  It wasn't busy so I suggested she take the cans/jars out and put the boxes in first then the other items could go on top.  Amazingly, everything fit when doing it that way.

There is one cashier that is awesome and I love when I get in her line.  She's worked there for a long time and is quick and efficient as well as very friendly.  

In the mornings before 11, they usually only have 1, maybe 2 lanes open.  We went from 12 to maybe 7 lanes when they put in the extra self-check lanes.  More employees that can work as cashiers come in at 11 especially on Fridays.  So I try to do my shopping mid-week and before 10 when it isn't as busy.  A couple times I have been there later and waited in line and they have tried to direct me to self-checkout.  I told them that I prefer to use regular checkout so no thanks on the self checkout.  One time I had several people say "what she said" when they tried to get them to move to self-checkout.

@HavaDrPepper I'm with you. When I shop, I usually go later in the evening. When I'm shopping for work at Walmart I have to do multiple orders with separate bills and a large order for the house things. The cashiers pretty much know me now and if possible I try to go my favourite ones who know how to bag and don't ask stupid questions like is this a separate order when it is clear they are as I have them all separated by that little stick like thing.

When I go grocery shopping I go to the Superstore by my house and that is usually on my way home from work...after 10pm. It's usually pretty quick because of the time.

I'm lucky because many times I can pick up a few things for myself while I am shopping for work, so two birds with one stone.

I have zero patience to wait in line. I always get the fifth person ahead of me, that has a problem with pricing and I'd rather bag everything myself. I have my reusable bags and out I go. I was at the Dollar store yesterday in Niagara Falls NY. There was a big line up and one cashier. They opened another one requesting the next in line come up, all the people behind me went right to the one that just opened, how rude!

They don't have self checkouts so I had no choice. Neither do the grocery stores that I go to but I do often get cash back from them rather than making a trip to the bank. I seldom have a huge cart so the 12 items or less works for me most of the time. I did notice Shoppers Drug Mart has now installed them.

Well, since I live in a small town, long lines usually only have no more than 5 people.  It's not usually the number of people that will make for a long wait, it is the amount of groceries they have and the quickness (or slowness) of the cashier.

There is one guy cashier at Wal-Mart, super nice guy, but he likes to carry on conversations with every person he checks out which makes him slow.  I tend to avoid him when possible.

There is a grocery store on my side of town but there are some items I like to buy that they don't carry. Wal-Mart does. They are little more expensive than Wal-Mart as well.  If I need just eggs or milk, I will go there though.  The grocery doesn't carry the shampoo I use and have a small selection of those types of products anyways. More expensive as well.  So it makes sense to drive the 4 miles across town to Wal-Mart and get everything at one time.

@HavaDrPepper IA I'm not one that enjoys going to several different places, but the difference in price leaves me no choice in many items. I live in a smaller city but the WalMart is in the next city over so it's always so busy in there.

I can always count on WalMart for dog treats and various other items that are the cheapest.

We thank our lucky stars that Wal-Mart built the store in my town.  At one time we had 2 grocery stores in town. A larger one near where the Wal-Mart is located and the one near me.  Big Bear closed the large store, sold the property and we got a Lowe's.  That left the one grocery store in the town for over 9,000 people.  Then the Big Bear's financial problems got worse and they closed down all stores.

If I remember right, our store was closed in December of 2003.  We had no grocery stores at all.  We had some convenience stores that did carry milk and bread but for major grocery shopping, we had to go to neighboring towns, the closest being 10 miles from us.

Wal-Mart was rumored to be coming to town when the other store closed but no one knew when.  From what I can find on google, it appears that our Wal-Mart was built in the summer/fall of 2004.

A supermarket chain out of a larger town an hour from us did decide to buy the empty grocery building and move into our town during 2004 also.  But there was a good 6 to 8 months the town had no grocery.

I hated going to the larger town to do my grocery shopping. Always had to go on Saturdays and it was a either a Meijer's store or a Wal-Mart and both were always busy.

So I've come to love having a smaller Wal-Mart in my town.  But, I wish we had a Target close to us. Love that store. Closest one is 50 miles from us.

What a story. It's sad when stores close but that must have been tough with no grocery store.

I really wish we had a WalMart too. It's not far 15 km 10 miles or so, but it's a pain to go to the neighbouring town.

Is anyone planning on a vacation or are you waiting to see what happens with the covid?

A friend and I have been planning two weeks this summer to Florida. I've never gone for two weeks, its always been for one week. She hasn't been for a couple of years due to some health challenges and loss of family members. We booked flights just before this whole thing hit the news. I think I'm going to take a wait and see attitude.

I'm germaphobe to begin with so I know it won't be me, but I'm worried about others who may not be responsible.

California has banned plastic bags and now I don't miss them! I carry a mini RuMe bag that folds smaller than a pack of tissue in my handbag for when I need just a few items. I have given tons of these as small gifts - https://www.myrume.com/collections/reusable/products/mini-tote-lumberjack
I have several large cloth and/or insulated bags that hold about twice what a normal paper bag holds. I do like having washable bags as sometimes they do get dirty. I have to admit to paying 10 cents for a paper tote bag when I go to a store like Williams Sonoma or Crate and Barrel. Nice to have to send things home with a visitor or to carry stuff to someone.

My only complaint with the self-checkout is how slow the machines are. I realize that some aren't as savvy using technology but darn, I scan and bag faster than the machine! As a result, I always get a code saying a real live human must check and then clear. Annoying. I'm sure the slow speed reduces error so if the line is short, I'm in the clerk-assisted checkout. The grocery store I most often frequent doesn't have self-check out - it's an employee owned store.

My oldest son just purchased his first home and I offered to bring him some things I have and take him shopping for household stuff (think Target) using my car (he lives in a very large city and doesn't have a car). He laughed and said, "I just order that stuff online and get it delivered in 2 hours!" He's a millennial - doesn't have the problem of self-checkout lines!

My mom keeps a whole box of those bags in the trunk of her car. Sometimes we forget them and then have to go run out to the car to get them or just spend the 10 cents and then have more! I prefer the self check outs as sometimes they are faster. Usually find one that only has 1 or 2 people in line. The thing that bugs me is when people in front of you are paying with coupons or keep asking questions to the checker and it holds up the line.