I was at the grocery store this morning, with everything going fine until I put a 99¢ box of Good and Plentys (should that be “Plenties”?) on the conveyor belt. The “bag-girl” (I’m not sure what the politically correct term is these days… but by this I mean the teenage girl who bags the groceries) started a conversation with me which meant she had to talk rather loudly… since I was still getting the groceries out of my cart and she was at the end of the conveyor belt section.
Anyway…. her conversation was loud enough to elicit the attention of the people in the line next to mine, including the people exiting the store, as well as the people in the customer service section of the store. I am not sure if I have mentioned this before, but I am VERY self conscious about my weight. I am not concerned enough to exercise on a regular basis (or if I am truthful… exercise at all!) but I do carry at least thirty pounds more than I should on my frame… and that doesn’t mean thirty pounds more than I would if I were anorexic… but thirty pounds more than if I weighed what a “normal” person weighs.
So, much to my chagrin, my “bag-girl” started a conversation AT me, telling me how she doesn’t like junk food like Good and Plentys… they are bad for your teeth, they are bad for your health, they are just sugar, she eats healthy snacks like apples, etc. I nodded to her, said she was brought up the right way, and tried to go back to my business… Unfortunately, once I made eye contact… she got even louder… not in a rude way, just a matter-of-fact manner… I was somewhat taken aback, and more than embarrassed… But that’s what you get when you try to buy a guilty pleasure like Good and Plentys…
After I paid for my groceries, my cashier (another teenage girl) quietly told me to go enjoy my Good and Plentys… a very sweet gesture, very much appreciated by this “slightly overweight” woman. I have to admit, those Good and Plentys don’t look quite so good right now… perhaps the BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION / PAVLOVIAN CONDITIONING that I experienced was enough to curtail my licorice cravings!
Nope! I think not! Next time I have a licorice craving I’m going to just have to cut out the middle man (in this case the “bag-girl) and go to my local drug store to make my illicit purchases! No “bag-girls” there, and hopefully I won’t get a chatty cashier!
T. says
Rude little squirt wasn’t she. I try to be lenient when it comes to young people. I’m sure I’ve said my share of rude and insensitive things when I was young. I’m also sure if she was reminded of this several years down the road she’d cringe with embarrassment.
I hear you though. I’d be looking for an alternate source also. I buy my guilty pleasure (Ben & Jerry’s no less) at a store that has self-checkout. Nobody lays a guilt trip on me but me!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Hi T ,
Let’s see… Ben & Jerry’s VS Good and Plenty! I bet you would have gotten a bigger “I-told-you-so” lecture than I did!
Great idea… My WalMart has self-check isles.
And, every once in a while I remember a few instances that truly embarrass me when I think back to younger days…
One of the times was when I was in college, way before online class scheduling registrations. I became so frustrated with going from one line to another while trying to register for classes that I said a “not-so-nice” word to an elderly secretary. It wasn’t her fault that the college had so many students trying to register at the same time… with alphabetical lines of students waiting to get to the front of the line only to have another person shuffle through hundreds of papers, etc.
This is not to say that this memory is the worse thing I ever did… far from it! But it sure does “come back to haunt me.” It’s odd how some things just stick with us…
-V- says
Lordy, you have must felt like a teen buying condoms! {HUGS}
I am always at a loss (until much later) as to what I say to people like this. I try to be as polite as possible to all, but with ones like that, I’d likely lose it.
My favorite ‘boxed candy’ is Hot Tamales. That and popcorn at the movies….
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Hi -V-
Oh my goodness! You and my husband share the same “guilty pleasure”… Unfortunately, his head actually breaks out in a sweat when he eats those Hot Tamales!
Janice says
That situation sounds truly embarrassing and I salute you for handling the situation so well. Many other people would have gotten nasty or rude right back at the bag girl. I would say that “you” were the one who was brought up the right way!
I just thought I would mention that some of the grocery stores I have shopped at in the past have employed disabled people as baggers. Sometimes the bagger’s disability was quiet apparent, however other baggers’ issues could be very subtle. Though your bag girl was probably just thoughtless and rude, there is a possibility she had Asperger’s. Her lecturing-style behavior in spite of your clear disinterest, combined with her social tactlessness might be suggestive of that disorder?? Anyway, thanks for the great website, I visit it often and consider it one of the best tools out there for finding great cozy mysteries. You do awesome work!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thanks, Janice…
You know, you could be entirely right… Before our Texan chain of grocery stores knocked Albertson’s grocery store out of most of our growing cities down here in Texas, I remember thinking how wonderful the Albertson’s was>>> hiring disabled adults. And, actually, I know of one such adult who was hired by our Texan grocery store after Albertson’s closed their doors. He told me that one of the Albertson’s management helped secure his job with the grocery store…
Jerri Flygare says
For those of us who bag groceries we are called courtesy clerks. Jerri