The Grocery Store That Is Also A Gateway To Hell

by Leslie

I had an unsettling encounter while shopping at the grocery store yesterday. Julia and I were waiting in line to check out and things were moving pretty slow. There wasn’t a bagger working at our line, so the cashier was ringing up and bagging the orders. The woman in front of me had a lot of stuff, so it took the cashier a while to bag it up. After putting our groceries on the conveyor belt, Julia and I chatted while we waited.

Soon, an older couple pulled up behind us. I put the plastic bar to divide the orders behind my groceries on the conveyor belt. The woman started to unload her groceries. Then, she picked up my bananas and commented on how nice they were. She grabbed one of my Campbell’s Chunky Soups and asked me what I thought of it. I was kind and told her how much Dave likes them in his lunch, but kept thinking it was a little weird to be grabby with someone’s food in the checkout line. Then, her husband starts talking. Loudly. “Hey, what’s going on up there? Wha’t the hold up? C’mon, let’s go!”

He started making comments about how slow they were. At first, I thought he was attempting to relieve the stress of the waiting situation by trying to be funny, but was doing a bad job. So, I gave him a smile and resumed talking with Julia. The guy wasn’t done, though. He kept on talking, getting louder and ruder with every statement. By the time my turn in line came, I was eager to get out of there. I paid and started to help the cashier bag my groceries. The man shouted, “What’s the matter? You makin’ your customers bag their own groceries? Who do I call to complain?” He turned to a cashier at the next station, called him a rude name and asked, “Why don’t you get over here and help bag the groceries?” The cashier at the next station was having his own problems. The lady in his line had a coupon for $1.00 off her shopping order, but she was only getting a pack of gum and she wanted change.

The cashier in my line apologized to me and said they were really short on staff today. I told her I didn’t mind helping out and smiled at her. Then, the man looked at me and said, “Why do you keep smiling?”

I looked at Julia. She was staring wide-eyed at the man. I looked back at him and said, “Sir, that’s the only way I know to deal with someone like you.” And we left.

Now, was that weird or what? I’m not sure what was up with that guy, but there’s something odd about that store. I’ve had more negative encounters in that grocery store than I have had in my whole lifetime of shopping experience. I’m beginning to think the store is built on an ancient Indian burial ground, like the Poltergeist house, because people seem to be under the power of an evil presence at that place.

Recently, I went through the 15 items or less Express Aisle line with 12 items. Before the cashier would ring me up, he actually took the time to count my items! I asked him, “If I’d had more than 15 items, would you have made me leave the line?” He just laughed and slowly rang up my 12 items, which I mostly bagged myself. Then I told him, “You know, for being the Express Aisle, you’re not very fast.” He laughed at that, too. Apparently in that store, I’m funny.

There’s another cashier that is slow, rude and refuses to bag groceries. It wouldn’t bother me that she was slow so much if she wasn’t so rude! She doesn’t say ’hello’ or ‘thank you,’ and she wouldn’t give my daughter stickers when Julia asked for them sweetly and even said please! What bothers me most is that she will not bag groceries. She will stand there and look at you until you bag them yourself. I once saw her have a stand off with a young couple in the store on a Saturday night. They wouldn’t bag their groceries. She stood there a while, then tried to call someone to come and bag on her line. At first, I thought maybe she had a work limitation and couldn’t bag groceries, but no - she just doesn’t like to! That night, she caved and bagged their groceries, complaining the whole time.

You may be wondering why I continue to frequent this establishment of evil. Well, it is only a few minutes from my house, they have great prices (including a discount on gas), and they took a hint from Joe Fox in You’ve Got Mail, and sell legal addictive stimulants (a.k.a. Starbucks). I wouldn’t sell my soul to the devil, but I guess I’ll dance at his doorstep for the right price, if it’s close by. And it’s true - Starbucks is everywhere.

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My Mommy’s Place: Mommy’s Blog » Blog Archive » A New Minion at the Gateway To Hell Grocery Store on September 8, 2006 4:12 pm
[…] I hit a snag going through the scan-it-yourself line at The Grocery Store That Is Also A Gateway To Hell. I had scanned a jar of pasta sauce and placed in the bag with no problem. When I scanned a second jar, it came up wrong on the screen; it said I had scanned bruschetta at a price much higher than the pasta sauce. I called for the attending clerk and pointed out the problem, “When I scanned this pasta sauce, it came up on the screen as bruschetta.” […]