Down at the local Costentino’s, I bought a bottle of wine, some chicken, dinner type stuff. I was supposed to get some artichokes, but they looked pretty beat up. Imagine artichokes cowering in the corner of the produce truck, beefsteak tomatoes looming over them, eggplants pushing up purple sleeves ready to throw the next round of punches.
Anyhow, most of the other ingredients I already had, so this was just a quick run to fill the gaps in the recipe. Standing in line, I noticed that there wasn’t a lot of stuff. A single plastic bag would have been just fine. In fact, I believed that so much that I said it to the checker. “If you can fit that all in one bag, that would be great.” His name was Steven, but I didn’t call him that because I figured that sounds too demanding or parental.
I’m thinking I’ve sent a clear message. “Oh,” Steven should think, “this guy only wants to use one bag.” Completing the transaction, following international bagging rules by dropping the sack of potatoes in last, everything seemed set. I was prepared to receive my flattened bread and crushed eggs. Reaching out for the bag freshly removed from the line up, Steven threw a curve when he then dropped this bag into the next bag. That’s right: he double bagged.
Somehow, even though I asked for everything in one bag, I still ended up with two. If I wanted two bags, I wouldn’t have asked for everything in one bag. Would it be rude if I repeated my request? “Steven, just one bag, please.” See, that sounds so parental.
5 comments
2. Todd says:
See how difficult it is to properly communicate? One simple grocery-store exchange yields at least two possible interpretations. It’s a wonder any of us communicate at all.
3. Debbie says:
My favorite is when they ask, “Paper or plastic?” and I answer paper because it’s one of the few grocery stores that have handles on the paper bag. So they bag in paper – and then put the paper bag in a plastic one. Idiocy is avoidable.
4. Kathy says:
How about getting some of those new “green” bags that you reuse. I have three for a while now, but have not remembered to take them along to the store with me yet.
5. Damian says:
I use re-useable grocery bags (like Kathy, when I remember), and I find that not only are they stronger than plastic, but they’re also bigger, so I can load them up and carry fewer bags.
Of course, when I can help it, I refuse bags altogether (like this afternoon, when all I wanted was some cold medicine and a Mt. Dew). Get some funny looks from time to time, but I prefer that to contributing to the utter wastefulness of it all (that, and I get to act smug about it on the Internet!).
Oh, Steven…
1. Rick says:
[2/20/2007 - 7:14 am]
Well, you could look at this two ways. By “one bag”, may have thought “one convenient package in which to take this stuff home”. He may have just been reinforcing a heavier-than-normal parcel. But perhaps you meant “a single, solitary bag so as to not promote waste”. I notice our local Safeway doing a lot of double bagging, and perhaps to cut down on the heavy bags falling through the middle out in the parking lot.
I quit going to our local Wal-Mart a while back because an ASSISTANT MANAGER of the place threw two cans of chili on top of a loaf of bread. It didn’t even resemble bread by the time I got home.