I have a Vons near me that is my favorite grocery store. (Oh my God. How suburban mom is that?! I have a favorite GROCERY STORE.) It's reasonably close, it's got a decent produce aisle, carries CG's favorite beer, and stocks organic items. I even have a favorite check-out clerk who's always friendly, remembers Z's name and makes her smile. Z has started to ask for him by name when we pull in the parking lot.
They also employ developmentally disabled (DD) adults as baggers. I love this. I want to support this. I want Z to know DD adults and see them working in the community.
Unfortunately, our favorite check-out clerk now has a new DD bagger who ..... needs some work. He ALWAYS puts the eggs, bananas, tomatoes and avocados ON THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG. He routinely puts heavy things on the very top and overfills the bags. He's very sweet but I WRESTLE with him every time to keep my softer foods from being ruined.
At first I just ignored it. Then I got smart and put all the heavy things at the front of the food mover escalator thingy. He still managed to put the soft stuff on the bottom. Then, I started the wrestling match which is basically where I am now. I literally take things out of his hands or out of the bag and explain that they might get squashed on the bottom and need to be resting on top of the bag. He doesn't seem to get it and my favorite check-out dude doesn't say a word.
What else can I do??
6 comments:
Oh man, I don't know. That sucks. Honestly, because I am a giant confrontation avoider, I'd probably figure out when he works and make sure to go when it's not his shift.
It sounds like you have a lot of reasons for shopping there and you seem to want to continue to do so, right? Then, if I were in that situation, at the beginning of my next shopping trip, I'd go to customer service and ask for the store manager. Explain to him or her the reasons you like shopping there and the problem you're having. Ask their advice for handling the situation. That way, you're doing several things: Complimenting, bringing a problem to their attention that they may be unaware of and making it the manager's responsibility for coming up with a solution.
However, if that idea gives you Nervous Tummy, I guess you could switch checkers.
I forgot to say, I tried switching checkers but Zoe was crying out for our usual checker!
I've been nervous about saying anything to the manager because the last thing I want to do is get this guy in trouble or fired. *shudder*. I do like Erica's idea of telling them basically that.
Now if only I can overcome my major conflict avoidance to say something...
I know what you mean, the last thing you want to do is get the guy in trouble. But you also need to have your groceries bagged without breaking anything. I knwo that isn't very helpful, but good luck!
I honestly hope that the store management is competent enough to know it's probably a training issue and not fire the guy. I mean, he obviously doesn't know the basics of bagging groceries and if they assigned him that job, it's their responsibility to make sure he knows how to do it, right? Firing him would be heartless. If he's "untrainable" in bagging, then I'm sure there's something else in the store he could do.
I'm voting with Erica. I think there must be something else this guy can do besides bagging groceries. I know Zoe will be upset, so how to handle that I have no clue (grammas don't know everything). It's a wonderful quality to care about this guy but if you talk to the customer service/manager person in a compassionate way (and hoping they are compassionate too) maybe he can get a job he is more suited for and you will not get cracked eggs.
Post a Comment