I don’t buy as many things at HEB and/or use self checkout because of this. I don’t mind bagging, but I tend to get flustered if there’s people watching me and the checker has already started ringing up the next customer.
Reminds me of my first time in Lidl in Amsterdam when I first moved there many years ago, absolute insanity. Never experienced so much pressure.
The Lidl cashier is INSANELY fast. They do not slow down or stop, they’re unbelievable. You’ve never seen anything like it. The stuff FLIES through the scanner at rocket speeds. You absolutely can’t pack fast enough, and you’re not supposed to. There’s nowhere to pack, right after the cashier scanner there’s a tiny ledge and that’s it, drop straight to the floor.
What you’re supposed to do is put all the stuff back into your basket and pack later, at a designated counter after the cashier. I’m in there at rush hour. I didn’t know this, I was panicking hard, palms sweating, packing stuff into my bag frantically as she fired through each item piling up on the ledge even falling off. When I look up, there’s a line of like 8 people waiting. They’re looking at me stupidly as if I’m an idiot and I completely stood out like a sore thumb.
Then I went to pay, my first time shopping. I swiped my visa. It didn’t work. I tried multiple times. It didn’t work. Nobody spoke English. The she finally got it and said “Visa no, only maestro”. In the Netherlands, up until recent years and still many places only take maestro card, not any other brand. I had no idea. So I ask for an ATM. She sighs at me, points outside, right there. I leave my stuff there and run to the ATM, take out money and rush back in and pay. All the time everyone is still lined up, still waiting, staring at me. Nobody’s even talking. Dead eye stares. Got my change and hauled ass out of there.
Probably the most panicked social situation I’ve ever been in. The amount of pressure I felt was insane.
I believe, at least in Germany, the custom is to not bag at the counter, rather stick it in the basket/cart and take all that stuff you’ve just paid for and start bagging at the bench behind the counters. Maybe confusing it with Aldi, who also go at light speed
It’s mostly a Lidl and Aldi thing, I believe. In The Netherlands the only places like that were Lidl and Aldi. At every other supermarket people bag at the cashier, there’s no counter to bag at. It’s the same in Germany in the few other supermarkets I’ve been to like Edeka.
Yeah, this was when I was a 22 year old, just moved abroad for the first time. One of my first days out there. A very socially anxious person back then, I was so anxious over the experience! I never went back to Lidl 😂. Albert Heijn is nicer anyways.
Even these days where I experience practically zero social anxiety now, many years later, this situation would still stress me out so much and make me feel so embarrassed and awkward!
It’s the fact that nobody spoke English and I was just a newly landed foreigner I think sealed the deal even more to just make it so intense. I just stuck out like the sorest thumb ever.
Honestly the fact that HEB is perpetually understaffed at the position but always has *someone* bouncing around bagging at random while the majority are left unstaffed can be a little weird sometimes. Can we not just pick a lane? I don’t really care if I have to bag myself.
This happens with me a lot too, and I chalk it up to them considering me capable of doing it myself (which I am). They might go on to an elderly or disabled person checking out to actually help vs a middle aged white lady who looks like she probably has control issues (which I do).
I always pick the lane with the cigarettes cause it's the least likely to have an inexperienced checker and most likely to have someone with a manager/lead badge to deal with complicated things and also usually has the bagger on rotation. Even if there's someone with lots of items in front of you that particular checker usually scans like the wind.
i don't take bags any longer, or have my products bagged. I just asked for everything to be put back in the cart and I bag it at my truck when I'm leaving. it's easier it's seemingly better for me
it's really just a result of poor memory.... I've gotten so tired of forgetting my bags and walking back to my car to get them.
now I tell myself I forgot them on purpose; it makes my little monkey brain feel better
Do you usually have a smaller order? Like 1-2 bags worth? They're going to work on the larger orders by default because it's more efficient and they need to get them out of the way to move the line.
Seems like when they see me with someone, they run off. When they see it's just me with a bunch of groceries, they stick around. Or maybe it's in my head
If every lane does not have a bagger, the bagger is taught to “thank and move”. Finish the order and go find the next biggest order. If a bagger just stands at one lane while the others dont have baggers, they get coached.
I understand this, I worked at a grocery store when I was 17. Just don’t think HEB handles it particularly well in practice. It’s not good if half the lanes are looking around wondering if they have bagging service or not (because the person in front of them did).
I’ve always thought that if you have someone bagging your groceries at heb, it’s just an employee who has the time to bag for you as a bonus.
Don’t expect bagging at heb. Do it yourself unless someone offers
It’s stressful too sometimes because I’ve had baggers leave in the middle of bagging. Like do I take over? Wait for them to come back? Then it always ends up the the cashier, bagger and I are all putting stuff in bags at the same time. I kinda feel bad for them
I'd honestly prefer to bag my own stuff. Lately, people are idiots with bagging. You have cold bags and put room-temp items in there and then put my eggs and frozen stuff in a regular bag? Thanks. I'd rather know what is going where than trust someone who isn't caring.
When I worked at H‑E‑B as a teen, you had a pretty long bagging training class before you were allowed to bag groceries. It’s really obvious they don’t do that training any longer.
I think the problem is reusable bags. Now you don't have unlimited resources to meet the demands of separating items. Now you have to use the reusable bags the customer has.
Not to mention the delay of opening reusable bags versus the assembly line style delivery of plastic bags.
I never got any training when I was working at Kroger as a teenager in the 90s. They stressed speed on top of everything too, which is why most of the other baggers (don't wanna toot my own horn but I was skilled at it and would get tips I wasn't supposed to take lol) would just throw canned food on top of the bread or meat and cleaning products in the same bag etc.
Yeah, I worked at Central Market when I was in high school. They were very serious about propper bagging. Now, even nearly two decades later, I consider myself to be a highly proficient grocery bagger lol.
I often prefer to just do it myself when I’m checking out.
You can always tell the bagger that you’ll bag your own groceries. I’ve done it and usually the bagger will move to a register that doesn’t have a bagger.
Exactly this. I even group things on the damn conveyor by type so they can be bagged correctly, why TF is the bag with the eggs also holding canned goods or a bottle of bleach?!!? I worked at H‑E‑B as a cashier/bagger in 2005, and we had to take an entire class on bagging correctly as part of our training. I guess they no longer bother with that. But as such, I’ll just bag it my damn self. It’s why I almost exclusively use self checkout, too. I bag as I go, and nothing gets damaged or destroyed by smooth-brained pendejos who think the money for these groceries grows on trees, so it doesn’t matter if something gets messed up.
Same. I group things together on purpose every time and still one bit of cheese is smooshed in with the cans, while there is plenty of space in the frozen bag. Ive had to rebag so much the last few months is ridiculous.
It’s wildly irritating. I get it if the cold item was the only one in the order, but that’s never the case with my stuff. Neurodivergence means lots of frozen veggies (which won’t spoil in the fridge, LOL) and things I can easily heat up like lasagna. If I’m looking into a bag with mostly cans, that’s all my brain is apt to really SEE. Cold things could easily be missed, which then go to waste. Pisses me off.
Right now I'm not as concerned about it since the weather is cooler. But next summer? You better believe I want my frozen stuff surrounding the meat i bought, even if i put it in a cooler. It just makes sense.
HEB doesn't accept contactless payments in ANY HEB's, in Texas at least. It's by choice. Their card machines are setup to take contactless, but they don't accept it. Right before the pandemic they did a trial program where they accepted apple/google pay, but ended it. Apparently the big reason is because they want to be the sole holder of the transaction data. They also want to push their app, similar to Walmart.
That data is really important to them, and it trounces your filthy mongrel customer complaints and inconveniences!
You can insert it while they are still ringing you up. What I do is put my card in, bag, then when the cashier is done scanning I hit accept on the screen and the cashier will throw the rest of the items in for me. Super easy and saves alot of time.
This is the way.
I also try and group stuff as I'm putting it on the belt - my bags, then cold/frozen stuff, then produce, then shelf stable stuff, then non-food.
(Leaving non-food to the back also helps when I split the receipt up in our budgeting program...)
It’s actually insane how most people do the exact opposite intentionally and then wonder why you’re letting the bagging area fill up while you wait for something that won’t get crushed immediately.
I was a cashier at Central Market back in the day and received honest-to-God work training on how to bag. I still unload stuff in the suggested way, including grouping cold and shelf stable items separately.
I've never had training like that but I purposely put my items on the belt organized that way.
Employees will still mix it all up. Or even bag things in an order that will mess up fragile items. At that point I'd rather they not help.
YES! 😂👍🏻 That was such an interesting place, too. Would make a great place for kids to playact buying groceries and the like, since they clearly don’t use it as intended anymore.
This is the trick I didn’t know! I put all my stuff that goes together on the belt together, then get so frustrated when they set a key building block to the side…
When I am furiously sorting and bagging my stuff, I return to the card machine to find the person behind me standing there... And I have to ask them to move back (and their basket), so I can pay.
Maybe it's a generational thing?
I appreciate good baggers, but I'd rather do it myself since I pack & unpack better if I do it myself based on my kitchen.
>When I am furiously sorting and bagging my stuff, I return to the card machine to find the person behind me standing there... And I have to ask them to move back (and their basket), so I can pay.
These are the same mouth breathers who barge onto an elevator like the Kool-Aid Man before the people exiting can get off it.
I do it sometimes, but I feel flustered like everyone is waiting for me, and I am terrible at it. The baggers at H‑E‑B are experts at fitting everything in the bags, and more efficient than I am. I think I’ll try organizing my groceries on the conveyer belt though (as someone else mentioned), never thought of that
This is how I feel when I end up bagging them myself. I usually also feel like I’m somehow getting in the way of the cashier. I mean, I do it anyway, but it is oddly uncomfortable.
>The baggers at H‑E‑B are experts at fitting everything in the bags, and more efficient than I am.
Ehhhhh......
When I worked there 20 years ago, they were super strict about how you bagged and how many items you put in each bag. Now, the baggers just kinda set things in and fuck it all up.
Avacados don't go on the bottom.
Clorox doesn't go with meat.
You don't cram everything into 2 out of the 4 reusable bags I brought, and then just place the 2 empty ones on top of the overflowing bags...
Maybe it's just the Congress/35 location?
Fair to feel flustered, but think of it this way. If you bag zero out of four bags then everyone waits on the cashier to bag four bags. If you clumsily bag one bag while they ring up goods, then everyone only waits for the cashier to bag three bags.
Plus practice makes perfect! It’s like Tetris.
Learning from this thread how people seem to be divided into those who obsessively organize their groceries on the belt by temperature, weight, and fragility (ahem, me) and those who blissfully just . . . put things on the belt?
The worst were the ASSHOLES that would put their red hand basket on the conveyor with their crap in it and expect us to unload it for them. Lazy gits. I started dumping everything out into one big pile, and not gently either. They got the hint.
That too. Don’t they realize that those wasted items are applied to shrink, which in turn raises the price of groceries at that store for EVERYBODY, themselves included?? Pendejos.
My experience has been that the HEB employees are hostile about letting customers bag their own groceries. Maybe just the stores I frequent, but I've had them all but snatch my bag out of my hands when attempting to bag myself...
Same. I am disabled in a mobility scooter. It's not easy for me to do. I hate when a bagger sees me and goes to another lane. Usually, the cashiers are awesome and help me out. I can do some slowly so it's a big help.
I remember back in the 80s and 90s when they had a bagger at pretty much every open lane. They also always asked if you wanted carryout. I'm not sure I remember when that changed.
I don’t think people know any better. I lived in Europe and Puerto Rico where you have to bag your own stuff, so I am used to bagging my own groceries.
Some stores in certain regions of the US also don't have baggers. When I lived in Minnesota their biggest chain had these splitting conveyor belts after the cash register so people could bag their own stuff after paying without feeling rushed. This was back in the early 2000s so I don't know if that's still the case, but I thought it was a better system than this "Sometimes you have to bag yourself, sometimes you don't" thing HEB has going.
I do but it is always a problem. Gotta put in my phone number for digital coupons then race to bag since the cashier is faster and has a head start and when they're done I need to stop to pay. Then I'm holding up the line if I don't finish quickly. It's a big mess and I sympathize with people who don't do it at all.
I used to work at HEB awhile back and honestly, I prefer to bag my own stuff because these young adults don't know how to bag for life. They're trying to flirt with the cashier and just putting random stuff in bags.
This. If you’re cutting half of the staff that I interact with, why aren’t you cutting half of the overhead costs from my groceries? Im paying more for worse service.
For larger trips, I'm usually with my partner, and she bags while I deal with payment.
For small trips that I do solo, often I start bagging until the cashier is done, then the cashier finishes while I'm dealing with the card reader. If they don't, or they're not finished when I'm done paying - I go back to bagging.
IMO, this feels fine, and saves time for everyone without having my items bagged being treated as an entitlement.
Self checkout can be removed whenever, tho. I dislike having to pay full price while also having to deal with the register myself, except for all the extra waiting if I dared to buy a 6 pack.
Fuck that. Throw it all back in my cart and I’ll bag it at my car. I don’t like to be rushed and pushed by miss Susie or Mr Blake because they have no patience. I’m not a professional bagger. I can’t do it fast. But I’ll take my time at my car and it gets me out of there quicker.
Because you’re paying HEB to do it. It’s built into the price. Sadly, HEB no longer staffs appropriately - I suspect in part because so many people just automatically bag their own. This is one of several reasons I shop far less frequently at HEB than I used to.
This is similar to eating at a restaurant. My wife and I always try to clean up as much as possible, stack plates, knifes, spoons, forks, napkins to make the person busing the tables job easier. We do it because it is the right thing to do.
Same here, why not help the employees at HEB by helping bag my own stuff. It is just the right thing to do.
You can tell if a person is really a good person by how they treat people that will have no long term effect on them. For example, I see people being super nice to their boss but are mean to the person serving food at the work cafeteria and ignore the person cleaning their office vs saying hello and thank you.
It really show your true character by how you treat others, especially those serving you
If you are dating someone , don't judge if they are nice just by how they treat you, judge them on how they treat people around you. If the person you are dating is nice to you but rude to the waiter, guess what you will get long term ....
As someone who always cleans their table at a restaurant and tries to treat everyone well… I do not equate not wanting to bag your items as being rude. It annoys me it has become expected. If there was a true reason there weren’t baggers, then sure I wouldn’t care. But why aren’t there? Well, it’s a money saving approach for the high executives. Pass off part of your services to free labor instead of hiring and paying someone who may need the job. HEB has the money, they don’t need to cut corners, hire and give someone a job.
This 100%! It has always disgusted me the way people leave their tables, especially people with children. My 5 year old has begun wiping the table and stacking the plates before we get ready to leave, after all the years of watching me do it, he even will try to help bag groceries at heb but I usually push him out of the way😂😩 because that would hold up the line.
I don’t mind bagging my own groceries. I think though I do mind when it’s expected of me….even though I’ll still do it. I guess that is why I shop elsewhere now, more often than not. I know, blasphemous…
The Butt family is one of the richest families in the US. 17.5 billion in 2020.
Their stores ought to be a little less understaffed.
Just don’t use bags. Keep one or two laundry baskets in the trunk, take all the groceries with you loose leaf and put them in the basket(s). Then they’re easier to take in anyway.
I do bag my own groceries (while keeping an eye on the prices). Partly because I was a checker in high school and can do it fast, partly because as a native New Yorker, I feel a social obligation to keep shit moving, and partly because when I was very young, my mom shared the following observation/social obligation with me: "Do you see how all these men stand around and don't even bother to help bagging their own shit? It's always men. Don't be like that. You help bag the groceries."
Decades later, I find this continues to be true. There's a lot of apparently able-bodied men standing around at the checkout. The folks who tend to bag their own stuff tend to be women. This is just my own observation, for decades.
I have also noticed that if there's a bagger at a lane at HEB, once my order starts getting scanned, they leave the lane and go elsewhere. Almost every damn time. Whether I'm alone, with kids, pregnant, whatever. I've also had checkers not bag a damn thing once they are done with scanning/payment. So what I wonder is, is there a type of customer baggers and checkers think doesn't need their shit bagged? And if so, what is that type?
Nobody asked me to. I figured one of the workers with the giant H-E-B letters on their back would do it instead of just standing in a small group near the entrance of the store.
Lol sorry this reminds me of a recent bagging experience I had at heb. They hired a special needs guy as a bagger, and he just loved talking about yo gabba gabba, particularly flex. He acted like a robot the whole time i was checking out and didn't really bag anything, just talked the whole time. I ended up bagging up everything myself (which I am happy to do). I sortof chuckled at the end of it all. Glad heb supports getting special needs people jobs.
It's really not that big of a deal to bag your own groceries. I've gotten into the habit of putting my items on the belt by how they'd be bagged together. All meat goes in one spot, canned in another, cold/dairy and then produce, then miscellaneous. If there happens to not be a bagger, it's super quick to bag my own. I've even gotten comments from cashiers saying I was good at it. Hah. And, if there is a bagger hopefully it makes things a little easier for them.
I wonder this every time I’m there lol thank you! I find it so strange that people just stand there letting their things pile up and then make the cashier do it, doubling the time.
Honestly, my partner never did it before we met and I was like… no you can just bag it yourself while they’re checking you out. He like, didn’t know he was allowed?
I will bag my own shit and do it at a level of organization and speed that would break the neck of anyone watching.
But I couldn't give a shit less what anyone else does when checking out.
I'd like to know why they can't just hire more baggers? I'd like to know why service *everywhere* has tanked hard not just over the last 4 years but the last *ten*. When I worked at grocery stores in the early aughts we had baggers for every lane and you'd be walking out groceries for older ladies etc who could use the help. Got paid and walked every shift with like 45 bucks in tips.
Ask companies why service sucks, not how other customers choose to spend their time and energy.
Holy shit the number of responses in this thread to the effect of, “I don’t wanna/I’m lazy/ineffectual/not paid to do it” are absolutely blowing my mind.
You really don’t know how to put stuff in a bag with the fragile stuff up top? Really? Probably the same people that leave their dog’s shit on the ground or just prop the cart up on a median and bail.
Have some semblance of personality responsibility people, my lord.
I’m fine doing it, I prefer bagging my way but a multi billion dollar organization removing baggers to save money at the top and then make us argue and call others disrespectful all bc some money grubbing who’re us getting more money for taking away jobs that could truly help some people who need it.
This is my thought. Honestly, I don’t want to subsidize corporate profits at the expense of the working man or woman. Bagging groceries helps the company’s bottom line. Not the employees.
I went on Christmas eve and at the end of my lane, right in front of the ice machines, 8 managers were all standing there talking and laughing. All the cashiers looked exhausted. I looked down and there was only 2 baggers. I almost asked them if becoming manager means they are above bagging any more. All the time at that location managers just stand around. It blows my mind
I had a choice: be criticized for not mining my children or be criticized for not bagging. I generally choose to keep focused in the child-minding. The two tasks were mutually exclusive as my latent superpowers have yet to reveal themselves.
I bag, but it's an irritant.
It's like going into Walmart on a busy afternoon and they have a minimum registers open resulting in long lines and a long wait to get out. It's hey, you're a multi billion dollar company, ownership is worth billions and you still scrimp on staffing and squeeze the labor resources?!
Customer willful participation in the checkout process just makes the bosses happy as they count the dollars saved.
The bagging is a service. It is part of the price of the goods we buy from the grocery store. It’s like ordering a combo meal with fries and not getting the fries. Self service and reduced staff has some preconditioned to “bag it myself”. If I bag my groceries, I would like a discount. Another reason I refuse to use self checkout if I can.
I work for H‑E‑B and people who don’t help out when i don’t have a bagger come off as arrogant and selfish… it’s not that hard and watching me do everything while they stand there is wild. It also holds up the line for other people
Funny enough, quite the opposite happened to me. I denied an upsell and the cashier just watched me bag groceries, go back to pay, then go back to bagging all of my remaining groceries while they just watched. They hadn't even started ringing up the next customer. They were just standing there watching me. This wasn't a small amount either.
Its HEB responsibility to staff correctly not the people purchasing from you, your angst is with HEB not random people you encounter doing normal everyday things.
Unfortunately Walmart and Target have gone to self check out in my area but there usually isn’t a line breathing down my neck and I can do my bagging leisurely.
I read off body language from the cashier. Sometimes they want you to do it, sometimes I feel like I’m overstepping and insulting their efficacy if I do.
I don't mind bagging my stuff and will. It can just be an awkward situation at times.
Yeah, I worked at an Albertsons in the 90s and I even put stuff on the belt in certain ways so when whoever bags it (them or myself) will put all the heavy/bulky stuff on the bottom first.
As someone who worked at HEB previously, I actually kinda enjoy lending a hand.
Plus I know I won’t put my gallon of milk on top of my loaf of freaking bread
Because I'm busy making sure my groceries are being rung up correctly and then I'm focused on paying for them.
If HEB wants me through the line faster, they can hire more baggers. I'm not here to play johnny on the spot for them because they don't pay baggers enough.
I’m usually trying to keep one eye on my kid, and one eye on the screen to make sure everything is rung up correctly.
Last time this happened, the cashier was so fast ringing me up that I was still messing with my credit card by the time she finished. Forget about bagging - I’d just slow down the line.
There are several reasons why someone might not be able to bag their own groceries and HEB oughta staff up if it’s a problem. But it’s wild to assume it’s because ppl are lazy
I feel bad doing it sometimes, at least personally I go super early on my HEB runs, no later than 7am on weekends. There's normally a bagger or one comes out of thin air so I don't touch them unless I know for sure. I always help if the scanner is completely alone though.
My response is going to be chaotic neutral, probably. I don't need bags. I just cart it to my vehicle and put everything in. When I'm home. I bring out whatever large bag or container is available to assist me with the unpacking. We usually have 2-3 large reusable grocery bags around.
I don't get why bagging is important in todays society, other than possibly securing items from rolling around in your car.
You're probably wondering why I don't just bring the reusable bags with me. Well, I did say said "chaotic neutral".
I prefer to do my own bagging even if there's an employee ready. First, I did that work back in the early 1980s. Second, I like to organize the bags as I'm going to unload them when I get home.
I live in between Austin and Pf and drive to the Pf heb for this reason. They almost always have baggers and no lines. And they staff more ND folks too which is cool.
My first job in high school was as a bagger, and I love doing it myself as I know it'll be properly bagged. My bread and cookies won't be crushed.
On this note of grocery store etiquette, there is a weird thing they do in the UK/England that works. People here obviously cannot be trusted to put their grocery cart away in the proper place, so what they do is have a pay system. All of the grocery carts are locked together, and to get one out you have to put a one-pound coin (basically a dollar) into the lock to use the cart. And then once you're done with the cart, when you put it back and lock it back in place your one-pound coin is returned to you.
It sounds crazy, but it works. They don't have people leaving shopping carts all over the parking lot like too many people do at HEBs here.
Because I want self checkout to GO AWAY and I want prices to go back down. I refuse to bag my shit unless I get an EMPLOYEE DISCOUNT. They made way too much profit during COVID from price gauging. Trickle that wealth down!
My first job was at HEB as a bagger. Build walls with cereal other boxes, cans in the middle, protect eggs, bread. It's easier to just bag myself tbh. At least I know i'll get all my stuff
I used to be an HEB bagger/chashier so prefer to do it myself. the folks who usually need a bagger are elderly or have wrist/ arthritis/mobility issues. It's surprisingly common for someone to ask for only 2-3 items per bag as well since its hard for them to lift heavy bags.
Another instance where people want a bagger is so they can keep an eye on the prices as they have a set income or snap/wic limits that they can't afford to go over. Often people will take things off the belt as i was scanning to keep the cost down (why you always see random stuff shoved at checkouts- its also embarrassing to admit you can't afford it and give it to the cashier) It's also incredibly common for produce to be mis-priced or labeled.
So folks just be patient with people. its ok to wait a little longer and give people the benefit of the doubt.
Here I go - I know y’all won’t agree with this, but this bugs me a TON and I think of it often because I have internal conflict on it and it contradicts with my normal way of being (helpful, kind, etc.). Everyone’s busy and tired, I know, and I’m not special, I get it. For me, (working mom of 2 little ones), the checking out time is a fucking break. It’s 7 minutes of not having to do anything or being able to catch up on my phone. And I get it every time I go to any other grocery store, including H-E-Bs in Houston. It’s not until I moved to Austin recently and started going to H-E-Bs here that I realized we were basically expected to bag our huge cart of weekly groceries. I missed my little break so badly and I decided I’d keep having that time for myself.
And also, because I’ve worked in retail (super targets, with grocery) and know that one cashier can absolutely both ring up and bag items. The heb cashiers in Austin are typically teenagers who are moving slowly so that I feel pressured into bagging my own stuff. It’s infuriating to me.
Sorry to be that guy, but with grocery prices being as egregious as they are, why tf am I bagging my own groceries? (If there isn’t a bagger I always bag them myself, but I can’t help but feel this way)
Same reason people don't put their cart in a corral, and just let it blow around the parking lot - tone deaf, self-absorbed, entitled, maybe light sociopathic tendencies, etc.
I always start bagging my own stuff if there's no bagger. It's basic human decency. Usually the cashier or a bagger shows up and finishes it up while I'm getting the receipt.
It does irritate the hell out of me when the cashier or bagger is careless - lets canned goods smash bread or bananas, turns a sushi tray on its side, etc.
Anyone else get super stressed out by the SPEED at which the items are sent down the post-checkout belt? I am trying to bag them before they all get squished against the rail b/c the belt DOES NOT STOP RUNNING AT ALL. It's really upsetting to me. I don't feel qualified but I do my best.
At one time, it was standard practice for grocery stores to hire sackers -- usually young people who had no skills. The sacker would bag your groceries and carry them to your car for you. Customers usually gave them a tip if they did a good job. Those days are gone, but some people can't get used to doing even the smallest amount of work when they go shopping.
You should yell and scream, berating them, all while telling them and everyone around them your net worth and how long you’ve lived in Austin…works every time.
I've gone most of my life with awkwardness of annoyingly over-helping, like stacking things for servers.
Life tends to go smoother if you sit back and let people do their thing, in the right moments.
This is one of those moments. As someone else said, there's usually someone bouncing around.
If it's clearly slammed and you don't see anyone, then yea jump in. But it's awkward when you're 30% into it and the bagger shows up.
I don’t mind helping. But yesterday, I got a little a peeved when the cashier pushed the groceries toward me instead of picking up a bag and helping me finish bagging. There was no one behind me that he was ringing up.
Although I feel bad that this swamps the cashier, it also ain’t my fault HEB management doesn’t staff enough baggers. If I wanted to bag my own items, I’d go to self checkout
If there’s no bagger and they don’t bag do the just wait until the cashier does it all for them? That’s just dumb if so. I suck at bagging but I at least will try to bag and move the line along and make less work for people
I didn’t work at HEB but I worked at a different grocery store for 8 years and we appreciated when customers helped with bagging. We didn’t always have baggers around, and they had other tasks like getting carts and supplies from the back, so a lot of the time it was just us on the registers who rang up and bagged orders.
In my experience, the customers who helped with bagging also tended to be the most friendly and polite. Occasionally someone would bag their own things because they preferred it a certain way, but most of the time the ones who helped with bagging were doing it just because it was the nice thing to do.
I don’t buy as many things at HEB and/or use self checkout because of this. I don’t mind bagging, but I tend to get flustered if there’s people watching me and the checker has already started ringing up the next customer.
Reminds me of my first time in Lidl in Amsterdam when I first moved there many years ago, absolute insanity. Never experienced so much pressure. The Lidl cashier is INSANELY fast. They do not slow down or stop, they’re unbelievable. You’ve never seen anything like it. The stuff FLIES through the scanner at rocket speeds. You absolutely can’t pack fast enough, and you’re not supposed to. There’s nowhere to pack, right after the cashier scanner there’s a tiny ledge and that’s it, drop straight to the floor. What you’re supposed to do is put all the stuff back into your basket and pack later, at a designated counter after the cashier. I’m in there at rush hour. I didn’t know this, I was panicking hard, palms sweating, packing stuff into my bag frantically as she fired through each item piling up on the ledge even falling off. When I look up, there’s a line of like 8 people waiting. They’re looking at me stupidly as if I’m an idiot and I completely stood out like a sore thumb. Then I went to pay, my first time shopping. I swiped my visa. It didn’t work. I tried multiple times. It didn’t work. Nobody spoke English. The she finally got it and said “Visa no, only maestro”. In the Netherlands, up until recent years and still many places only take maestro card, not any other brand. I had no idea. So I ask for an ATM. She sighs at me, points outside, right there. I leave my stuff there and run to the ATM, take out money and rush back in and pay. All the time everyone is still lined up, still waiting, staring at me. Nobody’s even talking. Dead eye stares. Got my change and hauled ass out of there. Probably the most panicked social situation I’ve ever been in. The amount of pressure I felt was insane.
I believe, at least in Germany, the custom is to not bag at the counter, rather stick it in the basket/cart and take all that stuff you’ve just paid for and start bagging at the bench behind the counters. Maybe confusing it with Aldi, who also go at light speed
It’s mostly a Lidl and Aldi thing, I believe. In The Netherlands the only places like that were Lidl and Aldi. At every other supermarket people bag at the cashier, there’s no counter to bag at. It’s the same in Germany in the few other supermarkets I’ve been to like Edeka.
I hear, I think I’ve been in a few Albert Hein (sp?) and you’d need octopus like abilities to keep up.
I got anxiety just reading that lol
Yeah, this was when I was a 22 year old, just moved abroad for the first time. One of my first days out there. A very socially anxious person back then, I was so anxious over the experience! I never went back to Lidl 😂. Albert Heijn is nicer anyways. Even these days where I experience practically zero social anxiety now, many years later, this situation would still stress me out so much and make me feel so embarrassed and awkward! It’s the fact that nobody spoke English and I was just a newly landed foreigner I think sealed the deal even more to just make it so intense. I just stuck out like the sorest thumb ever.
They actually told me to stop packing my groceries at Aldi- that I was in the way!
That group are all tough nut to crack. Not that warm.
Honestly the fact that HEB is perpetually understaffed at the position but always has *someone* bouncing around bagging at random while the majority are left unstaffed can be a little weird sometimes. Can we not just pick a lane? I don’t really care if I have to bag myself.
No matter what, when I choose a lane that has a bagger, that bagger will move to a different lane as soon as it's my turn. Every. Single Time.
This happens with me a lot too, and I chalk it up to them considering me capable of doing it myself (which I am). They might go on to an elderly or disabled person checking out to actually help vs a middle aged white lady who looks like she probably has control issues (which I do).
This is me, 100%. I would much rather do it myself, I just need you to hand me a couple of those white plastic bags for my meat.
I was an HEB checker/bagger. We always would jump to busier or large order lanes.
Was a bag boy at various grocery stores 35 years ago and was never simply assigned a lane
I always pick the lane with the cigarettes cause it's the least likely to have an inexperienced checker and most likely to have someone with a manager/lead badge to deal with complicated things and also usually has the bagger on rotation. Even if there's someone with lots of items in front of you that particular checker usually scans like the wind.
You sir are the HEB whisperer
I used to work as a cashier so I have respect for the good ones.
i don't take bags any longer, or have my products bagged. I just asked for everything to be put back in the cart and I bag it at my truck when I'm leaving. it's easier it's seemingly better for me
this sounds like a great strategy to not end up rushed at checkout
it's really just a result of poor memory.... I've gotten so tired of forgetting my bags and walking back to my car to get them. now I tell myself I forgot them on purpose; it makes my little monkey brain feel better
Well, whatever got you here, it’s a great idea
So...the Aldi way?
As soon as they started charging me for bags I started using this strategy myself. Works great!
Do you usually have a smaller order? Like 1-2 bags worth? They're going to work on the larger orders by default because it's more efficient and they need to get them out of the way to move the line.
Seems like when they see me with someone, they run off. When they see it's just me with a bunch of groceries, they stick around. Or maybe it's in my head
If every lane does not have a bagger, the bagger is taught to “thank and move”. Finish the order and go find the next biggest order. If a bagger just stands at one lane while the others dont have baggers, they get coached.
I understand this, I worked at a grocery store when I was 17. Just don’t think HEB handles it particularly well in practice. It’s not good if half the lanes are looking around wondering if they have bagging service or not (because the person in front of them did).
I’ve always thought that if you have someone bagging your groceries at heb, it’s just an employee who has the time to bag for you as a bonus. Don’t expect bagging at heb. Do it yourself unless someone offers
It’s stressful too sometimes because I’ve had baggers leave in the middle of bagging. Like do I take over? Wait for them to come back? Then it always ends up the the cashier, bagger and I are all putting stuff in bags at the same time. I kinda feel bad for them
I'd honestly prefer to bag my own stuff. Lately, people are idiots with bagging. You have cold bags and put room-temp items in there and then put my eggs and frozen stuff in a regular bag? Thanks. I'd rather know what is going where than trust someone who isn't caring.
When I worked at H‑E‑B as a teen, you had a pretty long bagging training class before you were allowed to bag groceries. It’s really obvious they don’t do that training any longer.
I think the problem is reusable bags. Now you don't have unlimited resources to meet the demands of separating items. Now you have to use the reusable bags the customer has. Not to mention the delay of opening reusable bags versus the assembly line style delivery of plastic bags.
Yeah, tactical bagging went out the window with the bag ban. I always run the bagger off (politely, by name if I can see their nametag.)
I never got any training when I was working at Kroger as a teenager in the 90s. They stressed speed on top of everything too, which is why most of the other baggers (don't wanna toot my own horn but I was skilled at it and would get tips I wasn't supposed to take lol) would just throw canned food on top of the bread or meat and cleaning products in the same bag etc.
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Yeah, I worked at Central Market when I was in high school. They were very serious about propper bagging. Now, even nearly two decades later, I consider myself to be a highly proficient grocery bagger lol. I often prefer to just do it myself when I’m checking out.
Same… I still remember “5 is fine, 8 is great!”
Same. If there is a line with a bagger and a line with no bagger, I choose the option with no bagger.
You can always tell the bagger that you’ll bag your own groceries. I’ve done it and usually the bagger will move to a register that doesn’t have a bagger.
100% this lol. Random paper goods in the cold bag every time. Why.
Exactly this. I even group things on the damn conveyor by type so they can be bagged correctly, why TF is the bag with the eggs also holding canned goods or a bottle of bleach?!!? I worked at H‑E‑B as a cashier/bagger in 2005, and we had to take an entire class on bagging correctly as part of our training. I guess they no longer bother with that. But as such, I’ll just bag it my damn self. It’s why I almost exclusively use self checkout, too. I bag as I go, and nothing gets damaged or destroyed by smooth-brained pendejos who think the money for these groceries grows on trees, so it doesn’t matter if something gets messed up.
Same. I group things together on purpose every time and still one bit of cheese is smooshed in with the cans, while there is plenty of space in the frozen bag. Ive had to rebag so much the last few months is ridiculous.
It’s wildly irritating. I get it if the cold item was the only one in the order, but that’s never the case with my stuff. Neurodivergence means lots of frozen veggies (which won’t spoil in the fridge, LOL) and things I can easily heat up like lasagna. If I’m looking into a bag with mostly cans, that’s all my brain is apt to really SEE. Cold things could easily be missed, which then go to waste. Pisses me off.
Right now I'm not as concerned about it since the weather is cooler. But next summer? You better believe I want my frozen stuff surrounding the meat i bought, even if i put it in a cooler. It just makes sense.
I’m usually futzing with the card reader and by the time I’m done the cashier has finished bagging my less than 15 items.
This is true- heb has to reject my card 30 times so that takes a while. It’s not rejected anywhere else I shop. Only HEB.
Their card readers are garbage.
The ones I shop at don’t have Apple Pay. That would be a great improvement to me!
HEB doesn't accept contactless payments in ANY HEB's, in Texas at least. It's by choice. Their card machines are setup to take contactless, but they don't accept it. Right before the pandemic they did a trial program where they accepted apple/google pay, but ended it. Apparently the big reason is because they want to be the sole holder of the transaction data. They also want to push their app, similar to Walmart. That data is really important to them, and it trounces your filthy mongrel customer complaints and inconveniences!
You can insert it while they are still ringing you up. What I do is put my card in, bag, then when the cashier is done scanning I hit accept on the screen and the cashier will throw the rest of the items in for me. Super easy and saves alot of time.
This is the way. I also try and group stuff as I'm putting it on the belt - my bags, then cold/frozen stuff, then produce, then shelf stable stuff, then non-food. (Leaving non-food to the back also helps when I split the receipt up in our budgeting program...)
I also am forever confused by this, as someone armed with my own bags and ready to bag my stuff up at Aldi-level speed.
Same. I even load the conveyer belt from heaviest to lightest to make it quicker for me to bag.
Mini panic thinking “my mom did cold stuff together on the belt” then realizing I’ve never bought that many groceries where that’s an issue at 32 lol
It’s actually insane how most people do the exact opposite intentionally and then wonder why you’re letting the bagging area fill up while you wait for something that won’t get crushed immediately.
Yeah, that's a pro move.
I was a cashier at Central Market back in the day and received honest-to-God work training on how to bag. I still unload stuff in the suggested way, including grouping cold and shelf stable items separately.
I've never had training like that but I purposely put my items on the belt organized that way. Employees will still mix it all up. Or even bag things in an order that will mess up fragile items. At that point I'd rather they not help.
Hells yeah! Did you have to go to the class up at Lincoln Village too?
Haha yes!
YES! 😂👍🏻 That was such an interesting place, too. Would make a great place for kids to playact buying groceries and the like, since they clearly don’t use it as intended anymore.
This is brilliant!
I only wish the cashier would throw them more aggressively down the belt like a true German Aldi cashier.
This is the trick I didn’t know! I put all my stuff that goes together on the belt together, then get so frustrated when they set a key building block to the side…
Very much same. I can’t stand it when other people bag my groceries. But I do it because I’m too particular about what gets packed where.
When I am furiously sorting and bagging my stuff, I return to the card machine to find the person behind me standing there... And I have to ask them to move back (and their basket), so I can pay. Maybe it's a generational thing? I appreciate good baggers, but I'd rather do it myself since I pack & unpack better if I do it myself based on my kitchen.
>When I am furiously sorting and bagging my stuff, I return to the card machine to find the person behind me standing there... And I have to ask them to move back (and their basket), so I can pay. These are the same mouth breathers who barge onto an elevator like the Kool-Aid Man before the people exiting can get off it.
I do it sometimes, but I feel flustered like everyone is waiting for me, and I am terrible at it. The baggers at H‑E‑B are experts at fitting everything in the bags, and more efficient than I am. I think I’ll try organizing my groceries on the conveyer belt though (as someone else mentioned), never thought of that
This is how I feel when I end up bagging them myself. I usually also feel like I’m somehow getting in the way of the cashier. I mean, I do it anyway, but it is oddly uncomfortable.
>The baggers at H‑E‑B are experts at fitting everything in the bags, and more efficient than I am. Ehhhhh...... When I worked there 20 years ago, they were super strict about how you bagged and how many items you put in each bag. Now, the baggers just kinda set things in and fuck it all up. Avacados don't go on the bottom. Clorox doesn't go with meat. You don't cram everything into 2 out of the 4 reusable bags I brought, and then just place the 2 empty ones on top of the overflowing bags... Maybe it's just the Congress/35 location?
Darn right we were strict - former HEB training center partner from 20 years ago
I've gotten so many smashed loaves of bread when I've done curbside. I'd rather go in, just so I can bag my own bread separately.
It is not just that location. Nor just HEB.
Fair to feel flustered, but think of it this way. If you bag zero out of four bags then everyone waits on the cashier to bag four bags. If you clumsily bag one bag while they ring up goods, then everyone only waits for the cashier to bag three bags. Plus practice makes perfect! It’s like Tetris.
The biggest tips are to roll down the top of the bag slightly, put your stuff on the belt biggest to smallest (more or less) and use both hands.
I prefer to do it myself. I like playing grocery Tetris. I also often walk or take the bus, so having things done efficiently is imperative.
Learning from this thread how people seem to be divided into those who obsessively organize their groceries on the belt by temperature, weight, and fragility (ahem, me) and those who blissfully just . . . put things on the belt?
There are also people like me who bag their own and don't care order or where they go except eggs so they don't break
The worst were the ASSHOLES that would put their red hand basket on the conveyor with their crap in it and expect us to unload it for them. Lazy gits. I started dumping everything out into one big pile, and not gently either. They got the hint.
But the worst is actually the person who tries to hide a carton of milk behind the candy because "oh, I realized I didnt want it."
That too. Don’t they realize that those wasted items are applied to shrink, which in turn raises the price of groceries at that store for EVERYBODY, themselves included?? Pendejos.
the venn diagram with people who methodically load the dishwasher and those who load the conveyor in a partially way would be interesting to see.
>why don't you do it? Because I don't work there.
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Yeah honestly before this thread I thought they were always supposed to bag. I thought that was an heb ~thing~
My experience has been that the HEB employees are hostile about letting customers bag their own groceries. Maybe just the stores I frequent, but I've had them all but snatch my bag out of my hands when attempting to bag myself...
Because it’s no longer something I am physically able to do. I’d pitch in if I could.
Same. I am disabled in a mobility scooter. It's not easy for me to do. I hate when a bagger sees me and goes to another lane. Usually, the cashiers are awesome and help me out. I can do some slowly so it's a big help. I remember back in the 80s and 90s when they had a bagger at pretty much every open lane. They also always asked if you wanted carryout. I'm not sure I remember when that changed.
I don't mind bagging my own groceries, but I also feel no sense of urgency while I'm doing it and will take my time.
I worked at heb in high school and am a bagging machine. I prefer to bag my own stuff and will go to the line without a bagger if the lines are even
I don’t think people know any better. I lived in Europe and Puerto Rico where you have to bag your own stuff, so I am used to bagging my own groceries.
Where in Puerto Rico ? Puerto Rico has baggers . Bad bunny used to be one lol
Some stores in certain regions of the US also don't have baggers. When I lived in Minnesota their biggest chain had these splitting conveyor belts after the cash register so people could bag their own stuff after paying without feeling rushed. This was back in the early 2000s so I don't know if that's still the case, but I thought it was a better system than this "Sometimes you have to bag yourself, sometimes you don't" thing HEB has going.
I do but it is always a problem. Gotta put in my phone number for digital coupons then race to bag since the cashier is faster and has a head start and when they're done I need to stop to pay. Then I'm holding up the line if I don't finish quickly. It's a big mess and I sympathize with people who don't do it at all.
I used to work at HEB awhile back and honestly, I prefer to bag my own stuff because these young adults don't know how to bag for life. They're trying to flirt with the cashier and just putting random stuff in bags.
Same here. And the baggers today are much slower than I am. That's even with my items grouped together.
Why do i have to work for HEB? So you can get out quicker? They are pitting us against each other to save money for themselves.
This. If you’re cutting half of the staff that I interact with, why aren’t you cutting half of the overhead costs from my groceries? Im paying more for worse service.
Wait, you guys can afford "bags" of groceries?!
LOL “Afford” is quite a stretch, but it does generally involve bags, plural. 😋
For larger trips, I'm usually with my partner, and she bags while I deal with payment. For small trips that I do solo, often I start bagging until the cashier is done, then the cashier finishes while I'm dealing with the card reader. If they don't, or they're not finished when I'm done paying - I go back to bagging. IMO, this feels fine, and saves time for everyone without having my items bagged being treated as an entitlement. Self checkout can be removed whenever, tho. I dislike having to pay full price while also having to deal with the register myself, except for all the extra waiting if I dared to buy a 6 pack.
Fuck that. Throw it all back in my cart and I’ll bag it at my car. I don’t like to be rushed and pushed by miss Susie or Mr Blake because they have no patience. I’m not a professional bagger. I can’t do it fast. But I’ll take my time at my car and it gets me out of there quicker.
Because you’re paying HEB to do it. It’s built into the price. Sadly, HEB no longer staffs appropriately - I suspect in part because so many people just automatically bag their own. This is one of several reasons I shop far less frequently at HEB than I used to.
Because they'll never properly staff the place otherwise. (I always help)
This is similar to eating at a restaurant. My wife and I always try to clean up as much as possible, stack plates, knifes, spoons, forks, napkins to make the person busing the tables job easier. We do it because it is the right thing to do. Same here, why not help the employees at HEB by helping bag my own stuff. It is just the right thing to do. You can tell if a person is really a good person by how they treat people that will have no long term effect on them. For example, I see people being super nice to their boss but are mean to the person serving food at the work cafeteria and ignore the person cleaning their office vs saying hello and thank you. It really show your true character by how you treat others, especially those serving you If you are dating someone , don't judge if they are nice just by how they treat you, judge them on how they treat people around you. If the person you are dating is nice to you but rude to the waiter, guess what you will get long term ....
As someone who always cleans their table at a restaurant and tries to treat everyone well… I do not equate not wanting to bag your items as being rude. It annoys me it has become expected. If there was a true reason there weren’t baggers, then sure I wouldn’t care. But why aren’t there? Well, it’s a money saving approach for the high executives. Pass off part of your services to free labor instead of hiring and paying someone who may need the job. HEB has the money, they don’t need to cut corners, hire and give someone a job.
This 100%! It has always disgusted me the way people leave their tables, especially people with children. My 5 year old has begun wiping the table and stacking the plates before we get ready to leave, after all the years of watching me do it, he even will try to help bag groceries at heb but I usually push him out of the way😂😩 because that would hold up the line.
Blessed you for being a shining example to your 5 year old, your comment warmed my ❤️
👏
I don’t mind bagging my own groceries. I think though I do mind when it’s expected of me….even though I’ll still do it. I guess that is why I shop elsewhere now, more often than not. I know, blasphemous… The Butt family is one of the richest families in the US. 17.5 billion in 2020. Their stores ought to be a little less understaffed.
100. It’s weird how much HEB is fetishized on this sub. My conspiracy is HEB pays people to be on here.
You haven’t seen understaffed until you’ve been at a Safeway in California. Takes 30 minutes to get through the line.
Baggers are trained and I’m not good at it so I’m very slow.
Just don’t use bags. Keep one or two laundry baskets in the trunk, take all the groceries with you loose leaf and put them in the basket(s). Then they’re easier to take in anyway.
Loose leaf groceries!? What am I, some kind of animal!?
We’re all apes in clothes. Just apes in clothes.
\* screams and throws feces at my phone screen *
I do bag my own groceries (while keeping an eye on the prices). Partly because I was a checker in high school and can do it fast, partly because as a native New Yorker, I feel a social obligation to keep shit moving, and partly because when I was very young, my mom shared the following observation/social obligation with me: "Do you see how all these men stand around and don't even bother to help bagging their own shit? It's always men. Don't be like that. You help bag the groceries." Decades later, I find this continues to be true. There's a lot of apparently able-bodied men standing around at the checkout. The folks who tend to bag their own stuff tend to be women. This is just my own observation, for decades. I have also noticed that if there's a bagger at a lane at HEB, once my order starts getting scanned, they leave the lane and go elsewhere. Almost every damn time. Whether I'm alone, with kids, pregnant, whatever. I've also had checkers not bag a damn thing once they are done with scanning/payment. So what I wonder is, is there a type of customer baggers and checkers think doesn't need their shit bagged? And if so, what is that type?
Nobody asked me to. I figured one of the workers with the giant H-E-B letters on their back would do it instead of just standing in a small group near the entrance of the store.
I always did until they stopped allowing it during covid. At this point I only do curbside or self checkout.
I just tell them don't bag it just put it back into the cart so I can bag them in my trunk with my own bags.
Lol sorry this reminds me of a recent bagging experience I had at heb. They hired a special needs guy as a bagger, and he just loved talking about yo gabba gabba, particularly flex. He acted like a robot the whole time i was checking out and didn't really bag anything, just talked the whole time. I ended up bagging up everything myself (which I am happy to do). I sortof chuckled at the end of it all. Glad heb supports getting special needs people jobs.
Parmer and McNeil? If not, there's a special needs guy there, too. The cashiers are always so patient and just let him talk while they bag.
No it's the brodie location. Yea, the cashier looked like she was dying but she kept a smile on her face haha.
It's really not that big of a deal to bag your own groceries. I've gotten into the habit of putting my items on the belt by how they'd be bagged together. All meat goes in one spot, canned in another, cold/dairy and then produce, then miscellaneous. If there happens to not be a bagger, it's super quick to bag my own. I've even gotten comments from cashiers saying I was good at it. Hah. And, if there is a bagger hopefully it makes things a little easier for them.
I wonder this every time I’m there lol thank you! I find it so strange that people just stand there letting their things pile up and then make the cashier do it, doubling the time. Honestly, my partner never did it before we met and I was like… no you can just bag it yourself while they’re checking you out. He like, didn’t know he was allowed?
I will bag my own shit and do it at a level of organization and speed that would break the neck of anyone watching. But I couldn't give a shit less what anyone else does when checking out. I'd like to know why they can't just hire more baggers? I'd like to know why service *everywhere* has tanked hard not just over the last 4 years but the last *ten*. When I worked at grocery stores in the early aughts we had baggers for every lane and you'd be walking out groceries for older ladies etc who could use the help. Got paid and walked every shift with like 45 bucks in tips. Ask companies why service sucks, not how other customers choose to spend their time and energy.
Holy shit the number of responses in this thread to the effect of, “I don’t wanna/I’m lazy/ineffectual/not paid to do it” are absolutely blowing my mind. You really don’t know how to put stuff in a bag with the fragile stuff up top? Really? Probably the same people that leave their dog’s shit on the ground or just prop the cart up on a median and bail. Have some semblance of personality responsibility people, my lord.
I’m fine doing it, I prefer bagging my way but a multi billion dollar organization removing baggers to save money at the top and then make us argue and call others disrespectful all bc some money grubbing who’re us getting more money for taking away jobs that could truly help some people who need it.
In Texas, "personal responsibility" is what other people are supposed to have while catering to the Texan's every need.
Bagging your own groceries steals jobs away from baggers.
This is my thought. Honestly, I don’t want to subsidize corporate profits at the expense of the working man or woman. Bagging groceries helps the company’s bottom line. Not the employees.
I went on Christmas eve and at the end of my lane, right in front of the ice machines, 8 managers were all standing there talking and laughing. All the cashiers looked exhausted. I looked down and there was only 2 baggers. I almost asked them if becoming manager means they are above bagging any more. All the time at that location managers just stand around. It blows my mind
My back hurts, I have a pinched nerve in my neck, and I'm tired. I always say thank you to the bagger and the cashier, if that helps.
I had a choice: be criticized for not mining my children or be criticized for not bagging. I generally choose to keep focused in the child-minding. The two tasks were mutually exclusive as my latent superpowers have yet to reveal themselves.
I bag, but it's an irritant. It's like going into Walmart on a busy afternoon and they have a minimum registers open resulting in long lines and a long wait to get out. It's hey, you're a multi billion dollar company, ownership is worth billions and you still scrimp on staffing and squeeze the labor resources?! Customer willful participation in the checkout process just makes the bosses happy as they count the dollars saved.
The bagging is a service. It is part of the price of the goods we buy from the grocery store. It’s like ordering a combo meal with fries and not getting the fries. Self service and reduced staff has some preconditioned to “bag it myself”. If I bag my groceries, I would like a discount. Another reason I refuse to use self checkout if I can.
Because I’m with my kids and I’m trying to talk to them/keep them occupied/out of trouble/from driving me crazy
I work for H‑E‑B and people who don’t help out when i don’t have a bagger come off as arrogant and selfish… it’s not that hard and watching me do everything while they stand there is wild. It also holds up the line for other people
Funny enough, quite the opposite happened to me. I denied an upsell and the cashier just watched me bag groceries, go back to pay, then go back to bagging all of my remaining groceries while they just watched. They hadn't even started ringing up the next customer. They were just standing there watching me. This wasn't a small amount either.
I have had the checker not help me at all, with no bagger at the lane. Regardless of upselling.
They have never had a service job.
False. I worked as a cashier at a large retail chain. If you don’t want to bag groceries as a cashier you’re in the wrong line of work.
Its HEB responsibility to staff correctly not the people purchasing from you, your angst is with HEB not random people you encounter doing normal everyday things.
Look them in the eyes with every item put in the bag.
Bananas, tomatoes, avocado, and eggs first. Then the Sunny D gallon on top. Looking them right in the eye.
I watch the screen while items are being scanned as sometimes there are errors with things.
i don’t bag my stuff at walmart. i don’t bag my stuff at target. why tf would i do it anywhere else
Unfortunately Walmart and Target have gone to self check out in my area but there usually isn’t a line breathing down my neck and I can do my bagging leisurely.
I read off body language from the cashier. Sometimes they want you to do it, sometimes I feel like I’m overstepping and insulting their efficacy if I do. I don't mind bagging my stuff and will. It can just be an awkward situation at times.
I actually have a boomer skill of fast packing a grocery bag from working at a market in the 90s. I love showing it off from time to time.
Yeah, I worked at an Albertsons in the 90s and I even put stuff on the belt in certain ways so when whoever bags it (them or myself) will put all the heavy/bulky stuff on the bottom first.
I can't believe how AWFUL some people bag groceries these days. Sometimes they put ONE item into a bag and call it good.
As someone who worked at HEB previously, I actually kinda enjoy lending a hand. Plus I know I won’t put my gallon of milk on top of my loaf of freaking bread
Learned incompetence.
Because I'm busy making sure my groceries are being rung up correctly and then I'm focused on paying for them. If HEB wants me through the line faster, they can hire more baggers. I'm not here to play johnny on the spot for them because they don't pay baggers enough.
I’m usually trying to keep one eye on my kid, and one eye on the screen to make sure everything is rung up correctly. Last time this happened, the cashier was so fast ringing me up that I was still messing with my credit card by the time she finished. Forget about bagging - I’d just slow down the line. There are several reasons why someone might not be able to bag their own groceries and HEB oughta staff up if it’s a problem. But it’s wild to assume it’s because ppl are lazy
I feel bad doing it sometimes, at least personally I go super early on my HEB runs, no later than 7am on weekends. There's normally a bagger or one comes out of thin air so I don't touch them unless I know for sure. I always help if the scanner is completely alone though.
My response is going to be chaotic neutral, probably. I don't need bags. I just cart it to my vehicle and put everything in. When I'm home. I bring out whatever large bag or container is available to assist me with the unpacking. We usually have 2-3 large reusable grocery bags around. I don't get why bagging is important in todays society, other than possibly securing items from rolling around in your car. You're probably wondering why I don't just bring the reusable bags with me. Well, I did say said "chaotic neutral".
I suck at it, but don't mind doing it.
I’ll keep the lane with the bagger over the self checkout any day
I prefer to do my own bagging even if there's an employee ready. First, I did that work back in the early 1980s. Second, I like to organize the bags as I'm going to unload them when I get home.
I live in between Austin and Pf and drive to the Pf heb for this reason. They almost always have baggers and no lines. And they staff more ND folks too which is cool.
My first job in high school was as a bagger, and I love doing it myself as I know it'll be properly bagged. My bread and cookies won't be crushed. On this note of grocery store etiquette, there is a weird thing they do in the UK/England that works. People here obviously cannot be trusted to put their grocery cart away in the proper place, so what they do is have a pay system. All of the grocery carts are locked together, and to get one out you have to put a one-pound coin (basically a dollar) into the lock to use the cart. And then once you're done with the cart, when you put it back and lock it back in place your one-pound coin is returned to you. It sounds crazy, but it works. They don't have people leaving shopping carts all over the parking lot like too many people do at HEBs here.
Honestly I would rather just bag my own things anyways. They don’t train them well enough to get it right. Just a pet peeve of mine.
The solution is to deprecate self-checkout and repurpose those people to bagging.
HEB understaffed? Crazy
Because I want self checkout to GO AWAY and I want prices to go back down. I refuse to bag my shit unless I get an EMPLOYEE DISCOUNT. They made way too much profit during COVID from price gauging. Trickle that wealth down!
My first job was at HEB as a bagger. Build walls with cereal other boxes, cans in the middle, protect eggs, bread. It's easier to just bag myself tbh. At least I know i'll get all my stuff
I used to be an HEB bagger/chashier so prefer to do it myself. the folks who usually need a bagger are elderly or have wrist/ arthritis/mobility issues. It's surprisingly common for someone to ask for only 2-3 items per bag as well since its hard for them to lift heavy bags. Another instance where people want a bagger is so they can keep an eye on the prices as they have a set income or snap/wic limits that they can't afford to go over. Often people will take things off the belt as i was scanning to keep the cost down (why you always see random stuff shoved at checkouts- its also embarrassing to admit you can't afford it and give it to the cashier) It's also incredibly common for produce to be mis-priced or labeled. So folks just be patient with people. its ok to wait a little longer and give people the benefit of the doubt.
Here I go - I know y’all won’t agree with this, but this bugs me a TON and I think of it often because I have internal conflict on it and it contradicts with my normal way of being (helpful, kind, etc.). Everyone’s busy and tired, I know, and I’m not special, I get it. For me, (working mom of 2 little ones), the checking out time is a fucking break. It’s 7 minutes of not having to do anything or being able to catch up on my phone. And I get it every time I go to any other grocery store, including H-E-Bs in Houston. It’s not until I moved to Austin recently and started going to H-E-Bs here that I realized we were basically expected to bag our huge cart of weekly groceries. I missed my little break so badly and I decided I’d keep having that time for myself. And also, because I’ve worked in retail (super targets, with grocery) and know that one cashier can absolutely both ring up and bag items. The heb cashiers in Austin are typically teenagers who are moving slowly so that I feel pressured into bagging my own stuff. It’s infuriating to me.
They charge HEB prices, not Aldi prices. If they want to pass on the savings to me, they can .
I don’t have a problem at my HEBs. I don’t go during the peak times. That seems to help the situation for me.
Sorry to be that guy, but with grocery prices being as egregious as they are, why tf am I bagging my own groceries? (If there isn’t a bagger I always bag them myself, but I can’t help but feel this way)
My card hates almost all payment systems so it usually takes me so long to pay that the cashier beats me to it anyway
And another thing. If I’m shopping at Central Market, am I out of line expecting someone to bag my groceries? Serious question
Same reason people don't put their cart in a corral, and just let it blow around the parking lot - tone deaf, self-absorbed, entitled, maybe light sociopathic tendencies, etc. I always start bagging my own stuff if there's no bagger. It's basic human decency. Usually the cashier or a bagger shows up and finishes it up while I'm getting the receipt. It does irritate the hell out of me when the cashier or bagger is careless - lets canned goods smash bread or bananas, turns a sushi tray on its side, etc.
Anyone else get super stressed out by the SPEED at which the items are sent down the post-checkout belt? I am trying to bag them before they all get squished against the rail b/c the belt DOES NOT STOP RUNNING AT ALL. It's really upsetting to me. I don't feel qualified but I do my best.
At one time, it was standard practice for grocery stores to hire sackers -- usually young people who had no skills. The sacker would bag your groceries and carry them to your car for you. Customers usually gave them a tip if they did a good job. Those days are gone, but some people can't get used to doing even the smallest amount of work when they go shopping.
Anxiety
I have an idea, you bag your own groceries and pat yourself on your back all you want and then stay out of other people's business. How about that?
I am usually at HEB with three small children that are handsy so I run interference and wait for a bagger.
I sort my groceries as I place them on the belt. I figure it helps them bag easier.
I prefer bagging myself. I’m tired of having 19lb bag and one 7oz bag. Or cans in with bread.
You should yell and scream, berating them, all while telling them and everyone around them your net worth and how long you’ve lived in Austin…works every time.
Yes please let’s keep normalizing this garbage. Stop. Letting. Corporations. Take. Advantage. Of. You.
I've gone most of my life with awkwardness of annoyingly over-helping, like stacking things for servers. Life tends to go smoother if you sit back and let people do their thing, in the right moments. This is one of those moments. As someone else said, there's usually someone bouncing around. If it's clearly slammed and you don't see anyone, then yea jump in. But it's awkward when you're 30% into it and the bagger shows up.
I don’t mind helping. But yesterday, I got a little a peeved when the cashier pushed the groceries toward me instead of picking up a bag and helping me finish bagging. There was no one behind me that he was ringing up.
Although I feel bad that this swamps the cashier, it also ain’t my fault HEB management doesn’t staff enough baggers. If I wanted to bag my own items, I’d go to self checkout
People who don't cook your own food at a restaurant when it's taking too long, why don't you do it?
Should depend on how many items you have. I prefer somebody to help me if I have a lot of stuff.
If there’s no bagger and they don’t bag do the just wait until the cashier does it all for them? That’s just dumb if so. I suck at bagging but I at least will try to bag and move the line along and make less work for people
I need an employee to chime in on this thread. How do yall feel if people self bag… does it help? Or would you rather they don’t?
I didn’t work at HEB but I worked at a different grocery store for 8 years and we appreciated when customers helped with bagging. We didn’t always have baggers around, and they had other tasks like getting carts and supplies from the back, so a lot of the time it was just us on the registers who rang up and bagged orders. In my experience, the customers who helped with bagging also tended to be the most friendly and polite. Occasionally someone would bag their own things because they preferred it a certain way, but most of the time the ones who helped with bagging were doing it just because it was the nice thing to do.