Why do they do it?

This kind of thing actually happens on the self scan conveyor belt tills in my local Morrisons. There are only two of these tills and the first thing it asks you to do is to, "please place your bags on the bagging scale and press done." Why then, does the person in front of me leave their bags in the trolley, scan every item and place it in the bagging area, pay for their goods and then load their stuff into their bags that are still in their trolley?

Our local Morrisons doesn't do hand held scanners yet. That's why I mostly use Sainsbury's smart shop app and scan on my phone. I get smart prices there too.

Is it in Holland or Belgium where some supermarkets have introduced a slow checkout aisle, where people who want/need to chat can take their time without angering those who just want to get out of the shop?

Another bugbear is people who are just not ready to move on when the traffic lights change from red to green. Come on, folks! I've got somewhere to go! The worst is when the lights change back to red before I get through because someone wasn't paying attention! 😠

I see people like this or get stuck behind them… I keep reminding myself… that could be me in a few years. Who knows? Sad, but we may be one whom others rant about.
Good to be alive, though.
USA Gundy

i find it stressful at checkouts, and have far too much and cannot cope with self scanners.
i also have to do 2 transactions as shopping for a bedbound neighbour.
i have to make a special trip for this shopping which adds to the stress, as trying to load up as much as possible.
last week was further stressed by an rude customer who was circling the area in a threatening manner and eventually threw something at a cashier.
anyway i asked for £50 cashback on one transaction.
wasn't until some hours later that i realised i had not been given it.
i went out with no cash and returned the same.
i'm sure it was an oversight as the cashier was also distracted by the aggressive woman.
but a bit annoying. and feel stupid.

How can you have your card/cash ready while packing your bags, unless you pack with one hand only? I’ve never fathomed that one out. And tbh, I never watch people that closely anyway.

I’m in my 60’s , walk with the aid of a crutch and have arthritis in my thumbs. I know I’m slow at the checkout and slways apologise in advance. I have to say I mostly find other customers and staff very understanding. My daughter is in her early thirties and has psoriatic arthritis which also slows her down. She has her shopping delivered because people make her feel embarrassed at the till if she is slow. I think that’s sad. I think we should all show a little patience and understanding. We don’t and can’t know what problems people have.

PS I'm nowhere near dithery and doddery yet and I feel this stress. Some of yous are really unimaginative as well as impatient.

cannot understand why people pack all their shopping,young and old then rifle about for their card whilst several people stand in the queue waiting

Try harder.

I can understand it very easily. If anyone else is waiting at the checkout I have always felt rushed and stressed about packing and paying. Even when I was young I felt this. As a result, I now use self-checkouts whenever possible. This is not because I don't want to engage with people on checkouts; it's because I don't want to engage with or feel the bile of impatient people behind me.

If you pack all your shopping before paying (and why shouldn't someone do that if there's nowhere to take it to pack carefully away from the checkout, which there usually isn't), then you don't have to worry about crushing your eggs or soft fruit and veg, etc. Only people who don't care about squashed food will just chuck it in any old how. Furthermore, checkout workers have to wait until one customer is finished before they start scanning the next person's stuff.

Cultivate some patience, people.

Oh yeah, and getting your bags sorted to receive your shopping takes time too.

Bah to impatience, I say.

This could have been my late Mum.
Registered Blind, hearing impaired and lonely- desperately trying to hold on to some sort of normal routine.
This post has made me sad.

I know we should all have patience with very elderly people at checkouts but surely everyone knows roughly how much it will come to and should either have cash or a card ready .I cannot understand why people pack all their shopping,young and old then rifle about for their card whilst several people stand in the queue waiting .Therescnothing else to do whilst queuing so why can’t you be ready .Lidl and m and s are the worse!

I try to be patient because I think it could be me causing the delay in the near future.
The opposite side of delay happened to me a few weeks ago in M&S. I'd scanned Sparks card had payment card ready to pay, packed all my shopping when the very kind assistant told me I had a free gift available through the Sparks app. She told me it was a bar of chocolate, I said it's OK not a worry, I wasn't bothered but she insisted on going to fetch it for me even though there were 4 or 5 people waiting behind me. It was very good of her but I was very uncomfortable and could feel eyes boring into me while she wandered off and came back with my free chocolate - mind you I did enjoy it!

I always used to try to be patient with older people in queues because it might be my mother. Now I’m patient because it might be me …

BaggsThe OP did not say that this lady had dementia. That was a suggestion by another poster.

Dementia isn't limited to the aged. Alastair Stewart's clearly developed while he was still in his 60s, and I have known people to be diagnosed with early onset dementia in their late 40s and early 50s. Others even younger have been diagnosed with it

M0nica

I appreciate your point, kircubbin2000, but it sounds uncomfortably ageist.

Dementia is pretty ageist.

I always seem to pick the wrong line as well. My last check-out young lady was so slow. I was trying to be patient, but Lordy, she could use management to give her a bit of training. My patience was tested this time for sure!

One of our grocery stores started one queue during covid for all the tills, then they would flash their light when they were available. I wish they would have kept this system.

For some people this may be their only interaction with someone else all week. If it's an issue for you, just go through self scan.

I appreciate your point, kircubbin2000, but it sounds uncomfortably ageist.

It's not relevant Monica. It adds a little colour to the post.

Self scan every time if it’s just a few bits, or certainly for a big shop, use a handset to scan as you shop (if possible - not all stores have the facility) and pack into your own bags on the way round. It’s such a waste of time to drop groceries into a basket or trolley, unload them onto a checkout, and then pack them. Why handle everything three times in store when once will do?

For those arguing that self-scan costs jobs - I disagree. I worked in Waitrose and all staff are till trained, just as all staff are trained on replenishing shelves. On a busy weekend morning all 14 checkouts would be manned and have queues, on a quiet evening only one till might be open and if necessary extra staff would be recalled from the shop floor. Nobody is employed just as a checkout operator.

Why is the age group of this woman relevant? There are slow disirganised shoppers in every age group - and superfast well rogaanised ones as well.

If they made picking the wrong queue an Olympic event, I’d get a gold medal.
However, I agree with GG13
There but for the grace of God?

I just try and remember that somebody might be going home and not interacting with another human for the rest of the week. (and that I may very well be that person in a few more years).

I only get annoyed with the "young" people who wait until they are on the bus to find their bus pass or correct screen on their phone with which to pay. They've only stood at the stop for 10 minutes with nothing to do.

I always strive to be patient with those in front of me at the supermarket checkouts or any other situation which involves payment.

My reasoning is I have no idea of the persons personal circumstances, how they are feeling etc., it could be me one day.

I know that I am not a patient person therefore use the self-scan tills.

I recognise that this is a fault of mine and understand that some need to take extra time but I know that I would probably start tutting loudly which would be unfair. When it comes that I need extra time I think all tills will be self serve.

Indeed kircubbin2000, humans are apt to be imperfect🤗
I never rush customers as there is certainly nothing to rush for on my part.
Do unto others etc ….
I’m sure “the boy” has encountered worse, or will do if he remains employed in retail.

This lady sounds like my friend who has dementia.

This ⬆️