Battra92 Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 I wonder if we've touched upon the fact that the American Heritage Dictionary at one point defined the word Catholic as meaning liberal. Well considering the Western Christian Church has defined itself as catholic and the East as Orthodox it's not too out of there. The word catholic comes from the Latin and Greek meaning whole or universal. Catholic is a word like polish/Polish where the meaning changes drastically when it is capitalized. "Catholic" (upper case) refers to the Roman Catholic church. Lowercase catholic simply refers to Christ's church on earth which includes Protestants and all believers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTF Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 If memory serves me right, the issue with the word catholic came from different meanings in Greek, Latin and early English. It means on the whole in one, universal in another and in general and/or all-inclusive in old english. But all of these existed way before the dictionary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 You lot don't have party bags? You guys don't send slices of birthday/wedding/christening cake home with the party guests? Nor do the birthday children open the presents at the party. What madness is this? What joyless childhood did you people lead? (Apparently it's odd that our shopping trolleys have 4 independent wheels) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thursday Next Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 (Apparently it's odd that our shopping trolleys have 4 independent wheels) American trolleys have a live axle? Now that is mental. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 No, our "shopping carts" (or "baskets" if you're crazy) have 4 wheels on independent axles, it's just the back two are locked facing forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Yeah, ours you can turn on a six pence, but the locked rear wheels on an american trolley require a bit more room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battra92 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 You lot don't have party bags? You guys don't send slices of birthday/wedding/christening cake home with the party guests? Nor do the birthday children open the presents at the party. What madness is this? What joyless childhood did you people lead? We have party favors. Wedding cake, and I can attest for this, is eaten at the wedding. In the South portions of the Groom's cake is taken home by women to place under their pillows to dream about their future groom (or to get infested with ants) (Apparently it's odd that our shopping trolleys have 4 independent wheels) Our shopping carts depends on the store. A lot have back wheels that are locked but I've seen some with four independent wheels as well. The best shopping carts are the new ones at Target: They are all plastic and supposedly hold up a lot better and are less likely to scratch and ding cars. Also, we say "Turn on a dime" or "Stop on a dime." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Ah man yeah, those carts have the smoothest ride, it's fantastic. It's like they weigh nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thursday Next Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 The problem is (as is true with independence of any form) that while the majority of the wheels get along with job of taking you where you want to go, there is always one that causes trouble and sits in the corner making loads of noise trying to drag you in a direction you don't want to go. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battra92 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 (edited) Ah man yeah, those carts have the smoothest ride, it's fantastic. It's like they weigh nothing. I find it interesting that Target has won awards in design for their new shopping carts and baskets (as in the ones you carry for 4-5 items.) Fun fact: Shopping carts were originally rejected by customers because they were either viewed as effeminate or too similar to a baby carriage and apparently this was offensive to people. The inventor of the shopping cart, Sylvan Goldman, hired male and female models to push the carts around the store as if they were shopping to encourage people to use them. He made quite a fortune off the patent royalties. Edited March 12, 2012 by Battra92 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yantelope V2 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Apparently the reason why you can't find baskets at the front of most stores these days is because research shows people buy more stuff when they have to push a cart. Additionally there's far more thought put into a store layout than you'd think. Essentials like milk are usually at the very back of the store so you have to walk past all the other non-essential items to get to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 There was a great documentary I watched years ago about how supermarkets are planned and laid out, how they track people coming in to know how many tills they'll need to open in half an hours time, why the have the fruit n veg first, how they stack the shelves to push certain items over others, etc. Amazing stuff. Manipulative as hell, but a marvel to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 I wish our grocery store would track how many people are coming in. But no, instead they have to have ONE lane open besides the "express" lane. So unless you're just buying a couple things it always takes forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faiblesse Des Sens Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Perhaps they're understaffed? Or have they always had this problem? It's not a matter of tracking people as they come in as much as it is adapting when there's people in line and calling more people up. Also, is there self-check out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 There is self-checkout, but that is a pain if you've got a lot of stuff, so it's kind of like the express lane. It's probably a staffing issue, but it's still irritating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madbassman39 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 There was a great documentary I watched years ago about how supermarkets are planned and laid out, how they track people coming in to know how many tills they'll need to open in half an hours time, why the have the fruit n veg first, how they stack the shelves to push certain items over others, etc. Amazing stuff. Manipulative as hell, but a marvel to see. I worked in a supermarket when I was younger, and there is so much logic to how everything is laid out in a store its insane. Hell, I didn't have any official numbers, but from working for over a year there, I knew when we needed to have more registers open, when we needed to refill the milk, when we needed almost everything. There is so much involved in a supermarket, and in the US employees bag your groceries for you, unlike most markets I've visited in the UK. (Although in parts of California, they no longer have plastic bags, and you pay 10 cents for a paper bag. This is a law, to help clean up the environment). When it comes to bagging there are rules, that most employees don't really care to follow. Most are common sense, don't put fragile foods in with heavy foods, and don't put cleaning supplies in with food, but some are not as common such as keeping dairy products separate from everything non dairy, because dairy absorbs the smell as flavor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faiblesse Des Sens Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 There is self-checkout, but that is a pain if you've got a lot of stuff, so it's kind of like the express lane. It's probably a staffing issue, but it's still irritating. In America at least, self check out lanes are intended to be the express lanes and are not for people with a lot of items. In many stores with limited space, I've definitely seen them flat out replace the express lanes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yantelope V2 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 I know in Austin they just outlawed plastic and paper bags and you have to bring reusable bags from home. That's a tad on the crazy side. Also, Walmart pretty much killed the people carrying your groceries to your car for you. They might still do it at some grocery stores if you ask but I have not had my groceries carried to my car in quite some time. It's strange too because as a kid I remember them doing it for you all the time. Do they have motorized carts for fat disabled people in the UK? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Yes we have motorized carts. We rarely, if ever, have folks bagging our stuff. Bags are plastic, some small fruit vendors might do paper bags but it's not too common. We do have "Bags for Life" (as in pay liek £1 for a bag, and as it get's fucked up with age take it back an and they'll replace it for free). For places like Tesco with loyalty points they also offer "Green points" for when you have your own bags. Never had people take the shopping to the car, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battra92 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 I know in Austin they just outlawed plastic and paper bags and you have to bring reusable bags from home. That's a tad on the crazy side. Price Chopper (a NY and New England chain) gives you 3 cents off your order for every bag you bring back. I'm sure the retailers would prefer not to give you bags. The idea of government outlawing them is just plain stupid, though. By the way, one of the reusable bags we use every week here in NY is from Marks & Spencer. It's one of those cool reminders of the honeymoon every week we use it. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Yeah, outlawing them is retarded, and I'm someone who generally supports being "green." @FDS: Yeah, they've got the self-checkout, the "express lane" which is always open because it's also the cigarette lane, and then like 6 regular lanes but only one of those is ever open at a time. So the one regular lane always has a long line because most people buy more than 10 things when they go to the grocery store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterDex Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 We have a plastic bag tax here in Ireland so for every plastic bag you get, it costs ya something like 15c....probably higher now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFlyingGerbil Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 we have that tax in Wales - where I work I would say it has cut bag usage by about 90%. I think it's a great idea, it's only 5p if you do need one, so not prohibitive, but it's just that it makes people think if they actually need one, and usually they don't. It used to really annoy me when people would come in with 3 bags from different shops, all with only one item in each and they'd still take another bag from us. Now all 4 of those items will be in one bag, and that was probably brought from home, so you have saved 3 or 4 bags just for that one shopper. As for supermarkets, usually if you're loading the conveyor belt at one end and you're on your own the cashier will offer to bag the items as they're scanning them. The only time there is a bagger is when the local scout group, army cadets etc. has a child at each till and it is to get a donation. It's a complete nightmare because they do not know how to pack properly and even if you give a donation you still feel bad telling them to stay the hell away from your stuff. As for having stuff carried out for you... why?! We just put the bags back in the trolley and push that to the cars, if you can push the food around the shop why can't you make it the extra 30m to the car?. Does they guy carrying it out for you expect a tip? It just seems like the most unnecessary job in history. Maybe it's some sort of weird hangover from when shops used to pick the goods from the shelves for you? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuchikoma Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 In Western Canada, it's been ages since I've seen paper bags in a grocery store, like 20 years or more. Liquor stores still have them though, probably because they're opaque. Nice and discreet... if it's paper, it's liquor! Some places charge 5-10c for a plastic bag. Most bags are recyclable, though I don't know where. Where I live, bags are usually "#4" plastic and we can only recycle "#2", though the odd place has a bin to accept used ones, presumably to be recycled. We also do the reusable bag thing, but it's sort of rare to see people actually using them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madbassman39 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 When I was at the supermarket (I'm almost 25 now, I was 17 when I started.... so math tells me that was 8 years ago) We would take groceries to the customers cars, but only if they asked. Usually I would offer, and the elderly would be the only ones who would want it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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