Thursday Next Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 I never get the till assistant to bag my stuff. It's much quicker if they scan things through and I shove them in the bag, that counts double when I'm not shopping on my own. I have in the past responded to "Would you like help packing your bags?" with "No thanks, would you like a hand waving stuff over the scanner?" it didn't go over well. As for how they're laid out, I get why all the useful stuff is at the back and all, but man does it annoy me when they move stuff around. I get why, they don't want you moving in your set pattern buying your set things, they want to trick you into going down strange aisles that you would never normally visit, still irks me though. Also. I never know where eggs are. I always head towards bread and milk but then I think to myself, that they should perhaps be somewhere more meaty. It's like playing King of the Hill with a moving hill some times. I'm sure the eggs relocate every 30 seconds. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Hot Heart Posted March 13, 2012 Popular Post Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 It's like an easter egg hunt all year round! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 At our grocery store they have dedicated baggers. Or bagger, since they only ever have one damn lane open! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madbassman39 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 As an employee, we hated the way the grocery store moved around, but most employees just hated the company we worked for. We were unionized, but a few years before I started working all the Southern California supermarket employees went on strike because the big chains wanted to cut benefits. The result was keep benefits for existing employees, and take everything from the new employees. My opinion of unions changed when I joined one. Because I wasn't someone they fought to protect back then, so they didn't care about me. The only thing the union I worked in cared about was sticking it to the man, and I wasn't a person to protect, but a tool of leverage against the company. The union representative never showed up to work on time, bitched about the job constantly, and threatened to go to the union when the store manager looked at him wrong. The union that was supposed to be protecting us was corrupt, so I saw unions in a negative light there after. I know that's not the case with most unions, as the whole point is to make sure you have benefits, you cannot be fired without a proper cause, and to overall protect the small guy from the big company. The interests are different on both ends, the employee wants to be properly compensated for his/her work with job security, and the company is trying to maximize profits and minimize costs. The real kicker is stores like Trader Joes, where they have higher quality food, better prices, they give better benefits to the employees, and higher wages. This of course is just in the grocery industry and not always the case, but like I said, unions were painted in a negative light, I'm not against unions, I just don't like them from my experiences. I think the Union discussion is for another thread, I just got carried away. I have family in the UK, so I have been there, I also lived in London for a while (study abroad) so I feel like I have enough experience to say that the US stores are more geared to make the customer feel like each customer is important (one person really isn't but its nice to feel that way) where as in the UK they are more geared to efficiency, get someone in and out. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yantelope V2 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Well, when I don't want to spend a lot of money on a movie or other entertainment and the family is bored a lot of times we just go walk around target and browse. I do like that about the mega stores. It's good exercise for the child too when the weather outside is bad. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thursday Next Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Maybe it's indoctrination or whatever, but I really like that about UK stores. Nine times out of ten I just want to be left alone to shop. Having someone cluck around me like an old mother hen seeing if I "need help with anything" is a bit irritating. I like grocery shopping oddly enough. It's a bit like cleaning, you can leave the higher brain to get on with whatever it wants to do while your lizard brain picks up the slack. When someone talks to me it snaps me out of that... trance which is a bit jarring. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted March 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 I don't have it as an alternative to going to the cinema or what not, but I will sometimes take the wee ones into HMV to play on their tablets while my mum is in more boring shops. Also I'm with Thursday, when I'm shopping I tend to know what I want, which is why I tend to make a beeline right for specific segments. Not really keen on folks "can I help you with anything". I know where you are, when I came into the store and saw what I wanted I also passed my gaze by you stood by the stand in the middle. Had I wanted your help with anything instead of specifically wanting a PS3 controller/android phone/mens t-shirts/whatever, then I'd have gone to you instead of the shelves with PS3/android/tshirts on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Heart Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Having someone cluck around me like an old mother hen seeing if I "need help with anything" is a bit irritating. Funnily enough, I was going to incorporate this into my department store sitcom. See, where I worked, their policy was that you had to approach every customer immediately; whereas I always felt you can get an idea of who just wants to have a general browse and who might need help. Eventually, I think they cottoned onto this sort of thing, and adjusted the mystery shopper criteria as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madbassman39 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Maybe it's indoctrination or whatever, but I really like that about UK stores. Nine times out of ten I just want to be left alone to shop. Having someone cluck around me like an old mother hen seeing if I "need help with anything" is a bit irritating. I like grocery shopping oddly enough. It's a bit like cleaning, you can leave the higher brain to get on with whatever it wants to do while your lizard brain picks up the slack. When someone talks to me it snaps me out of that... trance which is a bit jarring. Honestly I like the UK way better as well. It takes some time to get used to, but once you do its very nice. I find it to be a rather funny cultural difference though, because its such a small difference that has a major effect on people visiting foreign countries. @HH, we too had to approach the customers, and I don't think customers want it as much as the companies think they do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thursday Next Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 (edited) I remember walking through the doors of M&S and feeling like the energy was literally being drained from my body. It'd make a good Doctor Who episode. All the men folk in that shop look like husks of themselves until they escape its life absorbing field. A stroll round HMV is usually the perfect tonic. Edited March 13, 2012 by Thursday Next Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 In my experience grocery stores and the big warehouse stores don't tend to have people approach you for help in the US, but smaller stores and specialty stores do. When I was in college my friends and I would play a game at the mall where the goal was to go to a store like American Eagle (clothing stores seem to be the worst) and walk all the way to the back, touch the back wall, then walk back out the front of the store without any of the workers talking to you. We hardly ever won. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yantelope V2 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Part of the reason why every person has to be greeted at a lot of retail stores is because research shows people are less likely to shoplift if they've been directly greeted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRevanchist Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 That annoys me at restaurants. I just want to walk in, eat, have a pleasant conversation with whomever I am with, then leave. I don't need to have a damn conversation with you. When I am really annoyed, I just give the people dirty looks when they talk to me. I guess I can be a real a-hole to people who are just doing their jobs. But, their main job is to make me happy and want to come back and eat. Talking to me is annoying. Besides the food being mediocre, that is what really keeps me from having lunch at the chain restaurants. I'm old and crotchety. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCP Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 OK! Over 56 pages, this might have been covered, but I noticed this in my recent viewings of Doctor Who, why do British people call women of authority "mom"? Also, not really on topic, but I've noticed in a few episodes of Who and again in Sherlock (so good!), that London has a giant wheel in the middle of it, is that a ferris wheel or some sort of special British thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Heart Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 I can only guess that is actually them saying 'ma'am' as an abbreviation of 'madam'. The giant ferris wheel is the London Eye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 I can understand how an American or Canadian would hear the British pronunciation of "ma'am" as "mom", but I feel like I've seen on tv/in movies British people refer to older women as "mum", which I don't think is likely to be a mishearing of "ma'am". Do they really do that or am I crazy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted March 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 Are we sure when using mum it's not actually the characters mum? Oh n "ma'am" kinda sounds like you're saying "baa" but with m's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 Like I said, I just have a feeling I've heard it, so I could be making up memories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Heart Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 Americans saying 'mom' can sound like 'mawm/mahm/marm' and British people saying 'ma'am' can sound like 'marm' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuchikoma Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 I could have sworn a lot of guys on TV used "mum" too. I've heard it so much (I thought?!) that it's not even something I think of anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Heart Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 Sounds like all Americans are crazy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battra92 Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 Americans saying 'mom' can sound like 'mawm/mahm/marm' and British people saying 'ma'am' can sound like 'marm' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNkp4QF3we8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted March 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2012 Was asked " Should I check off "Featured Post"?" "Check off" = "Tick" over here. e.g - ✓, ✔, ☑ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted March 26, 2012 Report Share Posted March 26, 2012 You can also just say "check". And we call that symbol a "check mark". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Heart Posted March 26, 2012 Report Share Posted March 26, 2012 Someone call? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.