The grocery store disgusts me sometimes...

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous' started by voyagergrl3193, Jan 23, 2012.

  1. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    I thought that bit was self evident. One occasion I went into a store (it must have been one of the first day they had them) Operator comes to see if I need a hand, then goes away when she realises I know what I'm doing.
     
  2. spockrocks

    spockrocks Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    I worked pt and ft in grocery store, I know exactly what you mean. People are freakin idiots. Our store is now just days away from closing for good. Stuff went on half off on Wed. People were fighting over carts and butting in line. Some were even offering to pay others for their carts.
     
  3. iguana_tonante

    iguana_tonante Admiral Admiral

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    Well, this is why you sleep with your clothes on. I mean, duh. ;)
     
  4. Goliath

    Goliath Vice Admiral Admiral

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    It's not that common here, but it does happen. In fact, it became an issue at my residence, when I was taking my Master's degree: the management at the cafeteria complained that residents coming down to eat breakfast in their pajamas were discouraging cash customers.

    I've never seen anyone go to the grocery store in their pajamas--that would be really odd. I did go to the emergency room one time, a couple of years ago, dressed only in pajamas and robe--I was so sick I didn't even have the energy to get dressed, aside from throwing on my leather coat. That was an attractive and well-coordinated ensemble, I'm sure.

    I don't really have any complaints about grocery stores, myself. I don't pay much attention to the other customers, and always check out with a cashier. Plus, I've gotten pretty good at judging which lines will move quickly. The advice that Apu gave Marge in that episode of the Simpsons ("All pathetic single men: strictly cash, no chitchat.") was actually pretty good.
     
  5. iguana_tonante

    iguana_tonante Admiral Admiral

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    It seems like the pyjamas dressing custom is somewhat a product of the campus culture, something that is utterly lacking in Italy. Here our universities are integrated in the city, not apart from it. From the outside, you wouldn't know if a building is a university department, a high-end condo, or a corporate office.
     
  6. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    ^^What's cash? ;)
     
  7. Finn

    Finn Bad Batch of TrekBBS Admiral

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    Makes sense, though there are universities like that here in the US like George Washington University here in DC.
     
  8. Goliath

    Goliath Vice Admiral Admiral

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    It's what people used to use to pay for things, until banks persuaded them that it was much better to use debit cards.

    Because, apparently, it's better to pay for the privilege of paying for things, and to do it in a more time-consuming manner.
     
  9. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    ^Pay? Very few places charge you a surchage to use your card. The great advantage to cards over cash is if i lose my wallet or it's stolen. I'm not out of pcoket.
     
  10. Gothowitz

    Gothowitz Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Oh, I haven't even mentioned checkout cashiers who seemingly cannot multitask with the checkout process and their unbearable need to have 20 year reunion conversations with each customer while their queue grows exponentially in relation to their obliviousness and ineptitude.
     
  11. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    They're not allowed to do that, AFAIK. It's a violation of their agreement with the banks.

    They can put on a discount for using cash, but not an extra charge for using the card. Minimum purchase amounts are also not allowed.
     
  12. Goliath

    Goliath Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I was under the impression that banks charge fees for debit transactions. They certainly charge fees for everything else.

    As for losing your wallet--I don't keep cash in my wallet. I carry it in a money clip.

    If I lost my money clip, I would be out a few bucks. If I lost my wallet, by contrast, it would be a disaster. Other people have described to me the hassles involved in replacing all your debit, credit, and identity cards.

    In fact--I actually thought I had lost my wallet, not too long ago, and was steeling myself for the above-mentioned ordeal. But since I had a bit of cash, there was no immediate crisis: I was able to carry on without replacing anything, until my wallet turned up.

    I do use debit cards. But I try not to use them too much. In addition to slowing down lines, they just make it too easy to spend money--which is the whole point, it seems to me. The benefits to card-holders are incidental.
     
  13. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    In the UK I believe card payments are overtaking cash as the prefered payment method. In 2010 they did for the first time (only by around £3bn though).
     
  14. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    Some banks do charge fees for debit card use, although certainly not all.

    I'm with a credit union. They don't charge me anything to use my card unless I use non-network ATMs. Then, I get a $1 fee on top of whatever the ATM itself charges.

    Gas stations here in New Jersey are apparently allowed to charge 10-15 cents more per gallon if you use credit/debit instead of cash, though. Not sure how they get away with that since other types of businesses aren't allowed to.

    I guess I don't understand how using a card slows down a line. You swipe it, punch your PIN, done. It takes me less time to do that than it would for me to dig into my wallet, pull out an appropriate amount of cash, hand it over, and wait for my change.

    I've had to replace debit/credit cards before. It wasn't a big deal. Just called the credit union/card company and told them what's up, they send out a new card, and it's done. Not liable for any charges made if my card is stolen, either.
     
  15. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    Contactless tech is the next thing in cards. Where you don't even have to enter a pin. Though it'll be limited to transactions upto a certain amount and x uses per day.
     
  16. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    Yeah, I don't know if I would like that. I like having to do something deliberate in order to make my payment. I don't even have my bills automatically deducted from my account. I pay them online, but it's always me initiating the payment directly.
     
  17. Goliath

    Goliath Vice Admiral Admiral

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    In my experience, the sequence of events goes more like this:

    1. Swipe or insert card. Wait.

    2. OK purchase. Wait.

    3. Select account. Wait.

    4. Input PIN. Wait.

    5. Wait some more.

    6. Transaction approved. Return card reader to cashier.

    It's precisely for this reason that they're trying to develop PIN-less systems of paying, where you just swipe or tap your card and go. But there is no way in hell I am signing up for that, and allowing anyone with my card to remove money from my bank account without my PIN. I don't care what limit they place on these transactions.

    My experience is the opposite, partly because I don't have to fool around with my wallet. If need be, I can just stuff the cash in my pocket until I have time to sort it out and clip it.
     
  18. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    Ah, I see. You are using somewhat more complex systems than I normally encounter. A lot of places, you can swipe your card while they're still ringing up your purchases, then it finishes processing once everything's totaled--so no time at all is wasted.

    And although it's governed by particular rules, there are places and occasions where you do nothing more than swipe the card and everything else goes through automatically. No pushing buttons or approving amounts or scrawling a signature.
     
  19. Goliath

    Goliath Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Really? This must be a difference between Canada and the United States, because I have never seen anything like what you describe here.

    Yeah, like I said--that's not for me.
     
  20. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    It's a relatively recent thing, I think. I've only started to see it in the past year or two.