Annabel Smyth:
This is because we - I, at any rate - are far too busy packing up our
shopping while it is being passed to us, rather than requiring the shop
assistant to put it down in an increasingly unwieldy pile ...

Nick Cooper writes:
On that subject, does anyone else hate those supermarkets who insist
on their staff "packing" even just your first bag of shopping?

To a North American reader, this subthread is fascinatingly alien.
For us, the norm in most types of store is that the checkout clerk,
having scanned or otherwise processed an item, next puts it into the
bag. That's what they're there for, that and taking your payment.

(At one time supermarkets would have a separate "bagger" at each
checkout, but the costs of providing that service did it in. Today
in the supermarket I use, half the lanes are set up for the customer
to bag the stuff -- I hate this, as it takes much longer, and always
avoid those if I'm buying more than about three items.)

Ob: Which London Underground or DLR station name has the most letters
in common with "checkout clerk"?
--
Mark Brader "It is considered a sign of great {winnitude}
Toronto when your Obs are more interesting than other
people's whole postings." --Eric Raymond

My text in this article is in the public domain.