"Nick Cooper" wrote in
message ...
On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 21:02:48 +0100, Annabel Smyth
wrote:

On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 at 10:49:40, Martin Underwood
wrote:

On that subject, does anyone else hate those supermarkets who insist
on their staff "packing" even just your first bag of shopping?
Usually translates as the first random objects that come off the belt
being shoved haphazardly into a carrier bag, clearly with no thought
that someone is - in all probability - going to have to carry it some
considerable distance, often on public transport....

My experience with Sainsbury's (and they are the main one who have this
policy) is that the staff do the opposite: they take excessive trouble to
choose items that will "go" together in the bag, often pondering for ages
which to take off the belt and how to arrange them, Tetris-like in the bag.
I usually offer in advance to pack all my things because (though I don't
tell them this!) I can do so faster than they can. OK, so I pack less
scientifically than they do, though I still take a few simple precautions
like not putting bottles of toilet cleaner in with the food, and putting all
the frozen food together. Some people take segregation to excess: my
girlfriend used to blow her top with me if I chanced to put cooked and raw
meat in the same bag, even though the packets were hermetically sealed.