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Where we live, they don't really ask. But you can ask for help if needed and they'll provide it.
At least here there are baggers! When we were in NJ, ShopRite and Pathmark didn't have baggers, so you had to bag your own groceries or wait for the cashier to do it. Most people bagged themselves.
If you ever happen to go grocery shopping pretty much everywhere in Europe, (1) bring your own bags, and (2) expect to do your own bagging. That's just the way it works there.
I'm not at all insulted. However, sometimes when I wouldn't mind the help, I'm being asked by a very feeble looking older person, and I don't have the heart to say yes.
We only do major grocery shopping (at Albertsons) once every month to 6 weeks, so when we do it's major shopping -- often two carts FULL. They always ask, but I usually decline or say, "no, but if you'll come home with us and carry them in...." (No grocery carts at home!) Even when I stop by the store to pick up a few things between the major shopping -- when I only have a couple bags -- they'll ask.
On the rare occasions when we let someone help us out with our groceries, I tip a buck or two. They'll usually try to decline tips, but I just stuff a bill into their shirt pocket and tell them to pass it along to someone else if they don't want it. When I was a kid I worked in a grocery store and really appreciated the nickel tips -- or sometimes even a dime! Tips were rare then; I might have gotten 20 cents in tips on a good day, and I still remember the regular tippers. One was a doctor's wife, and she always tipped a dime. Of course, a dollar now is about what a dime was at that time.
My late wife moved to Wyoming from NJ and loved that all of our grocery stores had "carry-out boys" to assist her, and she was in prime health, worked out daily and was in her 40s. Where she'd lived in NJ (Westwood), they never offered to take her groceries out. Here (and at the store in Iowa where I worked as a kid) it's just a given that your groceries will be carried out unless you decline the service. Age has little to do with it, other than older folks are more apt to accept the help than are strapping 25-year-olds.
If you ever happen to go grocery shopping pretty much everywhere in Europe, (1) bring your own bags, and (2) expect to do your own bagging. That's just the way it works there.
I read, on another forum somewhere, that cashiers in Europe also get to sit on stools to do their jobs. I can't imagine. lol I don't think I could work that way but maybe, if customers do half the work, and that'll be the day. I used to get a tad 'insulted' when a customer would insist on bagging their own 'stuff'. Mostly because it was like they didn't trust ME to do a decent job. I got over that and after a couple of years decided I LOVE the help. It's sooooo much faster for one thing. I scan and bag over 800 items an hour and just think how fast I'd be without having to bag too? lol Actually, bagging is about my favorite part of my job. It appeals to my sense of order and organization. I bag for my customers like I bag my own stuff. Or I try to anyway. They don't always help by how they put stuff on the belt. I could give them lessons.
Today the bagger asked me if I needed help out to the parking lot. It wasn't the first time I've been asked. I find it mildly insulting because it implies I look helpless or disabled. I am convinced that I do not look helpless or disabled, and I certainly hope I am not deluding myself.
I asked her in a friendly tone if she asks everybody that and she waffled with the answer, saying only that she once got in trouble for failing to ask.
I would say I get asked that maybe one out of ten times I buy groceries at Ralph's, which is one of the large chains in Southern California. Sometimes I defuse the situation by saying with a little laugh, "No thanks - I'm old but not that old". I know there is no point in letting my irritation show to the cashier or bagger, as they are not really doing anything wrong and there is more than enough negativity in the world anyway.
Small potatoes, I know, and perhaps not worth making a thread about, but I am just curious whether other posters here have had the same experience and whether, like me, you find it insulting and irritating.
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Seriously? You got "mildly insulted" over that?
You need to start a GoFundMe account and take donations for some thick layered winter coats. With skin that thin you are surely going to die of hypothermia.
One of the grocery stores where I shop has a large sign in front of the registers that says help to one's car is always available upon request. People in some areas might not like having to ask, but in my area it seems to strike the right balance.
We only do major grocery shopping (at Albertsons) once every month to 6 weeks, so when we do it's major shopping -- often two carts FULL. They always ask, but I usually declineor say, "no, but if you'll come home with us and carry them in...." (No grocery carts at home!) Even when I stop by the store to pick up a few things between the major shopping -- when I only have a couple bags -- they'll ask.
On the rare occasions when we let someone help us out with our groceries, I tip a buck or two. They'll usually try to decline tips, but I just stuff a bill into their shirt pocket and tell them to pass it along to someone else if they don't want it. When I was a kid I worked in a grocery store and really appreciated the nickel tips -- or sometimes even a dime! Tips were rare then; I might have gotten 20 cents in tips on a good day, and I still remember the regular tippers. One was a doctor's wife, and she always tipped a dime. Of course, a dollar now is about what a dime was at that time.
My late wife moved to Wyoming from NJ and loved that all of our grocery stores had "carry-out boys" to assist her, and she was in prime health, worked out daily and was in her 40s. Where she'd lived in NJ (Westwood), they never offered to take her groceries out. Here (and at the store in Iowa where I worked as a kid) it's just a given that your groceries will be carried out unless you decline the service. Age has little to do with it, other than older folks are more apt to accept the help than are strapping 25-year-olds.
I hear that all the time. lol Sometimes I'll ask if they have help at home and sometimes they do and a lot are like me and live alone. The best 'investment' I ever made was to buy one of those carts on wheels. I LOVE that thing and don't have to carry multiple bags or make multiple trips to the car. It comes in handy for lots of things. I bring everything IN in it and then haul the trash that accumulates OUT in it as well. It goes up and down the steps easily too but I sometimes do overload the poor thing. I only shop every few weeks so it's usually a biggie.
If people insist on tipping the money is dropped into a jar for the children's hospital so it will go to a good cause.
I've used one of those two-wheel shopping carts forever. I don't drive so my trips to the grocery store always involve me carrying my groceries home. They are a lifesaver.
When I was growing up 30-40 years ago in Boston most grocery stores had the bagger carry out the groceries to your car as part of their job. They did it for every customer. When I was working as a bagger in high school in the mid 90's we were required to ask every customer if they needed help out to their car
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Tips were rare then; I might have gotten 20 cents in tips on a good day, and I still remember the regular tippers. One was a doctor's wife, and she always tipped a dime. Of course, a dollar now is about what a dime was at that time.
