Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)

[Loren Ver]

DISASTER is struck the Ver household!

Squirrel(s) have decided to eat my clothes lines.  They cut each of the lines down and then took each line and gnawed them as far up from the ground as they could reach while they dangled there.  Then today it looks like they have tried to pulled them through the fence.  They got caught on the clothes pins.   It has been raining here for days so I haven't been using them or mitigating the damage, just looking out each day to see what the damage has been. 

Seeing a bunching up of clothes pins about five feet up a fence was pretty amusing. 

With only necessary shopping going on, I don't see us replacing these any time soon.  *sad trombone*

[Sibley]

DISASTER is struck the Ver household!

Squirrel(s) have decided to eat my clothes lines.  They cut each of the lines down and then took each line and gnawed them as far up from the ground as they could reach while they dangled there.  Then today it looks like they have tried to pulled them through the fence.  They got caught on the clothes pins.   It has been raining here for days so I haven't been using them or mitigating the damage, just looking out each day to see what the damage has been. 

Seeing a bunching up of clothes pins about five feet up a fence was pretty amusing. 

With only necessary shopping going on, I don't see us replacing these any time soon.  *sad trombone*

Add it to your list. Just because you have a list of "essentials" and an accompanying list of "needed/wanted but not essential" doesn't mean you can't use a shopping trip to knock things off both lists. And hope you got some pictures of that, it sounds hilarious.

[ysette9]

Bastard squirrels! What do those buggers want with your clothes line?

[markbike528CBX]

DISASTER is struck the Ver household!

Squirrel(s) have decided to eat my clothes lines.  They cut each of the lines down and then took each line and gnawed them as far up from the ground as they could reach while they dangled there.  Then today it looks like they have tried to pulled them through the fence.  They got caught on the clothes pins.   It has been raining here for days so I haven't been using them or mitigating the damage, just looking out each day to see what the damage has been. 

Seeing a bunching up of clothes pins about five feet up a fence was pretty amusing. 

With only necessary shopping going on, I don't see us replacing these any time soon.  *sad trombone*

Bastard squirrels! What do those buggers want with your clothes line?

Squirrels are tasty.  Just saying :-)

[PhilB]

DISASTER is struck the Ver household!

Squirrel(s) have decided to eat my clothes lines.  They cut each of the lines down and then took each line and gnawed them as far up from the ground as they could reach while they dangled there.  Then today it looks like they have tried to pulled them through the fence.  They got caught on the clothes pins.   It has been raining here for days so I haven't been using them or mitigating the damage, just looking out each day to see what the damage has been. 

Seeing a bunching up of clothes pins about five feet up a fence was pretty amusing. 

With only necessary shopping going on, I don't see us replacing these any time soon.  *sad trombone*

Bastard squirrels! What do those buggers want with your clothes line?

Squirrels are tasty.  Just saying :-)

Warning: May contain nuts.

[markbike528CBX]

DISASTER is struck the Ver household!

Squirrel(s) have decided to eat my clothes lines.  They cut each of the lines down and then took each line and gnawed them as far up from the ground as they could reach while they dangled there.  Then today it looks like they have tried to pulled them through the fence.  They got caught on the clothes pins.   It has been raining here for days so I haven't been using them or mitigating the damage, just looking out each day to see what the damage has been. 

Seeing a bunching up of clothes pins about five feet up a fence was pretty amusing. 

With only necessary shopping going on, I don't see us replacing these any time soon.  *sad trombone*

Bastard squirrels! What do those buggers want with your clothes line?

Squirrels are tasty.  Just saying :-)

Warning: May contain nuts.

Warning: Processed in a facility that also processes tree nuts.

[Loren Ver]

I am pretty sure they are eating them.  The jerks.

You can see where they tried to drag them off. :(.

My poor helpless lines!

[ysette9]

That is tragic

[SwordGuy]

Here's my MPP:

For years I've been sharing info on personal finance and FIRE with, well, pretty much everyone.

A few have paid attention but most who actually could have easily worked towards a solid emergency fund or FI have not done so.

How does one say this without getting people to reach for their torches and pitchforks?

"If you had the ability to do this and had listened and taken action when you first learned about becoming FI, you wouldn't be in the financial mess you're in now.    But here's what you need to know once you get past this mess so you don't have this problem again."

Or is it just too soon?

[mspym]

@SwordGuy any solution that starts off with "admit you are wrong and I am right" is not going to get much traction, so I'd keep it on the inside. You can think it but never say it.

[shelivesthedream]

Here's my MPP:

For years I've been sharing info on personal finance and FIRE with, well, pretty much everyone.

A few have paid attention but most who actually could have easily worked towards a solid emergency fund or FI have not done so.

How does one say this without getting people to reach for their torches and pitchforks?

"If you had the ability to do this and had listened and taken action when you first learned about becoming FI, you wouldn't be in the financial mess you're in now.    But here's what you need to know once you get past this mess so you don't have this problem again."

Or is it just too soon?

What's your goal here? To say "I told you so" or to help them change their habits for the future?

If the former, good luck. If the latter, you shouldn't say a single word about the past - or much about the present. Try: "I'm so sorry for the situation you've ended up in. It sounds really hard to deal with. But I believe in you - I'm sure you'll be able to pick yourself up again and get back on your feet. I've got some great resources that helped me get into a more stable financial situation - I'd love to share them with you, if you think they'd be helpful, and maybe even talk them over with you."

[SwordGuy]

Here's my MPP:

For years I've been sharing info on personal finance and FIRE with, well, pretty much everyone.

A few have paid attention but most who actually could have easily worked towards a solid emergency fund or FI have not done so.

How does one say this without getting people to reach for their torches and pitchforks?

"If you had the ability to do this and had listened and taken action when you first learned about becoming FI, you wouldn't be in the financial mess you're in now.    But here's what you need to know once you get past this mess so you don't have this problem again."

Or is it just too soon?

What's your goal here? To say "I told you so" or to help them change their habits for the future?

If the former, good luck. If the latter, you shouldn't say a single word about the past - or much about the present. Try: "I'm so sorry for the situation you've ended up in. It sounds really hard to deal with. But I believe in you - I'm sure you'll be able to pick yourself up again and get back on your feet. I've got some great resources that helped me get into a more stable financial situation - I'd love to share them with you, if you think they'd be helpful, and maybe even talk them over with you."

Motivate them, of course.    If I just wanted to say I told you so, I would do so with great sarcasm and aplomb.  :)

[SwordGuy]

@SwordGuy any solution that starts off with "admit you are wrong and I am right" is not going to get much traction, so I'd keep it on the inside. You can think it but never say it.

Agreed, that's why I'm not saying that!

It's still the clue they need to 'discover' for themselves, with a little help from a friend...

[mspym]

@SwordGuy any solution that starts off with "admit you are wrong and I am right" is not going to get much traction, so I'd keep it on the inside. You can think it but never say it.

Agreed, that's why I'm not saying that!

It's still the clue they need to 'discover' for themselves, with a little help from a friend...

Generally people like an idea that they come up with themselves rather than imposed from outside. So questioning prompts can be useful - "would an emergency fund help this situation? how do you think you could build one up?"
"that does sound tough, is there anything you could cut out to give you some extra cash?"

Lots of time people are just complaining and don't actually want you to solve their problem.

[dragoncar]

@SwordGuy any solution that starts off with "admit you are wrong and I am right" is not going to get much traction, so I'd keep it on the inside. You can think it but never say it.

Just quarantine your feelings

[SwordGuy]

@SwordGuy any solution that starts off with "admit you are wrong and I am right" is not going to get much traction, so I'd keep it on the inside. You can think it but never say it.

Just quarantine your feelings

Probably for the best! :)

[Just Joe]

DW and my MPP is listening to all the people complain about being bored, stuck at home and lonely.

DW and I are somewhat introverted so we're loving this. Time with the kids, time to do things around the house, time to watch TV or read a book, time to do hobbies. I mowed our big yard today and was all smiles.

I guess lots of people don't cultivate hobbies these days? Take a walk, ride a bike, sketch a picture, fix something...

Worried that politics/people will be in such a rush that they'll press us back to work and we'll risk getting sick unnecessarily and we'll (my family anyhow) will miss out on this beautiful spring weather.

Spring is one of my busy periods and work always seems to soak up too many nice afternoons and weekends if I let it.

Am amazed at how delicate our American flavor of capitalism is. Gotta work-work-work.

I think DW and I are safe salary wise for a couple of months and we have money put back to absorb any disruptions. Still I'd love to have enough money to just pay off our house right now and not worry about that expense. Aside from life's little expenses like groceries and utilities - our mortgage is our one debt and worry.

[PhilB]

@SwordGuy any solution that starts off with "admit you are wrong and I am right" is not going to get much traction, so I'd keep it on the inside. You can think it but never say it.

Just quarantine your feelings

Probably for the best! :)

If you don't, it will probably result in some social distancing.

[erutio]

Squirrels are tasty.  Just saying :-)

@markbike528CBX, so what's your preferred method to prepare squirrel?

Asking for a friend.

And, uh...because it seems topical in our current end of times.

[Goldielocks]

My MPP are multiple as I review my March spending

1)  I spent a lot more on groceries to resupply my long-term pantry.
2)  I did not wait for the best price of the year to resupply.
3) I am going out to only 1 store / week now, and often buy things at full price to limit contact.  sometimes that store is the local one instead of the cheaper huge one, because of fewer people there.  AND I have to buy plastic bags now. (grr.)
4)  I am using far more household cleaner as I wipe down all the surfaces, and I started deep spring cleaning early.   I am also buying special products (anti microbial disposable wipes, house cleaner) when before I would have just used my one concentrated bulk item that is much cheaper.
5) I am using more handsoap, hand lotion.
6)  I am not riding my bike right now because it needs to go into the repair shop and the shop is closed. 
7)  Everyone else is getting to save money by staying home, not eating out, etc., but I don't have that savings because I already did not do those things (much).

[sui generis]

My MPP are multiple as I review my March spending

1)  I spent a lot more on groceries to resupply my long-term pantry.
2)  I did not wait for the best price of the year to resupply.
3) I am going out to only 1 store / week now, and often buy things at full price to limit contact.  sometimes that store is the local one instead of the cheaper huge one, because of fewer people there.  AND I have to buy plastic bags now. (grr.)
4)  I am using far more household cleaner as I wipe down all the surfaces, and I started deep spring cleaning early.   I am also buying special products (anti microbial disposable wipes, house cleaner) when before I would have just used my one concentrated bulk item that is much cheaper.
5) I am using more handsoap, hand lotion.
6)  I am not riding my bike right now because it needs to go into the repair shop and the shop is closed. 
7)  Everyone else is getting to save money by staying home, not eating out, etc., but I don't have that savings because I already did not do those things (much).

That's too bad on #6.  Auto repair shops are still open where I am (I mean, maybe not all of them, but they were considered essential) and it seems like bike repair is essential work too!  I mean, unless they wanted to/had to close for other reasons, of course that's up to them, just hope they weren't forced.

#7 = same same.  Bummer.

[Zikoris]

Out of curiosity, why do you need to use plastic bags? I've brought Strolla (my neon pink dog stroller) grocery shopping for the last few weeks since the volume has been beyond backpack-space, just loaded everything right in from the checkout and nobody seemed to care. This has been at a few different stores. Other times I've brought my backpack, and again, no issues.

[Dollar Slice]

Out of curiosity, why do you need to use plastic bags?

Here in NYC - we have a plastic bag ban, but they sort of officially-unofficially called it off during the pandemic, because people bringing potentially dirty bags from home and putting them where other people's food will be 2 minutes later, and expecting grocery store workers to handle them... I don't know if you could really transmit disease that way, but people don't like the possibility of cross-contamination. The grocery workers at my local store are working in face shields and gloves and I don't need to make them more uncomfortable by bringing cloth bags from home. I noticed that the last time I brought my own bag, the cashier immediately started using wipes to clean the entire area after I left. Plastic is bad, but I don't want to make these critical and underpaid employees feel any worse than they already do. Hopefully it won't last for that long.

[dragoncar]

Out of curiosity, why do you need to use plastic bags?

Here in NYC - we have a plastic bag ban, but they sort of officially-unofficially called it off during the pandemic, because people bringing potentially dirty bags from home and putting them where other people's food will be 2 minutes later, and expecting grocery store workers to handle them... I don't know if you could really transmit disease that way, but people don't like the possibility of cross-contamination. The grocery workers at my local store are working in face shields and gloves and I don't need to make them more uncomfortable by bringing cloth bags from home. I noticed that the last time I brought my own bag, the cashier immediately started using wipes to clean the entire area after I left. Plastic is bad, but I don't want to make these critical and underpaid employees feel any worse than they already do. Hopefully it won't last for that long.

I don’t think they’ll care as long as you leave them in the cart and bag yourself.  Don’t plop it on the belt

[Zikoris]

Out of curiosity, why do you need to use plastic bags?

Here in NYC - we have a plastic bag ban, but they sort of officially-unofficially called it off during the pandemic, because people bringing potentially dirty bags from home and putting them where other people's food will be 2 minutes later, and expecting grocery store workers to handle them... I don't know if you could really transmit disease that way, but people don't like the possibility of cross-contamination. The grocery workers at my local store are working in face shields and gloves and I don't need to make them more uncomfortable by bringing cloth bags from home. I noticed that the last time I brought my own bag, the cashier immediately started using wipes to clean the entire area after I left. Plastic is bad, but I don't want to make these critical and underpaid employees feel any worse than they already do. Hopefully it won't last for that long.

Wow, people actually bring their own bags and just hand them to the cashier rather than doing their own bagging? That seems... really rude, even outside of a pandemic. I very rarely use fabric bags myself, just load stuff straight into my stroller or backpack. I definitely don't want anyone else to handle either of those, that would just be weird.

[Rural]

Squirrels are tasty.  Just saying :-)

@markbike528CBX, so what's your preferred method to prepare squirrel?

Asking for a friend.

And, uh...because it seems topical in our current end of times.

Not the OP, but squirrel is only edible in a stew with lots of potatoes to help soak up the grease. Greasy, nasty foul little beasts that are better than starvation.

[Paul der Krake]

Out of curiosity, why do you need to use plastic bags?

Here in NYC - we have a plastic bag ban, but they sort of officially-unofficially called it off during the pandemic, because people bringing potentially dirty bags from home and putting them where other people's food will be 2 minutes later, and expecting grocery store workers to handle them... I don't know if you could really transmit disease that way, but people don't like the possibility of cross-contamination. The grocery workers at my local store are working in face shields and gloves and I don't need to make them more uncomfortable by bringing cloth bags from home. I noticed that the last time I brought my own bag, the cashier immediately started using wipes to clean the entire area after I left. Plastic is bad, but I don't want to make these critical and underpaid employees feel any worse than they already do. Hopefully it won't last for that long.

Wow, people actually bring their own bags and just hand them to the cashier rather than doing their own bagging? That seems... really rude, even outside of a pandemic. I very rarely use fabric bags myself, just load stuff straight into my stroller or backpack. I definitely don't want anyone else to handle either of those, that would just be weird.

Sadly that's pretty much the norm at every grocery store in the US. It leaves you doing nothing for an awkward 30-60 seconds. I hate it. Not as much as I hate tipping culture, but a solid runner-up.

[Dollar Slice]

Wow, people actually bring their own bags and just hand them to the cashier rather than doing their own bagging? That seems... really rude, even outside of a pandemic. I very rarely use fabric bags myself, just load stuff straight into my stroller or backpack. I definitely don't want anyone else to handle either of those, that would just be weird.

I read through my post several times and can't find where you guys think I said I handed it to the cashier to bag my stuff, or that I put it on the belt, or anything like that. I literally just said "I brought my own bag". You don't need to try so hard to jump on people, you know? It's a stressful time for a lot of us.

I'm not sure how you bag your groceries in a reusable bag without putting the bag on the counter in the bagging area to load stuff into it. Do you hold it in mid-air with one hand and haphazardly drop groceries into it with the other while trying not to let it brush against anything in the extremely narrow space between cashier stations in a tiny urban grocery store? I literally have to take my backpack off and turn half sideways to get through one of the cashier lanes in this store. It's that crowded. So I'd be holding my backpack, and holding the reusable bag, and trying to bag groceries at the same time, while not letting my bags touch anything, in an aisle I barely fit through. Sounds reasonable.

[Zikoris]

Wow, people actually bring their own bags and just hand them to the cashier rather than doing their own bagging? That seems... really rude, even outside of a pandemic. I very rarely use fabric bags myself, just load stuff straight into my stroller or backpack. I definitely don't want anyone else to handle either of those, that would just be weird.

I read through my post several times and can't find where you guys think I said I handed it to the cashier to bag my stuff, or that I put it on the belt, or anything like that. I literally just said "I brought my own bag". You don't need to try so hard to jump on people, you know? It's a stressful time for a lot of us.

I'm not sure how you bag your groceries in a reusable bag without putting the bag on the counter in the bagging area to load stuff into it. Do you hold it in mid-air with one hand and haphazardly drop groceries into it with the other while trying not to let it brush against anything in the extremely narrow space between cashier stations in a tiny urban grocery store? I literally have to take my backpack off and turn half sideways to get through one of the cashier lanes in this store. It's that crowded. So I'd be holding my backpack, and holding the reusable bag, and trying to bag groceries at the same time, while not letting my bags touch anything, in an aisle I barely fit through. Sounds reasonable.

Well, you saying "people bringing potentially dirty bags from home and putting them where other people's food will be 2 minutes later, and expecting grocery store workers to handle them..." definitely indicates the grocery worker is doing something with the reusable bag.

I don't personally have any difficulty getting groceries into my backpack or cart without touching anything.

[Dollar Slice]

Well, you saying "people bringing potentially dirty bags from home and putting them where other people's food will be 2 minutes later, and expecting grocery store workers to handle them..." definitely indicates the grocery worker is doing something with the reusable bag.

It turns out that "people" doing something is not the same as "me" doing something. But now I realize I misread your post, and you said "people" as well. I read it as accusatory because you were quoting me talking about my experience. Sorry about that. My bad.

A lot of stores here are designed for the cashier to scan the item and put it straight in the bag, because it saves both time and space. I always bag it myself when possible, but they don't always give you a chance. So yeah, often the cashier will end up handling your reusable bag. I guess that's what management tells them to do, I don't know. They've put up signs at my local store saying that the city is not enforcing the plastic bag ban until May - it's a pretty heavy hint that they would prefer you to use the plastic bags. I just don't have the heart to do anything to make their lives even less pleasant right now.

[mspym]

I will say that all our supermarkets are set up for the cashier to bag the groceries, hence being handed the bags. There is nowhere for them to place scanned groceries in order for us to pack them. So it would be ruder for us not to give them the bags if we want them to use them.

[markbike528CBX]

Squirrels are tasty.  Just saying :-)

@markbike528CBX, so what's your preferred method to prepare squirrel?

Asking for a friend.

And, uh...because it seems topical in our current end of times.

Not the OP, but squirrel is only edible in a stew with lots of potatoes to help soak up the grease. Greasy, nasty foul little beasts that are better than starvation.

Prep: skinning,  gutting, then brining.
Your favorite turkey brining recipe would probably work. Chop to 1cm pieces.
We made a noodle dish from them. Think of it as dark meat chicken so crock pot the squirrel and spices first then add egg noodles late enough to cook them a little softer than al dente. YMMV

We had corn fed squirrels in central Pennsylvania , so not as bad as Rural implies. 

The local squirrels in E. WA at chez markbike528cbx are walnut fed from my tree.  We haven't had any yet, as gunfire in town is frowned upon, and my slingshot use is for entertainment purposes only.

[mspym]

Older Joy of Cooking have cleaning and cooking methods for squirrel, ground hog etc. Avoid glands is my big takeaway.

[TomTX]

Squirrels are tasty.  Just saying :-)

@markbike528CBX, so what's your preferred method to prepare squirrel?

Asking for a friend.

And, uh...because it seems topical in our current end of times.

Not the OP, but squirrel is only edible in a stew with lots of potatoes to help soak up the grease. Greasy, nasty foul little beasts that are better than starvation.

I've had pan-fried squirrel and it was fabulous.

[dragoncar]

Squirrels are tasty.  Just saying :-)

@markbike528CBX, so what's your preferred method to prepare squirrel?

Asking for a friend.

And, uh...because it seems topical in our current end of times.

Not the OP, but squirrel is only edible in a stew with lots of potatoes to help soak up the grease. Greasy, nasty foul little beasts that are better than starvation.

I've had pan-fried squirrel and it was fabulous.

Best on a stick

[Sugaree]

I'm not sure if this is a MPP but our government has asked anyone who can afford to pay their taxes to please do that even though they've said that business owners are allowed to pay later. So I guess I'm still paying mine next week.

Also, my grocery spending is up because I try to buy at small businesses as much as possible now instead of chain stores.

Yeah, I may or may not have spent $100 on tacos and margaritas at the new place in town because it's the closest place that has reliable vegan offerings and I want to see them stay in business.

[Sugaree]

MPP:  I went to aldi and they only let me buy two loves of bread, and that included burger buns. So I could buy sliced bread or buns or a combo but totalling only two.  I buy two of each every week so I had to put half my bread back.

Also, DH asked how much we would get from gov't.  Ha.  I laughed.  We make way too much money to get anything--which I prefer, but it was funny bc I am so frugal that I guess he thinks we're broke!  Meanwhile we fully fund all available reitirement accts.

I'm pretty sure my MIL thinks the same thing.  She's all up in our shit trying to get us to sign up for a food giveaway at my kid's school.  I'm sure that it's supposed to be for the kids who get free/reduced lunch so....no.  But she just won't. let. it. go.  But this does explain some of the weird things that BIL has said to us in the past about how we should get on food stamps.

[Gerard]

She's all up in our shit trying to get us to sign up for a food giveaway at my kid's school.  I'm sure that it's supposed to be for the kids who get free/reduced lunch so....no.  But she just won't. let. it. go.  But this does explain some of the weird things that BIL has said to us in the past about how we should get on food stamps.

In this vein, I wonder sometimes what extended family and friends say about us... a while back my sweetie's nephew asked me, "How can you afford to fly so much?" The obvious answer would have been "because I earn more than your dad, but spend much less," but that would have been bitchy.

And to be honest, the main reason I posted to this thread was to give Sugaree this link to the Sonics singing "Sugaree":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mWwj6WH6Gk

[Goldielocks]

Out of curiosity, why do you need to use plastic bags? I've brought Strolla (my neon pink dog stroller) grocery shopping for the last few weeks since the volume has been beyond backpack-space, just loaded everything right in from the checkout and nobody seemed to care. This has been at a few different stores. Other times I've brought my backpack, and again, no issues.

Well two different reasons -- Superstore told me not to use/bring them, so I complied.. although I could put items directly into my cart and bag at the car (which is a challenge because I had a dog in the car so can't keep the door open, and a fair number of little things that would fall), and I was also buying eggs and milk for seniors that live close to me, and I wanted to handle their cartons as little as possible.

[TomTX]

Older Joy of Cooking have cleaning and cooking methods for squirrel, ground hog etc. Avoid glands is my big takeaway.

I am disappointed that none of my cookbooks have squirrel in the index.

[RetiredAt63]

Older Joy of Cooking have cleaning and cooking methods for squirrel, ground hog etc. Avoid glands is my big takeaway.

I am disappointed that none of my cookbooks have squirrel in the index.

My 1972 printing of Joy of Cooking does.

[GreenSheep]

Wow, people actually bring their own bags and just hand them to the cashier rather than doing their own bagging? That seems... really rude, even outside of a pandemic. I very rarely use fabric bags myself, just load stuff straight into my stroller or backpack. I definitely don't want anyone else to handle either of those, that would just be weird.

No, we hand them to the grocery bagger. That's the person whose job it is to put the groceries into the bags while you continue to load them from your cart onto the conveyor belt and then pay the cashier for them. This is a separate person from the cashier, and it would be very awkward if you tried to do their job for them. Or you can put your bags on the conveyor belt in front of your groceries, and the cashier will pass them to the bagger before starting to scan your groceries. Baggers also sometimes help carry your bags to your car, but I see that less and less these days. Usually it's a service only used by little old ladies anymore. :-)

(Although, side note, when I lived in the U.S. Virgin Islands, it was very much expected that you would allow the nice teenage boy bagger to take your groceries to your car, and then you'd tip him. And only boys with very good grades in school were given these jobs.)

At least that's how it was before coronavirus. Now they're requesting that we not take our own bags into the stores here, too.

[Zikoris]

Wow, people actually bring their own bags and just hand them to the cashier rather than doing their own bagging? That seems... really rude, even outside of a pandemic. I very rarely use fabric bags myself, just load stuff straight into my stroller or backpack. I definitely don't want anyone else to handle either of those, that would just be weird.

No, we hand them to the grocery bagger. That's the person whose job it is to put the groceries into the bags while you continue to load them from your cart onto the conveyor belt and then pay the cashier for them. This is a separate person from the cashier, and it would be very awkward if you tried to do their job for them. Or you can put your bags on the conveyor belt in front of your groceries, and the cashier will pass them to the bagger before starting to scan your groceries. Baggers also sometimes help carry your bags to your car, but I see that less and less these days. Usually it's a service only used by little old ladies anymore. :-)

(Although, side note, when I lived in the U.S. Virgin Islands, it was very much expected that you would allow the nice teenage boy bagger to take your groceries to your car, and then you'd tip him. And only boys with very good grades in school were given these jobs.)

At least that's how it was before coronavirus. Now they're requesting that we not take our own bags into the stores here, too.

That's really interesting! The only place I go where there's a person helping the cashier is Costco, and I always have to fight them off from trying to load my stroller. I would let them if they did it correctly, but due to the size and shape of it you have to Tetris things around in a certain way in order for everything to fit, and none of them seem to be able to do it. The other store I go to just makes you fend for yourself - if they give you bags at all, they just hand them to you to fill yourself.

[Zaga]

My entire team is being furloughed on the 8th.  Except for me.  I'm the one on the team most able to weather this without pay, I actually asked that I be NOT picked to stay.  But they don't care about that.  So my problem is I really feel for my coworkers.

[ixtap]

My entire team is being furloughed on the 8th.  Except for me.  I'm the one on the team most able to weather this without pay, I actually asked that I be NOT picked to stay.  But they don't care about that.  So my problem is I really feel for my coworkers.

That actually sounds like an incredibly difficult position to be in :(

[LennStar]

That's the person whose job it is to put the groceries into the bags while you continue to load them from your cart onto the conveyor belt and then pay the cashier for them.

Ah! American sized grocery shopping! Here in Germany the belt normally is sufficient for 3-4 people.

[GreenSheep]

That's the person whose job it is to put the groceries into the bags while you continue to load them from your cart onto the conveyor belt and then pay the cashier for them.

Ah! American sized grocery shopping! Here in Germany the belt normally is sufficient for 3-4 people.

Forgive me if I'm taking this the wrong way, but is this supposed to be some sort of jab at Americans? I would guess that we often use up the entire conveyor belt because we buy more in one shopping trip since we tend to shop less frequently. That's probably because many (not all) of us live farther from grocery stores than perhaps the average German does. For me, it's a 45 minute drive each way to get to a grocery store. At 60mph (96.5km/h). I don't want to do that more than once a week even under normal circumstances.

[PMG]

In the States registers (at least in the region I live) are not designed to be friendly for people bringing their own bags.  In most places in Europe I've been to there is at least an expectation that you bring your own bag, and it isn't so awkward for you to take a minute to pack things.  In Eastern Europe the registers have a wide table after the conveyor belt, with room for you to stand and fill your bag, and they have a hinged divider that the cashier can use to separate orders and allow the next customer room for their items and bagging. 

I feel so rude bringing my own bags to the shops here.  I always have to tell the cashier & bagger that I brought them, and wave them around a few times, then remind the bagger, and I offer to help and make jokes about how the counters and registers are just not designed for it.  I prefer to bag my own groceries so I can get things in just right for carrying, but if there is a bagger there I don't want to take his job away, so then I just awkwardly watch, and try to hold the bag open.

It has gotten easier over the years.  People are now at least familiar with the idea.

[Master of None]

One of the many benefits of Aldi is it being designed to bag your own grocery's. If you want to take your time and be meticulous then you can do that. If you prefers to throw it all in your bike trailer  and take off then that works too. Freedom of choice is a beautiful thing.

[LennStar]

Forgive me if I'm taking this the wrong way, but is this supposed to be some sort of jab at Americans?

If jab means in a joking way, than yes.
It runs on the line of "bigger streets, bigger cars, bigger houses, bigger people..." American sized used in this way means "fucking oversized!!"

And yes, except somewhere on one of the small islands, people are generally going to a supermarket at least once a week in Germany. I mostly go two times, and going means walking.
Well, it's mustachian to live way less than 45 minutes from a shopping possibility ;)

I prefer to bag my own groceries so I can get things in just right for carrying, but if there is a bagger there I don't want to take his job away, so then I just awkwardly watch, and try to hold the bag open.

Isn't is strange how the ever-so super efficient Free Market has all those useless workers hanging around?

There is that old joke that it took 3 people in a russian department store to pay for your stuff. But at least they didn't had someone only for bagging it!