Teach Baggers to Bag

Today, I rant!

Okay… I was out grocery shopping today and had (yet another) experience that reminded me of some obnoxious experiences I’ve had lately. Bagging groceries.

I try to be environmentally conscious, so I have reusable grocery bags. As you know, these hold much more than the little plastic bags that grocery stores default to.  If you’ve ever noticed, most baggers put very little in each plastic bag, so it doesn’t take much organization to get your groceries out.

Back in the days of paper bags, bagging was a skill. Baggers knew how to to put things in bags to both distribute weight between the bags and not crush your softer foods (breads, soft fruit, stuff like that). If you’re too young to have ever seen good bagging, watch Michelle Pfeiffer demonstrate this skill on Ellen… it’s an eye opener.

What’s my beef? 

No “Thank You”?

For awhile now I’ve become agitated with many of the cashiers that I come across in various retail establishments.  What is this current pet peeve? The rapid disappearance of “Thank you” from customer service people.

Let’s review: back in the day….and this is back in the day before even my day….when a customer went to the store and spent their money there, the person who helped them–or took their money said, “Thank you.”  As in “Thank you for bringing your business to me and not my competitor,” or if there was no competition, “Thank you for spending your hard earned money in my store instead of going without,” or even “Thank you for spending your money here so I can make a living off of my business.”  The understanding was clear. The retailer thanked the customer, because without the customer there would be no retailer. It’s pretty simple.

Now somewhere along the line—

Me, not myself, and I

I’m beginning to hate myself. Well, not me, myself…”myself”… the word. It’s not that the word itself is bad; it’s just that people use “myself” in ways that it is not intended. Frankly it demonstrates a certain about of ignorance to use “myself” where inappropriate, and people need to put a stop to it.

When I was a child, I distinctly remember learning from my grandmother–and probably in school as well– the difference between “me” and “I.” Now, usually these lessons came from me using “me” erroneously, which is why I probably remember them so well, but remember them I do.

Let’s say that a group of friends asked me to go to the mall. If asked, “Where are you going?” I would reply, “Chris, Pat, Terry and I are going to the mall.”  ”I” is used in this sentence, I was told, because if I was going to the mall alone I would have said, “I am going to the mall.” It’s a pretty simple rule. Use “I” if multiple people are involved in a situation where I would use “I” in a singular situation.

As for “me,” I’m not sure how I remembered to use “me” instead of “I,” but all I know now is that I use it when it sounds right. “Please bring that book to me” or “When you finish collecting those, give them to Pat or me.”  I suppose the same subsitution rule applies as with “I”: if you would use “me” in a singular situation, use it when others are involved as well.

Now, somewhere in the recent past people began inserting “myself” instead of “I” and “me.” I don’t know when this began, but