Gina Heslop
At Walmart, I found myself scanning and bagging nearly $300 worth of groceries while being “monitored” by an employee demanding a $15-an-hour wage. As I went about my task, the employee confronted me about my bagging choices, particularly my habit of double bagging the groceries.
She questioned why I was using two bags for the items, expressing concern about wasting bags. I responded firmly, telling her that if she had a problem with my bagging, she was welcome to do it herself. She retorted that it wasn’t her job, to which I replied that I would continue to bag my groceries as I saw fit.
Undeterred, she insisted that I was putting too much stuff in each bag, causing them to be weak and risking handles breaking or bottoms ripping out. Her solution was for me to split the items in half and use separate bags for each portion, so I wouldn’t need to double bag.
Confused by her logic, I pointed out that I would still be using two bags to hold the same number of items. She stood by her argument, claiming that as long as I didn’t double bag them, it wouldn’t be the same number of bags used.
Attempting to reason with her, I presented a simple example. I showed her a jug of milk and a bottle of juice, both double-bagged together. If I took out the milk and put it in a single bag, and did the same for the juice, I would still be using two bags for these two items. However, she remained adamant, stating that it was different because I wouldn’t be double bagging.
Feeling exasperated, I glanced around and noticed that other customers were witnessing the exchange and seemed amused. With a hint of sarcasm, I humorously asked her if this was some sort of “Common Core math stuff” that I had heard about.
In the end, she gave up, conceding that I simply didn’t understand. As the bizarre encounter came to a close, I continued with my shopping, grateful that the confusion over bagging was finally behind me.
