Sunday, January 21, 2007
Grocery Store Trivia
Today's news included a story about a grocery bagger competition in Phoenix, with the winner advancing to a national competition.
Wow.
Compelling. Maybe ESPN2 will air the finals, along with the "Rock Scissors Paper" national championship and the State Finals of the professional "Guess A Number Between 1 and 10" competition.
I remember my high chool days of bagging groceries back at the old Furr's Supermarket, Hobbs Street and Union Avenue in Roswell, NM. But we weren't baggers, We didn't have bags. We had sacks. PAPER sacks. We were sackers. I worked for a nice man whose name, I seem to recall, was Prentice Bailey. Wayners sacked and stocked for the same guy a few years earlier, and he can correct me on the name if I'm wrong.
Anyway, Mr. Bailey was a no-nonsense grocery manager. We were required to wear clean white dress shirts and ties to work. The store provided crisp, white aprons, which hung below our knees and tied around the waist. Mr. Bailey looked the other way when we folded the bottom under and tied the hem up at our waists, so the bottom fell about halfway to our knees. Why?
"It looks cooler," was the explanation from a seasoned veteran sacker on my first day. Guy had worked their for like a whole month.
Liar. It was a set up, a store tradition to haze the new guy.
We not only sacked the customer's groceries, but without exception hauled them out to their cars and loaded them inside. Speed was the rule with Mr. Bailey. You had to develop an advanced technique to keep pace:
1) Place the sack in "full open" position.
2) Place your off hand into the sack.
3) Pick up the grocery item from the conveyor with your dominant hand.
4) Flip said grocery item with a quick wrist action into the sack.
5) Catch said item with off hand, placing it properly in the sack.
6) Repeat. Fast.
When you got the technique down, you looked like a juggler on meth. Once the sack was loaded, you placed in on your cart. Unlike the customer's cart, yours was the upright model with two racks, and two wheels. You loaded it up, tilted it backwards like a dolly, and walked the customer out to his/her vehicle. You loaded them up, and didn't even think about accepting a tip. You were making $1.25 per hour, for God's sake. You were rich. Accept a tip, and you were immediately fired.
Then it was back to the store for the next customer. That first day, I walked my cart back into the store, where I was met by a scowling Mr. Bailey.
"BOY! Get over here! If you're gonna work for me, you're going to run that cart back into my store!"
You see, that's why he allowed us to tie up those aprons. Not to look cool, but so as to provide no interference whatsoever to the rapid leg movement required to satisy Mr. Bailey. Hard to accomplish with your legs bound up at the shins by an apron. Thanks for telling me that, seasoned veteran sacker. Got my ass chewed in the first hour.
The toughest days were Wednesdays and Saturdays. Why those two days?
That's your mission, should you decide to accept it. Tell me why Wednesdays and Saturdays were the two toughest days for sackers and checkers in pretty much every grocery store in the Southwest in the 60's and early 70's. Those of you with an insufficient number of trips around the sun, ask your parents. They'll know.
See you tomorrow!
|
Wow.
Compelling. Maybe ESPN2 will air the finals, along with the "Rock Scissors Paper" national championship and the State Finals of the professional "Guess A Number Between 1 and 10" competition.
I remember my high chool days of bagging groceries back at the old Furr's Supermarket, Hobbs Street and Union Avenue in Roswell, NM. But we weren't baggers, We didn't have bags. We had sacks. PAPER sacks. We were sackers. I worked for a nice man whose name, I seem to recall, was Prentice Bailey. Wayners sacked and stocked for the same guy a few years earlier, and he can correct me on the name if I'm wrong.
Anyway, Mr. Bailey was a no-nonsense grocery manager. We were required to wear clean white dress shirts and ties to work. The store provided crisp, white aprons, which hung below our knees and tied around the waist. Mr. Bailey looked the other way when we folded the bottom under and tied the hem up at our waists, so the bottom fell about halfway to our knees. Why?
"It looks cooler," was the explanation from a seasoned veteran sacker on my first day. Guy had worked their for like a whole month.
Liar. It was a set up, a store tradition to haze the new guy.
We not only sacked the customer's groceries, but without exception hauled them out to their cars and loaded them inside. Speed was the rule with Mr. Bailey. You had to develop an advanced technique to keep pace:
1) Place the sack in "full open" position.
2) Place your off hand into the sack.
3) Pick up the grocery item from the conveyor with your dominant hand.
4) Flip said grocery item with a quick wrist action into the sack.
5) Catch said item with off hand, placing it properly in the sack.
6) Repeat. Fast.
When you got the technique down, you looked like a juggler on meth. Once the sack was loaded, you placed in on your cart. Unlike the customer's cart, yours was the upright model with two racks, and two wheels. You loaded it up, tilted it backwards like a dolly, and walked the customer out to his/her vehicle. You loaded them up, and didn't even think about accepting a tip. You were making $1.25 per hour, for God's sake. You were rich. Accept a tip, and you were immediately fired.
Then it was back to the store for the next customer. That first day, I walked my cart back into the store, where I was met by a scowling Mr. Bailey.
"BOY! Get over here! If you're gonna work for me, you're going to run that cart back into my store!"
You see, that's why he allowed us to tie up those aprons. Not to look cool, but so as to provide no interference whatsoever to the rapid leg movement required to satisy Mr. Bailey. Hard to accomplish with your legs bound up at the shins by an apron. Thanks for telling me that, seasoned veteran sacker. Got my ass chewed in the first hour.
The toughest days were Wednesdays and Saturdays. Why those two days?
That's your mission, should you decide to accept it. Tell me why Wednesdays and Saturdays were the two toughest days for sackers and checkers in pretty much every grocery store in the Southwest in the 60's and early 70's. Those of you with an insufficient number of trips around the sun, ask your parents. They'll know.
See you tomorrow!
