Corporate greendrones get bagged!

For me, the premium grocery store chains were always my preferred place of doing business. I really don't mind paying more for the same things I could get at a discount grocer, since I recognize I am paying for a better level of service. It would seem though, that the level of service I have come to enjoy has been suffering as of late.

You see, I could shop at a discount store...but bagging my groceries like the rest of the steerage is beneath me. Also, one is required to purchase bags...presumably in an effort to lower the store's overhead enough that they can sell groceries to the poor huddled masses for less. Even more, I don't like my food handled by some gum chewing tatooed drop-out pin cushion, which seems to be the kind of help these places insist upon employing. So, for those reasons, I choose not to shop at those kinds of stores.

The premium stores, however, are starting to lose their lustre. First it was the self-serve check out lanes. A novelty at first, and I can see the utility of such a thing should I just want to pay for one or two items and the express lanes are backed up. What I have noticed though, is that after employing six self checkout lanes my store has in turn reduced the number of express checkouts down to one. Not only that, they never seem to have more than three out of ten lanes open, regardless of how busy they are. Combining all of my checkout wait time throughout a month I have found that I have time to get through most of the latest Maxim while I wait in line to be served...doing my part to reduce consumption!

Now it seems that I have to pay for my fricken bags too. Yep, the premium stores have gotten on the green wagon. For what it's worth, it is my bet that the decision to do so was more likely spurred by the bottom line than out of any concern for the environment. If they actually cared about serving their clients and less about the bottom line, then we would have seen a switch to paper.

At least there's a ray of sunshine in all of this, as I read in the news this morning:

EW.BRUNSWICK (CBC) - The Fredericton Direct Charge Co-op grocery store is imposing new rules on customers' use of cloth bags following a spike in shoplifting.

Sheldon Palk, the grocery store's manager, said the switch to more environmentally friendly bags is having one unintended consequence: a rise in theft.

So cashiers must now check customers' cloth bags before they check out their groceries.