Bits and pieces from Labour Day

[Pixelated]

1) Woman comes through my line, buying $200-$300 worth of groceries. She's on the phone the entire time ... ordering multiple pizzas.

2) We officially closed at 9 p.m. although the staff didn't leave until 9:30 because, ya know ... Had one couple come through my line at 9 on the button with an overflowing buggy. Really, folks ... ? However, they were nice and so was I.

3) I learned about "facing." I think I got through maybe 1/5 of one side of the soup aisle, trying to make it look "pretty."

4) I also learned about colossal wastage. Any dented soup can is marked off and thrown out. I asked why we didn't just sell them at reduced rates. "NOOOOOOO ...." Ditto for the stupid four-pack of yogurt (that image is not the brand involved but it's the same setup). It was marked half off and the foursome was falling apart. However ... one of the little containers was leaking. The family didn't want it (not surprisingly) so I set it aside. Yes, the entire four-pack has to be thrown out. "We can't sell only three ..."

FFS.

5) We were finished doing everything we could possibly do at 9:15 p.m. We then sat around for another 15 minutes because Corporate Gods forbid we should leave early. So basically we got paid double time to sit there and play on cellphones or, in my case, cruise the magazine and books aisle.

[greek_jester]

4) I also learned about colossal wastage. Any dented soup can is marked off and thrown out. I asked why we didn't just sell them at reduced rates. "NOOOOOOO ...." Ditto for the stupid four-pack of yogurt (that image is not the brand involved but it's the same setup). It was marked half off and the foursome was falling apart. However ... one of the little containers was leaking. The family didn't want it (not surprisingly) so I set it aside. Yes, the entire four-pack has to be thrown out. "We can't sell only three ..."

FFS.

The dented cans I can understand; dents can tear the very thin lining between the metal and the food, and if they come into contact you can end up with tetanus. Small dings are usually fine, but large dents that you can lay a finger in are dangerous. That kind of dent can also risk opening a microscopic hole in the can, which leads to the risk of botulism.

Not selling the 3 non-leaking yogurts at a discounted rate, though? That's just dumb. My sister works in a supermarket, and they have a couple of shelves in the fridge section where they sell food that's either right on it's use-by (i.e. eat it today or bin it) or food with damaged packaging that's otherwise fine. There's been more than one occasion where incomplete packs of yogurt have been in there.

[Pixelated]

The dented cans I can understand; dents can tear the very thin lining between the metal and the food, and if they come into contact you can end up with tetanus. Small dings are usually fine, but large dents that you can lay a finger in are dangerous. That kind of dent can also risk opening a microscopic hole in the can, which leads to the risk of botulism.

Not selling the 3 non-leaking yogurts at a discounted rate, though? That's just dumb. My sister works in a supermarket, and they have a couple of shelves in the fridge section where they sell food that's either right on it's use-by (i.e. eat it today or bin it) or food with damaged packaging that's otherwise fine. There's been more than one occasion where incomplete packs of yogurt have been in there.

Okay, I do see your point about the cans, and some of the cans had truly massive dents in them. Others ... not so much.

The bizarre thing about the yogurts is that we almost always have perishable items in the fridges marked down. This was in fact one of those, but why the hell not mark it down even further? Heck, I would've bought 'em, and I don't care for yogurt that has a lot of "add-ins."

On the bright side, a father came through my line with a small daughter wearing a T-shirt with a unicorn on it. I gave her two of my unicorn stickers. I hope I can find more of them; they seem to be quite popular ... trip to the $1 stores coming up soon ...

[LadyofArc]

4) I also learned about colossal wastage. Any dented soup can is marked off and thrown out. I asked why we didn't just sell them at reduced rates. "NOOOOOOO ...." Ditto for the stupid four-pack of yogurt (that image is not the brand involved but it's the same setup). It was marked half off and the foursome was falling apart. However ... one of the little containers was leaking. The family didn't want it (not surprisingly) so I set it aside. Yes, the entire four-pack has to be thrown out. "We can't sell only three ..."

When I did my stint in retail, we had a section out back dedicated to stuff that was more or less like this (with a fridge for perishable stuff) - stuff that we couldn't sell due to cosmetic defects (cans were a bit 50/50) or where one was missing.

stuff where say out of a 3-pack of cans, one was missing, we'd mark it as a 'Known stolen', then we'd donate it.

All the stuff that wound up in that area would get donated to ye local foodbank.

[Pixelated]

The dented cans I can understand; dents can tear the very thin lining between the metal and the food, and if they come into contact you can end up with tetanus. Small dings are usually fine, but large dents that you can lay a finger in are dangerous. That kind of dent can also risk opening a microscopic hole in the can, which leads to the risk of botulism.

Not selling the 3 non-leaking yogurts at a discounted rate, though? That's just dumb. My sister works in a supermarket, and they have a couple of shelves in the fridge section where they sell food that's either right on it's use-by (i.e. eat it today or bin it) or food with damaged packaging that's otherwise fine. There's been more than one occasion where incomplete packs of yogurt have been in there.

That would be more than fine with me. But for some reason, we apparently can neither sell nor donate the stuff.

Oh, and ironically, a guy came through my line today with a can of spaghetti sauce ... a dented can. I asked a supervisor about what level of "denting" required the cans to be taken off the shelf ... I was just told "Use your judgement." I mentioned the number of cans I'd removed last night, adding that many hadn't been badly dented. Response: "They'll put them back on the shelf."

What ... the ... serious ... fuck ...