"What are you doing?!"

[myswtghst]

I'm in the camp of putting a divider stick down after my order. Granted, I do it mostly not to be polite, but to save my sanity and the cashier's, so they don't end up ringing the next person's stuff with mine.

[Kogarashi]

Well now you've piqued my interest. What exactly is the proper nomenclature for the little stick that segregates one customer's order from another? I know that one of you valkyries that works at Wal-Halla can tell me because they have manuals and procedures for everything!

Corporate secret. I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.

Oooh, I'm a valkyrie!

[Pagan]

I never put the stick in after my set of groceries unless the person behind me is so addle-pated that they can't manage it. When that happens, I put it down and give them a nicely withering look that I make certain they catch.

Yeah, I'm in this camp, too. Usually because I've had one too many old men in front of me put the stick down and then get pissed because I don't immediately put down my two items and start gushing my thanks to them. I can get my own stick and I'll put my stuff down when I'm damn good and ready, thankyouverymuch!

[ThePhoneGoddess]

Working at Wallyworld during Christmas season as a teenager I had the same experience. I had a little girl come through the line. behind her was this snotty ass woman with several children. The first girl was maybe 7 years old, and there was no dividing stick between her purchase and the snotty lady's stuff. Snotty lady was also crowding the little girl hard, right up behind her, so I thought they were all together. I scanned the little girl's purchase and started scanning the other stuff on the belt and snotty lady gave her best Severus Snape impression and sneered 'THAT thing does not belong to me!' pointing at the very first item.

The little girl looked scared, and I had to call for a void. Snotty lady glared at me the whole time. I finally got the void and sent the little girl on her way, and went to scan snotty lady's stuff, and she just bored holes through my head the entire time, as though I had personally insulted her. She finally flounced off with her nose in the air. I hate people like that.

[powerboy]

Out of habit, I just drop a divider down when I finish unloading my cart. Saves me time and prevents the cashier from having to discern what's mine and what's not, especially if some asshat puts their stuff too close to mine.

I do the same thing. I hate it, when there is only 1 and it is being used.

[Becks]

I WAS going to quote people, but that would take up too much space, so...

I try to put the stick-thingy down after or before my order, as the case may be. Sometimes I can't reach it, so I practically climb on the belt to get it (ah, being 5' 2" tall...), or ask the customer in front of me...or even the cashier...if they can hand it to me.

I don't always thing it's MY obligation to put the stick down after my order, especially if there is no one in line behind me until most of my stuff is scanned. If customers following me in line decide to start putting stuff RIGHT behind mine when there's 3 feet of belt available, then THEY should put the divider down.

(Just my opinon...)

[Andara Bledin]

Even though I've made my stance on the whole divider clear, I usually put one down behind me if there's someone in line behind me because it's usually easier for me to reach it than them. And I slide the other ones down, too.

What really irks me is when I see a cashier just sort of drop the divider into the rail, and not even bother to make sure it's lined up at all, much less slide it so that the customers who actually need it can reach it. You'd think that they'd be willing to make a little effort to avoid having to make a lot of effort later on when two groups of stuff get shoved together for lack of a divider.

^-.-^

[ShinyGreenApple]

Well guess what.


He came back today.



Left lots of space between his two items and the next person.


"Just those two are mine. This will be debit, please."


Thank you, and have a nice day.

[Jadedcarguy]

Well guess what.


He came back today.



Left lots of space between his two items and the next person.


"Just those two are mine. This will be debit, please."


Thank you, and have a nice day.

They can be taught!

[sms001]

You know, I've always felt that it was common courtesy to place the separation stick (or whatever it's officially called) after my pile of groceries,

A minglenot.

One of the few sniglets I still use to this day. (Can't remember if it was a Rich Hall original or not.)

[Kogarashi]

Well guess what.

He came back today.

Left lots of space between his two items and the next person.

"Just those two are mine. This will be debit, please."

Thank you, and have a nice day.

::hands in the air:: For the win!

[Andara Bledin]

"Just those two are mine. This will be debit, please."


Thank you, and have a nice day.

That guy gets a cookie.

^-.-^

[Imogene]

My turn for a story. It's related, and entirely my fault.

One night, so many years ago, we were making spaghetti for dinner, and, oops, we had no sausage. So, I, being of the ability to drive, and a useful pawn of the parent-ocracy, was sent to the store of groceries, one Dierberg's by name. I selected only the finest ingredients we were without, made my way up to the employee who stands at the electric belt swiping foodstuffs across the crisscrossed red lights, and accidentally placed the package of sausage (Mmm, Jimmy Dean) too near the consumer-who-was-standing-afront-of-me's pile of goods. The cashier started to ring my sausage in the lady's purchase, and the lady got huffy, and said something to the effect of, "I didn't buy that."
To which I responded... "That's MY sausage," Blushed furiously, paid for my purchases, went home, related the story to my relatives, and became yet another story the family uses as an inside joke, along with 'cooking' the ham we had one night at 550, as that's what I thought the note said. Parents came home to a smoky kitchen, saved what they could of the blackened ham, and decided we would be going out to eat instead.