Aha, so this is what checkout staff really think about you

They’re customer-friendly, patient with people fishing the last few coins out of their wallets, and lightning-fast at scanning your groceries: checkout staff. But they’re only human, and they do occasionally raise an eyebrow when they see what’s rolling toward them on the conveyor belt. ‘As if I don’t realize from the bag of chips that you’re actually buying a tube of lubricant.’

On the forum website Reddit, someone asked whether checkout staff ever frown when they see what people take out of their carts as groceries. Cashiers responded – anonymously – and offered a glimpse into their thoughts while adding everything up, packing it away and processing the payment. Sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, but never strange that they have an opinion.

Get lost

‘Not my experience, but that of someone I worked with. A boy of about 15 came into the store late at night and wanted to buy condoms. My colleague, who was training me, took the condoms away from the boy and said: get lost, you’re much too young for that. The boy was mortified and left. I told my colleague that he had probably just put an unwanted pregnancy on his conscience. The boy was being responsible and you humiliated him. I still can’t stand that colleague.’

Put it back

‘This was ten years ago, the day I lost a little faith in humanity. A man in his late twenties put his groceries on the conveyor belt. Junk food: popcorn, chips, chocolate, candy and so on. While I was scanning everything, he told me how happy he was to get out of the house for a while, that his child had the flu and that he was at the end of his rope. It happens, right? I told him how much he had to pay, and guess what: he didn’t have enough money. So what did he put back? The only thing that wasn’t from the candy and snack aisle: the children’s cough syrup.’

Needs energy

‘I currently work at the checkout in a supermarket, and when I read these stories, I thought: when have I judged, or actually condemned, someone for something they wanted to pay for? I remember one customer I completely misjudged. Every morning, this man ran into our store, straight to the soft drinks, and stood at the checkout first with 5 or 6 cans of energy drink in his hands. He really came in every day, so one time I said to him: just don’t drink them all one after another. He then told me that he needed those energy drinks to get through his chemotherapy. After that, I never commented on anyone’s groceries again.’

Vitamin or not

‘I did have an opinion when a woman wanted to pay for four cartons of cigarettes. Her child asked for a box of strawberries, but the woman said: no, sweetheart, we can’t afford that. This was around 2010, so those cartons cost about 80 dollars each. And then not wanting to spend 3 dollars on a box of strawberries… Addiction really is terrible, that must be what it was.’

Counting points

‘I’m not proud of it, but I’m always shocked when people with children who are far too overweight put lots of soft drinks, candy and unhealthy ready meals on the conveyor belt. I’m not going to tell anyone how to live their life, but it does make me sad when I see those children; they can’t help it.’

Too small

‘I worked at a pet store, and I always felt really sorry when people bought a fishbowl or rabbit hutch that was much too small. I tried to explain how much space their pet needed, but not everyone wanted to hear it. It’s only a fish, or a hamster, they would say.’

Bag full

‘I noticed that when people buy something they’re embarrassed about, they always buy other groceries as well. Nobody buys only a pregnancy test or a pack of condoms. They add a chocolate bar or a bag of chips, to distract attention. I do find that funny. As if I believe you came into the store for chips and then thought: oh yeah, I’ll grab a tube of lubricant too.’

Suitable? Not suitable

‘A man in his fifties asked me whether he could give his wife a box of hair dye for Mother’s Day. I said: not such a good idea, but he said: well. And he bought it anyway. So yes, I did have an opinion about that.’

No, you do it

‘I really didn’t think it was acceptable that a teenager didn’t dare buy condoms, and then sent his equally nervous girlfriend into the store to get them while he paced back and forth outside. I thought: dude, if you’re going to do this, be a man and get them yourself.’

Needs a drink

‘An old woman on her mobility scooter, with gray skin and an oxygen tank, buys two large bottles of wine and a carton of cigarettes. On the one hand I think: help, do you want to die or something? On the other hand: if I sat at home all day, I’d probably smoke and drink more too.’

Needs a drink, part II

‘I worked as a waitress at a roadside restaurant. A woman ordered a steak, well done, because she said her liver was in such bad shape that she couldn’t tolerate raw meat. And then she ordered a raspberry vodka with her meal. And it was half past eleven in the morning.’

Read also:

• 10 things supermarket customers say that are just really strange
• 8 things customers find super annoying about supermarket staff
• 5 supermarket products with bizarre product descriptions

Source: Bored Panda