Thursday, September 3, 2009

Confessions of an Obsessaholic No. 11: Check-out

So I went to the grocery store, parking right next to the cart return rack (see Confessions of an Obsessaholic No. 5) like I usually do. I snake through the store tossing this and that into the cart, ending up with far more than I had planned buying (no big surprise there). I finally get to check-out and I load the groceries onto the belt, organizing the items.
Frozen and cold food together.
Cans together.
Boxes together.
Vegetables together.
Bread and rolls together.
Paper goods together.
And, to be honest, it looked pretty – all neat and lined up and separated with barcodes, if possible, visible at first glance.
“I wish everyone was as organized as you,” the cashier said. “It makes it so much easier. Some people, they just dump everything on and then they get mad if something gets squished.”
Oh yeah, I’m thinkin’. Finally found someone who appreciates my obsessive self. And, like, that was way cool.
So are you a dumper-on-topper or an arranger like me?


  1. Maybe you missed your calling in life as a grocery-store bagger?

  2. I'm sure you'd be surprised to find out that I, too try to arrange like things on the conveyer belt at the grocery store. But that could just be that when I put them in the cart, they get grouped together.

  3. I'm an arranger too. Fridge stuff together, pantry stuff together, toiletries together...
    I do this to save time at home. If all the fridge-stuff is in one bag, it saves time unpacking.
    Note that you can do all arranging you want on the belt, but if you have a lazy grocery packer, they'll just put it anywhere they want (this was my last grocery-store trip experience)

  4. Why have I never gotten recognized for organizing my groceries like that?

  5. PS - Do your cashiers a favor. If you have a coupon for a FREE item, put that item up first, and hand them the coupon with it. They need to write the price it scans at, and it's really a pain to go back and find that halfway through a 200-item list if the item was in the middle of everything and you gave them the coupon at the end.