I had an experience today that made/makes me extremely cranky.
I stopped at a discount grocery store to pick up blueberry scones. This seems to be the only store in our area that carries them, and I usually pop in once every week or two to buy a package as a treat to have with morning coffee. They dont always have them, so when I saw that they did have them, I nabbed two containers. I also wanted to pick up some cornstarch. I headed down the baking isle and was looking for it when I heard a very curt - "You need to leave your backpack at the checkout counter". I carry a backpack as a purse because I can distribute the weight across my back and shoulders while leaving my hands free for other things. My backpack was indeed on my back.
I glanced at the young employee who was staring at me. I told her that I kept everything, cash, wallet, meds, car keys, etc. in my backpack and had no intention of leaving it at the counter. She said, that was their policy. So I handed her the scones and she mistook that to mean I would pull off my backpack and when she reached out for it I said "no thank you, I wont leave my backpack with you" - her look told me she wasnt budging, so I turned to leave. As I walked away, she said "Sorry, store policy".
I let it rattle me more than I probably should have. I could have easily gone 'Karen' on her. But didnt.
Reflecting, about this, I am shaking my head. I had WAY MORE value in my backpack that a rogue employee could have taken - I couldnt have stolen enough to cover what I had in my pack. I would be able to steal way easier with a purse, than with a backpack on my back. What would the store do if I claimed anything of value was missing from my pack if it was in their possession? What if my bag had a concealed carry? To add to the mix, this area has daily reports of theft from vehicles. Leaving my backpack and its possessions in my car is NOT an option.
I get that the store is probably dealing with theft - and possibly some comes from folks who may use a backpack. But did they really think this through?
Ultimately, I saved $7 on the scones and will save my blood sugar the extra carbs and sugar. But my blood pressure took a direct hit from this one. WWYD?
December 1st, 2021 at 11:05 am 1638356736
December 1st, 2021 at 01:30 pm 1638365437
December 1st, 2021 at 03:38 pm 1638373106
- is this a new policy?
- is it posted at the entrance to the store?
- will it stop you from shopping there again?
- do you want to keep shopping there?
If the policy is new, and you like the store and want to keep going there, I would talk to the manager or send a note with your concerns, if it he policy isn’t posted, perhaps it should be.
If you become convinced that the policy is reasonable, then you could keep items you wouldn’t want to ‘check’ in some type of container/bag you could easily remove.
If not, I can recommend a good blueberry scone recipe!
December 1st, 2021 at 05:27 pm 1638379632
December 1st, 2021 at 06:02 pm 1638381758
December 1st, 2021 at 08:30 pm 1638390651
December 1st, 2021 at 11:37 pm 1638401867
December 7th, 2021 at 08:09 pm 1638907793