Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Attitudes of Customers at Discounted Grocery Stores.

Just one of those opinionated afternoons.  

Not sure if everyone has an ALDI in there area.  For those that don't, ALDI is a low priced grocery store.  You can save a lot of money by shopping at these types of stores.  They offer lower prices because they have their own brands.  For instance their wide variety of low fat-low calorie line of products are called Fit & Active, but basically they are the Fiber Ones, Weight Watchers etc.. of the world, repackaged and discounted.  

When I go to ALDI, I go for one or two items.  I happen to like their Cottage Cheese better than the local grocery stores in the area.  It's about .30 cheaper than the name brands, but for whatever reason I like the taste better.  So today, like I typically do each week, I stopped in for Cottage Cheese and Cottage Cheese alone.  But this store, seems to only ever have one checkout lane open.  I can understand that.  The more lanes open, the more employees on hand, which in the long run would equate to an increase in product price.  But what I can't understand is the miserability index being through the roof with the customers that shop here.

I always seem to get stuck behind people that have 100 items, while I have one.  So, as I do each time this occurs, I nicely ask if me and my one item can jump ahead in line, ahead of them and their 100 items. Well, I'd have to say, in this store, and this store only, regardless of store location, the people will say no roughly 75% of the time.  More often than not you also get their miserable life story to go with it.  While I can't agree with their decision to make me or any other person, because it can't just be me that this happens to, wait in line while their carts of food are cashed out, I can at least acknowledge that they have every right to say whatever they want to say.  But what I cannot accept is these people having to share their misery.  I'm an empathetic person by nature, but not when I'm trying to be a single item in a grocery store.

My mother, who most of the time, is my sounding board, tells me just not to ask anymore.  To which I can understand this logic.  I also practiced the leave the item and go buy it elsewhere routine.  But really why should someone have to do  that.  

My suggestion to ALDI.  Train your cashiers, or put up signs of some sort, that state if someone in line, immediately behind you have one or two even three items, than be courteous and let them skip ahead of you, if you have a large purchase to make.  It seems to be a fair solution.  Or perhaps I should just stoop to the level of the, ever too quickly to reveal their agonizing life, customer and retort just as rudely.

But perhaps it shouldn't surprise me that those shopping at discount stores are doing so, for the most part, to save money.  To need to save money usually indicates a level of anxiety in that person's life.  That anxiety can lead to behavioral shifts.  Therefore resulting in the misery they not only possess, but choose to, so eagerly spew onto others, who are probably just as miserable as they are.  Some of us though, would just rather keep their misery a private matter, when it comes to shopping in a grocery store.

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