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Those silly UPC stickers on fruit


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Wow. My first post to Organissimo, and I regret that it's not about organs. But it IS organic, somewhat.

Here I am, delighted as heck to check out the organissimo forums while I eat a peach. Problem is, I have to peel off the little UPC sticker first, and damned if I can't do it without bruising the fruit and making its juice run all over my fingers and into my keyboard.

Do these little stickers annoy anyone else?

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Do they really need to have those on fruit? Are cashiers so dumb they can't remember the code for a peach? They have to scan it... which leads into another story...

Don't you hate checking out at a grocery and something doesn't scan... so the cashier just sits there and tries it 5 MILLION TIMES. TYPE THE DAMN CODE IN YOU MORON! What is wrong with people?

Also, what's with not saying "Thank You" anymore? I buy $100 worth of groceries and the person doesn't even look me in the eyes, much less talk to me. :angry:

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They have no excuse at that point. Being exposed to the most horrendous retail system of ALL time, I know the ins and outs of retail software and they're all the same. If the UPC is corrupt or smeared the laser can't pick it up. So how do average cashiers (who don't give two hoots about their job) do? Scan it, again and again and again. FOOL! Type the numbers by hand or feel my wrath.

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I think the UPCs might have to do with planning for the future. Out here at the major supermarket chain they have recently instituted self-service checkout. (jmjk, if you shop at Star Market, you've probably seen 'em.) You scan your stuff yourself and then swipe your credit card when you're done. I think you can also put cash in an envelope or something and slide it into a slot like you'd deposit cash at an ATM. It's pretty cool but the main thing that slows you down is entering the codes for produce, which you have to look up on a little touch screen they have near the scanner. So I think this measure might be less for helping the cashier (and BTW, there are a LOT of codes to remember--I think my local Star has about a dozen different kinds of oranges alone!) than it is for the customer's benefit--scanning produce means you get through the checkout a lot faster and avoid pissing off everyone behind you.

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Self-service checkout is the hippest thing for personal lifestyle liberation since the Walkman. We've had it for a cuppla years at our Kroger (a Union store, btw, hmmmmm....). I'm outta there at least 50% faster on all but the biggest purchases.

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Self-service checkout is the hippest thing for personal lifestyle liberation since the Walkman. We've had it for a cuppla years at our Kroger (a Union store, btw, hmmmmm....). I'm outta there at least 50% faster on all but the biggest purchases.

Unless you get caught behind an old person who unplugs his VCR every night for fear that it will start a fire. Those people and computers are a very bad combination.

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Those people and almost ANYTHING mechanical make a bad combination!

I mean, I love my mother, REALLY love her, but to this day she does not understand the idea of sydicated programming. When she comes to visit, she expects all of her favorite syndicated shows to be on at the same time and on the same network affiliate that they are at home for her. It's just been in the last 5 years or so that she's come to accept that us both having cable doesn't mean that all our station numbers are the same!

God bless'em, though. I'm gonna be old and out of place someday.

Hell, half the time, I already AM!

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I think the UPCs might have to do with planning for the future. Out here at the major supermarket chain they have recently instituted self-service checkout. (jmjk, if you shop at Star Market, you've probably seen 'em.)

Big Wheel - yes, I have seen them, and actually, they work well if those using them know what they're doing.

If you're stuck behind the newbie or the uninitiated, then you're going to be waiting a long time while they figure it out. I should know. I still have the impression of a customer's glare burning the the back of my head from my first time!

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I’ve wondered about the whole sticker concept. I mean, you want to eat healthy, right? Go to the supermarket, pick your produce, then go home and peal the sticker off. Except the sticker leaves a residue… Is the adhesive gum arabic or is it the usual ketone based stuff?

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Hi couw!!

Yes, in American supermarkets each piece of fruit (and vegetables too, in some places) has a tiny sticker attached, so that the employee working the check-out can enter the correct PLU or UPC or whatever. These are annoying to no end, for all the reasons posted by various members above!

Shopping carts!! I like using that little flap on the upper part of the shopping cart as a percussion instrument. In some stores, you can get a nice little snare sound with it! My wife HATES it when I break out into a solo! B)

Edited by jmjk
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