There's nothing quite like taking an oddball veggie to the cash register. When I recently placed some weird produce before a local cashier, here's what happened:
Cashier: Well, I don't even know what this is.
Me: It's fennel.
Cashier: I can't find a tag. I just don't know what this is.
Me: It's fennel.
Cashier: LISA! LISA! I need some help. [Whispering to self:] I don't know what this is.
Me, louder: It's fennel.
[Manager Lisa materializes, grabs veggie.]
Cashier: I don't know what this is.
Me: IT'S FENNEL.
Lisa: Well, here's the tag. It says it's fennel.
Cashier: Well, I didn't know what it was.
I knew what it was.
Since I turned 50, which has been more than a quick minute, I've been increasingly attentive to the way businesses treat their customers. The bottom line: Generations don't always mesh at the store.
We may not realize it, but many companies put a lot of effort into training new employees. At many stores, there is training in the classroom and role playing, and that's great. But when you put the employee on the front lines at the cash register, things don't always go without a hitch.
Barbara Thomas is a veteran of the grocery business, and she takes customer service seriously. As vice president of training and front end operations for Food City, Thomas says the customer service-driven company often has a manager circulating among newer floor employees.
Sometimes the rookies may not realize words or actions may offend a customer. When that occurs, the supervisor will speak privately to the employee and make it a teachable moment. Thomas correctly reminds us that we all had to learn on our first job, and often those working in a grocery store are new to the working world.
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Still, given such communication breakdowns, why do we visit brick and mortar stores at all? Wouldn't it be faster, more efficient and less offensive to click away online?
It may be easy to do that with some items, but when it comes to buying food, most consumers like to see and touch before they eat. So the grocery store probably isn't going anywhere. But the way we shop is changing, and seemingly for the better.
For instance, at Food City there is a service called Go Cart, which allows a customer to choose and pay for the products they want online. Pickup is at the curb, and the shopping experience is complete.
It sounds like a great idea for seniors with mobility troubles, right? Some are using it, but they aren't the only ones. A surprising number of young parents use the service, especially when school is in session and schedules are full.
"Millennials appreciate their time at home and the time they spend with their families," said Thomas.
Thomas expects grocery stores to eventually be housed in smaller buildings, but offer more variety as consumers' tastes expand.
"Thirty or forty years ago, we could purchase beans, potatoes, tomatoes and bananas at the grocery store," Thomas said. "Now we can get kiwi, pomegranate the list is endless."
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But how will we get those groceries home? Another generational change came when brown paper bags were replaced by plastic bags. It seemed like a good idea at the time, until plastic bags became a different kind of environmental problem.
I've faithfully trudged into stores with reusable bags for many years. I have encountered maybe two cashiers who were happy to see them. Not many know how to properly pack a reusable bag.
I always bring at least three big bags with me, hoping the cashier will evenly distribute the groceries because the bags can get heavy and I have stairs to climb.
Sadly, however, the cashiers who put one item in a plastic bag seem to aspire for the Guinness World Record for cramming the most-ever groceries into a single reusable bag. The reason could be fear of the unknown; they just don't see many reusable bags on their shift.
The good news: All of this is fixable!
Looking ahead, let's all make a unique consumer New Year's resolution: When we go shopping, let's keep our patience, be thankful for the amazing selection of products, and protect Mother Earth by bringing our own bags.
Cindy Carroll served as assistant director of university relations at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga for nearly 20 years.