The Ranger wrote:

> Negative "stories"
> (experiences) are spread quicker than any positive experiences by a
> 10:1 ratio. Every person a manager or clerk ****es off will
> immediately, and often indefinitely, go tell a twisted tale of woe
> to everyone (friend and stranger, it won't matter) that doesn't
> make haste trying to get away from them. And those same reluctant
> listeners will spread that 2nd-hand tale of woe to another 10
> people, personalizing it to draw in more listeners. Pretty soon the
> store doesn't have enough customers to stay open because they
> rigidly enforced some rules. That's why no one wants to be an ogre
> about express lane enforcement. They _will_ miss that customer's
> money -- and everyone that believed her story and stayed away.

You're living in fantasyland. People shop at the most convenient market
that offers acceptable prices. That means that the market closest to me
with the lowest prices will get my business and I will just sharpen my
elbows or shop at off hours or make do in some other way. I will NOT
pay more for "better" or "nicer" service, because shopping is not a
pleasurable experience, it's just something I have to do every once in a
while.

My personal marketing gripe is the modern trend to double the size of
supermarkets in order to carry everything -- food, pharmacy, clothing,
furniture, booze, hardware, whatever. In addition, they make it
"pretty." I don't want it pretty, I want it fast and cheap.

> > > The only time I saw a manager move a customer with
> > > too many items from an express lane to the end of
> > > another line was when he was moving on to another
> > > job. He got a round of applause from those of us in
> > > both express lanes. (Lucky's, 8/91, White and Alum
> > > Rock.)
>
> > Then that is obviously why arseholes have noticed
> > they can get away with flouting the express lane rule.

If you wish to change the system, you must yell loudly whenever somebody
with a full cart gets into the express lane. You must insist that the
manager be called and that the offender be removed. You must NOT shut
up until this is accomplished. Look upon it as an exercise in
assertiveness -- some people pay good money for less effective lessons.

--
Cheers,
Bev
================================================== =======
"Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority."
-- U.S. Supreme Court, McIntyre v Ohio Elections,1995