Do you organize the order of your groceries in the checkout line?

I'm just wondering what the title asks: do you organize your groceries in the order you will check them out, if doing self-checkout, or arrange them on the belt/counter in a standard checkout line, in the hope that they'll be bagged in a specific way?

I didn't know there was any other way people do it, but just learned some people prefer to checkout/bag without pre-arranging things. I'm kind of curious to see what's more common, or if there's some other options I haven't considered?

TheFriendlyDickhead ,

I usually only have a backpack, so I have to make sure everything fits in that one backpack. So yea I order my stuff

waterbogan ,

I put the heaviest and least breakable things first in line so they end up at the bottom of the bag(s). Canned food, stuff in plastic bottles, then all the cold/ frozen stuff altogether, light and delicate things like bread, chips etc last

Crackhappy ,
@Crackhappy@lemmy.world avatar

Yep. Heavy and dense first, all refrigerated together, etc. I shop at WinCo mostly so I bag my own. It's very satisfying making it a super efficient process up front.

JakenVeina ,

Not really, no.

SendMePhotos ,

Fuckin... No!

I also tell the cashier that they can stuff it any which way so they don't stress.

Churbleyimyam ,

Items in perfect order of robustness on the conveyor, but more than one bag...

LazaroFilm ,
@LazaroFilm@lemmy.world avatar

First heavy and non breakables or non crushables. Then crushables the veggies then fruits.

stealth_cookies ,

Yes, I live a short walk from the grocery store so I normally just put everything in a large backpack to carry it home. I organize what I'm buying in the order I want them so the heavy large items are on the bottom and the fragile items on top.

pelletbucket ,
@pelletbucket@lemm.ee avatar

my mother was always weird about putting all the same items together on the conveyor belt, as if not doing it were some incredibly rude faux pas.

there's no way it possibly makes any difference to anybody. I do try to make sure that the crushable items go last however

absGeekNZ ,
@absGeekNZ@lemmy.nz avatar

I used to work at a checkout operator, long ago.

I ALWAYS order the belt, cans and heavy stuff goes first, then usually cold/frozen stuff, veg and fruit, baking products (flour, sugar etc), then finally the light/soft stuff.

cheesymoonshadow ,
@cheesymoonshadow@lemmings.world avatar

Never worked as a checkout person but that's how I do it too. Seems just common sense to me. But of course there are some baggers who don't have a clue and will put the soft stuff in one bag but then place it in the cart with something heavy on top of it.

CanadaPlus ,

If you have a big enough purchase, it gets pretty impossible to rearrange on the fly.

Deepus , (edited )

Nah not true, ive done it on £200 shops, not perfectly but enough. Take the time to think about where your putting stuff as your putting things in your basket/trolley and its easy to move a few bags of crisps to get to the bottles for example.

SoGrumpy ,

This is how I do it. I plan checkout as I put stuff in the cart.
Heavy/hard/non-crushables at the back, squashables at the front and delicates in the baby seat.
Makes loading the conveyor belt a breeze.

CanadaPlus ,

You need to teach me then, haha! I unload as fast as I humanly can, usually with someone else madly bagging at the other end, and quite often there's a giant line behind us anyway.

I can reach down like two layers at most before something either is knocked out of the trolley or the pile topples inside. The best I can try and do is group heavy things together a little bit. I'm not sure if it makes much of a difference.

intensely_human ,

Reverse alphabetical, duh.

Can’t have my aardvarks at the bottom of the bag.

fratermus ,
@fratermus@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

My only hard rule is refrigerated/frozen items together so I can handle that bag first when I put groceries up.

Witchfire ,
@Witchfire@lemmy.world avatar

The stuff at the top of the basket goes first so I can reach the stuff at the bottom?

intensely_human ,

Have you considered using one of those carts you can open from the bottom?

Witchfire ,
@Witchfire@lemmy.world avatar

Not sure what you're referring to, but I'm guessing only because we don't have those here. People either bring their own cart or use a basket

Hamartiogonic ,
@Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz avatar

Heavy items such as milk goes in first, so that they will also be at the bottom of my backpack. Light and fragile things, such as salad goes last.

intensely_human ,

My recommendation is to wait until you get home to make the salad. That way you’re not eating a big salad out of a backpack in the park like a crazy person.

JungleJim ,

Definitely drink milk from the bottom of your bag though, that's fine and normal.

Buddahriffic ,

One trick I've learned over the years is that it doesn't matter what order you pour your milk into your backpack in. It will always end up at the bottom.

Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In ,

Strange. I always access the milk from the top.

intensely_human ,

Check your backpack’s orientation

intensely_human ,

Just as nature intended

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