Bag lady

We do most of our food shopping at Albertons, a West coast chain of supermarkets. A while back when we were watching the cashier beep our items through the scanner, I casually picked up a bag and started putting groceries in the cart.

"How helpful, we should hire you!"

I blinked. "Sorry?"

The cashier grinned, "we should hire you, we need good baggers like you! You make my job easier"

And then I remembered that here, you don't bag your own groceries. Or rather, you don't have to, as someone will come along and do it for you. It all feels rather lazy to me, and sometimes I just grab a bag and start bagging for myself, much to the surprise of the cashiers.

I quite like the set-up I saw in Germany, in places like real. There are no wads of plastic bags waiting for you at the check out. You have to bring your own bags -- canvas, plastic, whatever you like -- and bag all your items yourself. Very eco-friendly, a lot of stores would benefit from introducing this policy.

I wonder how it works in other countries?