It's non existant.....jhappily most of the checkers and baggers at the grocery I most often frequent are aware of that sort of thing. I ask that the bags not be too heavy, and that all the cold stuff be bagged separatly from stuff that can stay out in the car for a while. I will sometimes leave things like flour, sugar, cereal and crackers in the car for a while while I deal with the vegetables and meat.

They put the bread on the bottom and the bananas on the top...

Here you have to provide your own bags or pay for bags. I have a large collection of cloth shopping bags so they live in the boot of my car and I take them out when I shop.

We don’t have separate baggers either. The checkout operator has a little frame next to her/him that a bag fits into and as they swipe the items they place them into a bag, swapping out full for empty bags as they go. (Most people put their bags at the front of the conveyor belt so the operator has them handy.)

I always put the bag I want items to go into, then those items, the next bag I want used, then the items I want to go into that bag, and so on. Works very well for me.

Here in California, we also bring or pay for bags, by law, preventing waste and litter, but they're not standardized. I have nylon T-shirt style bags which I keep in my purss, and cooler totes in the car. Others bring a mishmash of bags from various stores. String bags haven't caught on here, but there are about five shapes and more sizes of cute, cloth bags. “...to meet state regulations, [store plastic bags which must cost at least 10¢ each] must be reusable at least 125 times“ (from an online periodical) There are similar frames for the store bags, but there are usually multiple types of bags that they have, too. And, no, they'll put any warm body on bagging at the chain stores. They have ridiculously low profit margins and, while the jobs are unionized, the best and brightest aren't looking to be baggers in the cities. In some areas, they do get high schoolers who want to do a good job.

Years ago, there was one bagger where I shopped often who was so bad, I'd stand in a slow line to avoid him, or do my own bagging (which some stores discourage), and once had to strongly refuse to let him come over to ”help” me, and had to get the checker to shoo him away. I felt bad for calling him out, but I couldn't bear more ruined groceries.

The check-outs usually have a conveyor or turntable which takes the groceries to the checker, and another conveyor to the bagging station. There are a few stores where the checker still unloads the cart, but that mostly disappeared decades ago, when there were too many staff injuries linked to too much of the movements involved.

When I order from a grocery service that shops in the same stores, they do their own bagging, and do it very well. They do put too few items in large, quality plastic bags or doubled paper, but I reuse the bags for other things until they're unusable, so don't feel too bad about it. Before the pandemic, they used non-woven cloth that one returned to the grocery service next time, but that became unworkable. Either way, if something is ruined, they know who needs more training, and a refund is an email away, not having to go to the same store and tackle the manager.

I can believe the quality plastic could make it 125 uses, but in real life, they're good for about 3-5 before being recycled. After a few uses, especially with folding or crushing, they lose their oomph, even though they're still whole. People also use them for cat litter because they are so good, but then that goes in landfill. There is separate manure pickup, for composting, but cat litter isn't suitable. I don't believe in keeping cats locked up indoors, but there are predatory birds, so too many people do.

Most of my groceries come from the farm box service nowadays. They pack well, except for bread, but it's almost unheard of for something to be ruined in packing (also a simple online refund if it does happen), though they do come in cardboard boxes, which are easier to keep things nice in, and they use plastic film liners to separate the things that shouldn't be together. I reuse those, too.

Apologies for going on so long. It's a symptom of being tired, and I'm bad at brevity to begin with, but I'm too tired to edit.

No such thing as baggers here either and there never has been. We bring and fill our own bags. If we want a shop bag we, quite rightly imo, have to pay for it. Except for meat and fish. For those items bags are free. Since a charge was introduced the waste from single use plastic bags has reduced dramatically.

The bagger at Aldi is especially bad at his job.

DH & I frequently grocery shop together now that we are both retired. We use self check-out when available and most places require us to use our own bags. I have always sorted my groceries at check out - frozen/refrigerated foods first, non-perishables next, fragile foods (eggs, breads, soft cheeses, etc) last and I like them bagged that way and the bags not be too heavy. It makes it easier to put groceries away, and I also will sometimes leave non-perishables in the car when I'm on my own. DH becomes very frustrated with this - he packs randomly and crams as much as will fit in each bag. I usually just let him run with that except for fagile things - I pluck them from him and bag them myself. He's the one who carries groceries into the house when we shop together so it doesn't matter how heavy the bags are. When I am on my own, I revert to my way of doing it.

As plllog posted, here in CA we bring or pay for bags. I do most of my shopping at TJ’s and our large grocery store. They both do a nice job with bagging, but I do try to arrange items in the cart (cold vs dry) to help with that.

Where we are staying in Mexico (Puerto Aventuras) the baggers are usually seniors and from what I understand, they work for tips. They do a good job and a tip of a dollar or two (in pesos) seems to be the norm. There are no plastic or paper bags available, if you don't bring your own the only option is a box or a reusable bag, which is about 65 cents Canadian.

Only 2 places where I don't bag my own stuff are Walmart, because I do curbside pickup, and Trader Joe's - and they know what a cold bag is. The Aldi I like to shop at has 5 self checkout terminals, which I really like to use.

Walmart famously puts each item in its own separate bag, but I noticed that they're now offering to let you put your online ordered items in your own bags. The app says they'll bring items out and you bag them. I couldn't see how that would work very well, so I opted for letting them still do the bagging for me, but honestly - it's so many bags!

Publix supermarkets here employ people with disabilities as baggers.

I get really annoyed when I spend extra time choosing just the right bundle of asparagus with good tips and then the bagger shoves it upside down into the bag! I thought it was because a lot of the baggers are young and don’t know any better, but the other day a middle-aged female checker/bagger did it too. 🤯

I bag my own groceries, they are always perfect! HAHA!

I try always to use a checker to help preserve those jobs; plus then I don't have to argue with the self-checkout machines. My job is to make the checkers' job easier, so I group things on the belt the way i want them packed, along with the bags for them, including a cooler bag with permanent ice I take into the store so it stays cool. Fortunately, most of our checkers are thoughtful packers who are told to pack lighter bags for those of us who look, umm, older. ... The whole packing scene has gotten much better than it was a few years ago!

I've had some issues with baggers lately too. Nectarines at the bottom of a heavy bag. Really? Same with raspberries, things more fragile.

We shop an hour from home somewhat often. We take coolers. I try to keep cold or frozen things together at checkout so the bag can just be sat inside a large cooler with blue ice. 'Sometimes' that works, sometimes I'm repackaging in the parking lot. I do have some insulated bags and don't use them. They don't keep things cold enough for other than a short trip home and are bulky.

Sometimes now that he's retired, DH tries to help. I'm sure I've told him at least 40 times that raw meat or chicken does not go on top of anything at all. We shopped Winco a week ago where they don't bag your groceries - you bag your own. All my gentle reminders and DH is just still the worst bagger ever. No dear, tomatoes don't go in the cooler, not that they are faring well under those melons anyway.

I like to keep perishable foods separate from stuff that doesn't need to be put in the refrigerator or freezer right away. I don't always have the energy to do all of it at once after shopping and getting the stuff from the store into the house. DH doesn't have those limitations, but still the putting away is often left to me and I have to sort through bags to find the perishables when he bags our groceries. When he does put things away, I have to follow behind him and pull the tomatoes and avocados out of the refrigerator no matter how many times I tell him not to put them there.

Live in Florida. Bagger puts my bottle of wine in the same bag as my dozen eggs and blueberries.

Didn't realize till I got home and saw the blueberries rolling around in with the broken eggs.

Blueberry omelets!

I bring my own bags and bag my own groceries. I like to be independent. If the bread gets squashed, it is all on me.

I rarely fill more than one bag, but if I’m purchasing more items than that, I will sort them on the belt. Generally, that works. I like @colleenoz’s idea of putting the appropriate bag between each group of items.

Several of the baggers at the local Safeways near me are on the Autism spectrum. I've been meaning to talk to management about training them to even out the bags and also several other things you guys have mentioned.

I spent a dozen years training DD adults (18-22) Job training at high end stores and hospitals.

I don't know currently, but the big chains some years ago had neurodiverse employees who variously bagged, shagged carts, showed customers where items were, etc. Many were what used to be called ”slow”, but, of course one doesn't know their labels. All whom I encountered did their jobs well and showed pleasant manners and attitudes. Unlike the nasty bagger whom I had to chase off, these young adults were a pleasure. Very well trained and willing.

our fareway stores used to have speed bagging contests; the top two would advance to a regional competition. rules: cold with cold, dry with dry, crushables neatly/safety packed, and canned goods ... not too heavy. They instructed the other baggers how to do this. From time to time, the best bagger in the state would come from our store. It pretty much went away with the pandamonium ... but they still are above adequate most of the time. And they take them out to your vehicle. No tipping.

;

Worker shortages!

My gripe, from yesterday. I asked the worker to please not put the raw chicken in with other food. Pulled it out of the bag, went around her, picked up a bag and put it into the cart myself. She turned around with one item in her hand, and put it into the raw chicken bag even though there were other bags it also would've fit it. Further, I had my own reusable bags and there were two or three leftover. She wasn't short on room. She also grumbled that I'd even asked. I shouldn't have had to ask. RAW chicken. Hello?

If I have an opinion on how the groceries I'm buying should be packed, I go through self-checkout. If I don't really care, I'll give basic instructions like "milk doesn't need a bag" or "all in one is fine." I've definitely had to rearrange in the car before.

I'm generally not going far enough to care about perishable vs non-perishable. If I care about my meats being separated from something else, I'll put one or the other in one of those thin bags that are all around the meats and produce sections.

Around here it's town by town on whether there's a bag fee and what types ofbags stores can have. I miss the nice thin plastic bags .... they made the best trash bags; now my bathroom trash ends up with the wrapper from the toilet paper haphazardly stuffed into it (usually either too big or too small).

I also put any meats into the plastic bags available for just that purpose.