MARTIN SLOANE | Supermarket Shopper Industry recognizes etiquette rules

Are shopper rules of etiquette needed to make shopping more enjoyable and less stressful? My readers believe it. Now, the supermarket industry is recognizing this, too. In the Oct. 7 edition of Supermarket News, the most widely read publication for the supermarket industry, editorial director David Merrefield wrote:
"Few people with much experience in food retailing have escaped exposure to the old saw that goes something like this: 'The customer is always right, and if you forget that maxim, read it again.'"
Merrefield's editorial continued: "Well, there's a lot of truth in that, but as those of us who have actually worked in a store know, there are times when it's difficult to believe it. Let's face the truth: There are times when customers are irritating, arrogant, messy and dishonest. Many store-level workers permit themselves the thought that if customers are always right, why aren't they better behaved, and why don't they have some sort of conduct code to follow? Now there is such a code: Martin Sloane's Rules of Etiquette for Supermarket Shoppers, inspired by suggestions sent to him by readers of his newspaper column." The editorial goes on to list most of the rules.
If you have not read my Rules of Etiquette, please do. You will find them on my Internet column site at:www.martinsloane.com.
The rules for shopper etiquette continue to evolve as both shoppers and supermarket employees offer their suggestions:
Dear Martin: I am a supermarket cashier, and I have some comments for your readers. Please do not lay your payment down on the counter or the belt. It is hard to pick up. Just hold the money out, and I will take it from your hand. If you put money, coupons or cards on the belt, I may not see them, and it is all too easy for them to wind up under the counter and become a hassle to recover.
Please do not complain if I need to get approval for a check if I am notified there might be a problem. I am only doing my job. One more thing, I don't appreciate jokes about cashiers standing around doing nothing. It isn't funny. If our manager hears this, it creates the wrong impression, and we might be reprimanded. Thank you for letting me vent some steam. A cashier in Altoona, Pa.
Dear Cashier in Altoona: Thank you for writing. Shoppers want to have their change handed to them and would be very upset if cashiers placed it on the counter or conveyor. So, your first suggestion is a reasonable request and joins our rules of customer etiquette.
"Don't blame the cashier for doing his or her job" is also good advice. Customers should appreciate that cashiers have to follow rules, and may lose their jobs if they don't. The most difficult advice to follow may be the request not to joke at the cashier's expense. Some people just can't control the urge. I ask them to try.
Dear Martin: How nice it would be if we could take a moment just before we leave the checkout counter to say to the cashier, "thank you" and "have a nice day." I almost always receive a smile in return. On one occasion, the cashier told me that very few customers do and that I had made her day. A small nicety can accomplish a great deal. Eleanor Watker, Freehold Township, N.J.
Dear Eleanor: As soon as I read your letter I called up my Web site. Surely, I must have included a "Say thank you" rule. No, the last rule is "Never argue with a cashier or another customer ...." Not any more. It moves up the list and "Say thank you" becomes the final rule for Etiquette at the Checkout Counter.
I want my readers to think about what happens when you make a cashier's day. The next customer is greeted with a smile! Suppose that customer says, "Thank you." It might become contagious! Eleanor, Thank you!
Dear Martin: I have worked in a supermarket for eight years. I never thought I would find anyone else who thinks the way I do about customer behavior. I can relate to every one of your Rules of Etiquette. It is too bad they cannot be posted for customers to read. Jacque in Atlanta
Dear Jacque: They can be posted. All you and my readers have to do is print them out from the pages in my Web site and ask the store manager for permission to tack them to the bulletin board.
Dear Martin: Seven years ago, I became wheelchair dependent. The entire staff at Wegmans is very helpful and makes it possible for me to shop. However, there is a problem they cannot help me with. There are a few shoppers who make grocery shopping a high-risk activity. That is why I would like to expand your Customer Rules of Etiquette: Do not abandon your shopping cart in the access areas around the handicapped parking spaces. We need that space to get the chair out of the van and to maneuver. If you see us trying to cross the roadway to go into the store, honking your horn or letting your car roll into the crosswalk will not help us move any faster. When you push your cart out of the aisle, look to see who is crossing in front of you. It hurts when you run your cart into my chair. Your shopping cart basket is at my head height, so be careful where you are swinging it. There may only be a single checkout lane wide enough for the chair, so please don't race your full cart to get ahead of me. If you are behind me in the checkout line, please be careful not to push your cart into my back. It certainly will not help me check out any faster. And, finally, because I am wheel chair dependent, I move more slowly than you do. Please be patient.
I appreciate you helping to make shoppers more aware of the need to show their consideration to those of us who use wheelchairs. Carolyn Bartlow, Webster, N.Y.
Dear Carolyn: It is a privilege to be able to help. I will expand the rules as you requested.
I have not forgotten my readers' interest in creating rules of proper behavior to guide supermarkets and their associates. Look for them in a future column, coming soon. And a reminder to readers that the winning Supermarket Shopper Poetry has now been posted in my Web site.
XSend questions and comments to Martin Sloane in care of The Vindicator. The volume of mail precludes individual replies to every letter, but Martin Sloane will respond to letters of general interest in the column. Check out Martin Sloane's Web site at www.martinsloane.com.
United Feature Syndicate