[nabs-l] Problems with grocery shopping

[Kaiti Shelton]

Hi, NABSters,

Lately I've been having some problems when I've been grocery shopping,
and I'm wondering if any of you who independently shop for your food
have had similar situations and/or know how to work around them.

I'm a very detailed shopper.  I make my lists in advance, plan out a
rough budget, and also organize all the other logistics like
para-transit in advance.  All last semester I had great success going
through my local Kroger and found the staff there to be very helpful
and friendly.  However, over Christmas break I found out that we had a
Meijer nearby, and I decided to start going there instead for better
produce and lower prices on some things I was finding pretty expensive
at Kroger.

I've been to the Meijer twice now (I go shopping every other weekend)
and ping on Saturdays at the times of day that I know the store won't
be as busy, like before 9:00 in the morning or after 7:00 PM.  The
first time the shopping assistant I had seemed to have very little
clue as to how to actually help me.  He did not listen to what I
wanted, sometimes just took off and left me to look for things I said
I had on my list, and often had to stop other employees and other
shoppers to ask questions.  He was very confusing to follow, as he
would just read off everything instead of specifically look for what I
said I needed.  For example, we came up to the wall of bagged
vegitables and the dialog went something like this:
"Okay, now I need chopped salads.  The kind I usually get are by Dole."
"Okay... chopped salad.  I see carrots, romaine, Spinach..." (he's at
least a good 4 feet away from me and moving away down the wall.  I
have enough vision to see more orange from top to bottom, so I know
he's going towards the bagged carrot sticks and away from the green,
leafy things.
"I think it's somewhere around here."
"Okay" (he comes toward me."  "Dole Romaine, Dole Spinach lettuce."
"I don't see it."
Fellow shopper. "The chopped salad is right there.  (Just to his right).

This happened at the cheese section as well.  He kept talking about 2
for 5 deals and such randomly, but since he wasn't just looking at the
types of cheese I needed it was hard to tell what he was talking about
and gauge what the best value would be.    At one point he assumed
that I didn't know how to open my box of Oreos I asked for, so when he
said to give him my hand and I offered it palm up, he flipped it over
and gave me unsolicited instruction in the art of opening the
packaging.

I wasn't rude to this guy, and I assumed that he was a bit off
probably due to an intellectual disability.  I chalked it up to that,
and thought that at worst I might want to talk to the manager about
educating employees on how to properly and politely work with shoppers
with disabilities (he was also super grabby and wanted me to hold onto
him even though I repeatedly assured him I could follow behind).

I went back to the same Meijer on Saturday and got a different
assistant.  This lady definitely had some disability.  I think it is
probably Down Syndrome because she had some of the facial features,
but I can't be sure.  She presented a different host of challenges;
she definitely knew her way around the store and politely offered her
arm but did not continue insistently once I declined, and she
definitely knew her brands.  She also had a much better handle on
helping me shop efficiently because she knew, "Dairy is a bit off, do
you have anything like bread on your list we could get on our way?,"
that the other guy did not.  Instead of taking double the usual time,
she got me done in half my usual time.  The only problems with her
were that sometimes she'd get distracted by items I didn't need and I
would have to redirect her in order to get the information I really
needed.  When I asked the question out right, not only based on price
but also size of package which value was better, she had trouble
answering that question.  Then in checkout she provided unsolicited
information that wasn't necessarily socially acceptable.  A lady with
a wheelchair cart was paying for her food in front of us, and the
shopping assistant turned and said, not all too quietly, "She's paying
with WIC, and she's got about the whole store on the conveyor belt."
I felt myself go red because I didn't know what that other woman's
reaction would be.  Of course I didn't ask her for this information,
but I really felt bad for the other lady who was probably buying in
bulk because it was harder for her to get out to shop for a family.  I
didn't really know how to respond to the shopping assistant, and when
I was silent for a few seconds she just repeated herself as if I
didn't hear her.  Then I asked her to take me to a specific bench I
knew was there while I waited for my ride to come back for pickup, and
she stuck me in another location which I was less familiar with to
wait.

I am all for placing people with any disability in a job, and I
understand that positions like greeters (like the lady I worked with
was before she started helping me) are the positions most likely to be
pulled by customer service to assist shoppers, but how do you work out
that situation.  The first guy was particularly frustrating because he
took so long to find simple things and popular brands like Tyson,
Sargento, and Dole, but on the flip side you had the other lady who
wasn't a good judge of value and sometimes would talk my ear off as we
walked and realize some ways off that we missed what we were going
for.  I applaud Meijer for employing people who can really use the
work, but I think they need to consider the needs of customers who ask
for shopping assistance when pairing them up with employees.  If
people like the first guy are unable to read the expiration dates on
meats, that's a problem for me.  If I'm trying to save money and I
can't get a good judge of value, that's also a problem for me.

Being a major in a field where I'll eventually have clients with all
sorts of disabilities, I have learned to be very accepting and patient
in these situations, but when I only have so long to shop before
para-transit comes back or am trying to stick to a budget the matter
can be a bit complicated.  When I went shopping with the Oreo guy I
had to skip a few items on my list in order to check out and be ready
on time, and I'll confess my patience was wearing a little thin after
an hour and a half because he was constantly trying to be custodial.
I just was a little worried about keeping my budget and a little
socially uncomfortable with the second employee, although I do know
she tried to be helpful and was for most of the trip.

I have never had these issues at the other store, so I'm a little
unsure of how to best proceed should I have this happen again,
especially with the first guy.  Thoughts?

It's a tricky situation because
 --
Kaiti