NeedsItRough t1_ixyj5ks wrote on November 27, 2022 at 11:16 AM

Reply to comment by Axtdool in Gotta love the practicality. (Hilarious, genius solution by busy grocery worker on Thanksgiving a.m.) by SoColdSoFair

Once you've been going to the grocery store for a while you can get a feel for where things should be generally.

I'm home in bed but I know canned pumpkin is probably in the baking aisle, and canned gravy is in the aisle with the mashed potatoes and soups.

But people in a rush don't want to take the time to look so they see an employee and can ask because they'll almost definitely know.

The aisle system is numbered with signs, and the numbers go in sequential order so saying "aisle 5" is just as easy as looking for the signs and following up or down until you get to 5.

The signs have generic labels like "soup" or "canned vegetables" but surprisingly, canned pumpkin is usually in the baking aisle, and it wouldn't be in the canned vegetables aisle so that sign wouldn't help.

The baking aisle sign also doesn't list canned pumpkin because that's very specific. It might say "pie filling" but even that's a stretch, it's more likely to say "flour" "sugar" "baking supplies" and if the person who doesn't normally cook is out looking for an ingredient while the person who does usually cook is at home prepping Thanksgiving dinner they might even think to look there.

FrankHightower t1_ixyvwwq wrote on November 27, 2022 at 1:48 PM

I've been eternally spoiled by growing up with a grocery store that had a "toiletries" aisle; that's my "feel" for where those things should be. Once I moved away, the idea that I may need to go to the other side of the store go from the toilet paper to the toothpaste seemed like madness to me. Still does.

^(For anyone as confused as I was, most grocery stores keep toilet paper in the "party" section, apparently the logic being it's smaller paper towels/napkins; and toothpaste in the "pharmacy" section, apparently the logic being if you want toothpaste, you must have tooth pain, so it goes by the pain killers the gum-disease vitamins.)