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Don't bring reusable bags on your next trip to Roche Bros.
By adamg on Mon, 03/23/2020 - 8:23am
Roche Bros. announced this morning that customers can no longer bring reusable bags into its Roche Bros. and Brothers Markets stores, in an effort to protect its cashiers and baggers from Covid-19.
The safety of our associates, who have heroically been on the front line serving our customers, is at the forefront of our decision. We hope that our loyal customers understand the decision to protect our associates as we deal with these unprecedented times.
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Comments
what will they use instead?
Paper or plastic, with or without handles?
(Bags without handles are going to be very difficult for many people to carry long distances.)
Roches has the nice paper
Roches has the nice paper bags with sturdy, and generally double-bags them. I only shop there a couple of times a month, but I usually pay the fee to get the bags, as I use them as recycling bins. Never had a problem getting groceries home via T and walking afterwards.
Dunno, but ...
I think they only had paper bags, at least the last time I went (a couple weeks ago).
As a Customer
How do I know that someone with covid-19 didn't handle the bag you just gave me?
Case in point: I was at a Walgreens in Newton one day last weekend (3/14-15). And the cashier (handling everything) looked visibly sick. I turned around and left without buying anything.
Our supermarket protocol
In addition to the obvious things like not touching your face after handling things in the store, remembering that other objects you touch like car keys also need to be considered a transmission vector unless you can sanitize your hands before taking them out to get back in the car is important.
For our trips I brought reusable bags with me, when I got home the bags are brought into the kitchen and put on the floor. Hands are washed and everything that can get wet is then rinsed in the sink and put to dry on a towel on the counter. This won't destroy the virus but in the chance there was an infected droplet on the surface it most likely goes down the drain reducing the chance of transmission by these objects from low to vanishingly low. Anything that can't be rinsed, generally things in cardboard boxes, are put aside for a couple of days at least since that surface appears to only host the virus for about 24 hours.
Then bags all go into the washing machine as well as the outer clothes that were worn to the supermarket. Hands are washed again. For the next trip to the supermarket the bags are clean and ready to go.
It's sort of the home version of transferring things into a clean room. If supplies were more readily available disinfecting the outer surface would be a more effective method but if your goal is to reduce the risk of transmission this is still a pretty good way of bringing that way down.
Wipe reusable bags with disinfectant
I wiped all our reusable bags inside and out with disinfecting wipes, the kind that kill viruses. It doesn't take long. That, and the days between uses, guarantees that there's no coronavirus on them.
I am sorry, but checkers and baggers continuing to do their jobs are not heroes. If we're going to do that, we might as well throw the meaning of the word out completely. Also, if it's so dangerous to do those jobs, why is Roche Bros. not better protecting their workers?
Hero maybe not but they are
Hero maybe not but they are required to work under dangerous circumstances. Up close with coughs and sneezing. So maybe not a hero but they are risking their health doing the job for low pay wage. Just as nurses and doctors do for better pay. I am very grateful for all these people and think they deserve recognition for what they to do keep things moving for us more fortunate workers that can stay home.
Wash the grocercies with soap, don't just rinse.
Not that much harder than rinsing, and soap is a powerful disinfectant for coronaviruses.
We bagged our own
The bagger looked a bit miffed, but I insisted on bagging our own groceries. We knew we washed our hands before we left, used the hand sanitizers they provided (a couple of times) and sanitized the cart as well. Baggers are touching stuff from everyone, so didn't want to take a chance.
Doesn't the cashier have to
Doesn't the cashier have to touch all the items to scan them?
Touchless RFID chips instead of bar codes on food items have been discussed for some years now, but I've not heard of any stores that have it working. And I'm not sure how it would work for produce.
I think the best solution is for the cashier and bagger to use sanitizer after every customer. There should be a law requiring this. It's not perfect because everything still touches the conveyor belt, but it's a lot better than nothing.
Got yelled at
At Wegmans I tried to bag my own groceries and both myself and the cashier promptly got yelled at by a supervisor who said allowing me to bag my own would violate the social distancing stipulations they had imposed for their staff. (Although I was probably closer to the cashier just waiting for the credit card to process.)
I felt bad for making the cashier do all the work herself but wasn't going to argue.
I'd walk out
Not taking home groceries bagged by somebody who had been bagging for dozens/hundreds of people.
was very happy with Costco last week. Didn't bring bags in (they are not fond of them in the best of times), but they were keeping safe distances between customers waiting to check out, regularly cleaning the belts etc. Very good operation.
In those locations where they
In those locations where they charge for bags, will they continue doing so?
Virus or no just bag your own
Virus or no just bag your own groceries instead of standing around. Paper and plastic bags suck at their one job and are a waste.
Um ...
I haven't been in Roche Bros. for a week or so, so have no clue what's going on there, but at Wegmans in Chestnut Hill yesterday, they weren't letting customers anywhere near the cashier (and so the groceries), at least until after she/he had bagged everything and then you were allowed to quickly pay and leave. I've heard some stores are also installing plastic shields around cashiers.
Social distancing: It's not just for people strolling around a pond.
Just take whatever bags they
Just take whatever bags they give you to your car and repack the stuff in your own bags.
Car?
You assume a bit much in a city where a substantial percentage of folks don't own them.
But you can do the same on a bench so you will have something sturdy enough to actually carry home.
Repacking is way more
Repacking is way more important if you bike or walk. A paper bag would break on the first bump on my ride home.
If I were driving, I might skip the bags entirely.
Do you even shop at Roche
Do you even shop at Roche Bros? Sheesh, okay use the bench then. At their store in Roslindale, they actually did home delivery, and Buddy and Pat were upstairs in the office, keeping a peek on the joint!
Sure, bench, cart, ground, whatever
I don’t have a car and usually have to repack my bags to carry home. Pretty easy to figure out an alternative to repacking in a car.
At Symphony Whole Foods
This morning, customers who brought a bag were asked to bag their own, while cashiers/baggers handled bagging into store paper bags. I noticed they did not have any reusable bags on display for sale.
Here's an idea - unless you
Here's an idea - unless you're elderly or disabled, DON'T have anyone bag your groceries in the store, either with bags you bring, or their own. Instead, after distancing yourself from the cashier, just put the groceries back into the cart or basket, (which you have hopefully already wiped down with sanitizer) without bagging them. Bring them out to your car, wipe each item down with wipes as best you can, THEN bag them with the re-usuable bags you have kept in the car, which have been wiped or cleaned beforehand. Also, try to wear latex gloves while you handle your items. You can discard them after the bags are loaded and put into the car.
If you just have a basket and your are walking your groceries home, keep your empty washed, cleaned bags in a shoulderbag, take the basket out of the store, and load your bags after leaving, ideally after having wiped down each item.
You want to be out of the store as quick as you can while having as few people as possible touch your groceries, and you want those groceries wiped down before you get home. Give attention to perishables first - non-perishables can be put aside for a few of days (maybe in your basement until they are needed). If they are needed before 3 days expire, wipe them down too.