Austrian supermarkets (regardless of chain, branch, cashier – tried them all) only value you as a customer until the moment your shopping reaches the barcode scanner. After that they cannot wait to get you out. The rush to have your bag packed by the time the cashier finishes scanning the items gets me hot under the collar every time. As soon as the items go on the conveyor, the adrenaline starts pumping - it doesn’t matter how you pack the bag, you just have to get the stuff in and go. If you’ve paid but haven’t finished packing, the cashier won’t wait – all of the next person’s items get shoved down the packing area amongst your stuff, which often proves to be a nightmare for the very privacy-conscious Austrians who are ever so reluctant to engage in any social interaction with strangers. Those who are slower with their packing are persecuted harshly with sharp, directed sighs. They may even try to mobilise you with a snarl. God help you if you forget to bring your own plastic bag. In fact, due to supermarkets’ refusal to make any more than about ten shopping baskets available, I have even seen old women unpack their shopping onto the conveyor belt from an old plastic bag, only to risk a stroke when trying to repack it with furious speed seconds later.
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