Charity Bypass

Ever find yourself going in to your local supermarket, getting to the checkout and then seeing someone standing at the bottom of your till, packing bags, with a bucket beside them and wearing a brightly coloured t-shirt? No? Ok then, you must not live in Ireland / UK ;-)

These guys are a bit like the car window washers at traffic lights. They'll give you a service you don't want or more importantly don't want to pay for. Do you have any choice whether you want your bags packed or not? Not really - they assume you do. 

In the days of free bags and plastic bags, collecting at checkouts was a routine occurance in supermarkets across the country. After the bag tax came in, these guys have been hit hard. In the past, if a bag was free, you'd take it even if you just had a packet of chewing gum.

These days, with the recession and all that, people won't bother with bags unless they really have to. Express checkouts also leave these bag collector people wondering what to do next...

Express checkouts aren't really big enough for two people and usually if you're at an express checkout, you don't need a bag anyway.

So a combination of technology and government taxes means we're slowing getting rid of this form of charity collecting. It's not as big as it once was, but it still happens and these guys will appear at peak times in large supermarkets (generally at weekends).

To avoid them, best do your shopping during the week, in the evening time.