(no subject)

[fredericks]

So I'm shopping in Duane Reade, perusing the "feminine hygiene" section (which, in this store, shares an aisle with the contraceptives in the far back of the basement), and I pick up my product of choice. I bring it to the cash register, the cashier cheerfully rings it up, and then she bags it separately before adding it to the bag with the other items I purchased.

Why do they do that? Is it part of store policy, to separately bag anything having to do with reproductive organs in an additional white plastic bag, adding to the death of the environment but theoretically protecting the buyer from public...scorn? ridicule? acknowledgement that women do go through menses every month? that people attempt to engage in safe sex? or that we all have cho-chas and wee-wees? I don't get it.

I can see the puritanical mindset when it comes to, say, my purchases from Babeland. I don't want the folks on my train to know how exactly I'm getting my rocks off. But I don't mind if they know that I'm on my cycle. Or that I'm getting some. Wanna put that stuff in translucent bags with LEDs? Feel free. Just don't bother to waste the extra plastic on me.

Comments

[anogete.livejournal.com]

Ewww, icky period stuff. During my cashiering days, there were never any rules about special bagging for the feminine hygiene products. Motor oil and a bag of apples didn't go together, but nothing wrong with bagging the tampons with some cereal. Maybe some people think of tampons or pads as in the same realm with cleaning supplies--not safe to mix with food.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

I know, right? "You've past puberty, now all products you use related to it must be hidden."

Maybe some people think of tampons or pads as in the same realm with cleaning supplies--not safe to mix with food.
Bwah! Somehow, maybe not so much.

[mysticalchild_isis]

Perhaps they think that menses are contagious? The whole industry is really odd.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

I do think it's a generational thing. I need to start keeping track, seeing how the younger clerks bag things.

[akamine_chan]

When I first moved to New Mexico, years ago now, I went condom shopping with a friend. We looked high and low in every aisle but couldn't find any condoms. At that point, we were really fearing that they didn't sell them in this particular store.

Eventually, we ended up asking a clerk, who directed us to a specific aisle and there we found brown lunch bags, unmarked, stapled shut and hanging on a rack. Inside each bag was a box of condoms, but there was no way to tell type or brand, let alone cost or number of condoms. It was like a guessing game...

It was the most bizarre thing I'd ever experienced in relation to contraceptives...

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

Wow. That IS bizarre. I do know some brands of condoms do have very explicit boxes, but the bland American ones tend to be pretty straightforward. As if no one would know what's being purchased when you bring a brown-wrapped box to the counter.

[darker-one.livejournal.com]

I'm with you. If I don't mind walking around the store holding my tampons, why do I need to leave the store with them all double bagged?

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

I know! There's modesty and then there's somewhat antiquated ideas of propriety, imo.

[paradise-city.livejournal.com]

I love everything about this post, just so you know. :)

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

Well thanks. :)

[emily-goddess.livejournal.com]

Damn it, you are supposed to be ashamed of your bodily processes. ASHAMED!

I'm wondering if they also do this for other potentially embarrassing items. Buy some Preparation H or Immodium and see if you get the double-bag treatment.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

I went to that same store to purchase some more "feminine products," had a different clerk (older gent, appeared and sounded like he was of Southeast Asian descent. He didn't bag the product in a separate bag, but he did double bag everything (three items in total, bulky but not heavy), ignoring my assertion that I didn't need two bags.

I'll have to try to Prep H thing. I did buy Tucks pads and those were single-bagged.