Q: As a chemically sensitive person, the ink on the receipts makes me ill when it touches my skin. Could you encourage all cashiers to fold the receipts ink-side inward so I don’t have to handle this? They all fold it ink side out and then hand it to the customer. Many thanks for your attention to this and accommodations.
A: Thanks for writing! Our receipt paper is actually a thermal paper that is impregnated with a coating that changes color when it is heated, thus producing the print that you see on your receipts. While it requires no ink, it could possibly be the chemicals used to coat the paper (in doing research, the most commonly used chemicals to treat thermal paper are a combination of fluoran leuco dye and an octadecylphosphonic acid) that are giving you the adverse reaction. If you feel comfortable in doing so, please don’t hesitate to let your cashier know of your chemical sensitivity and they will be happy to give you your receipt in any manner that works best for you, whether it be folding it in a way where the printed side does not come in contact with your skin, or putting it in a separate bag or envelope. We will continue to look into the specifics of the receipt paper that we use and what it can potentially mean for our chemically sensitive customers. -Jesse Thurber, Assistant Front End Manager
OMG. i could scream! dude! lady! what?! the ink on the paper makes you ill??? wear goddamn gloves. it's winter anyway. and i love that there's actually no ink involved. but i'm saddened to think that poor sap jesse thurber even researched what chemicals make up the coating on the paper. and why do people feel the need to write in about something like this? just speak to the human being on the other side of the conveyor belt! i'm sure they can help you brainstorm a fine alternative to having to handle your receipt. i HOPE there's some asshole out there who writes comments like these just to mess with people like me. and if so - you're a goddamn genius.Q: What is so hard about stocking plastic soup spoons? I haven’t seen one in over a month. Eating soup with a teaspoon is a drag.
good lord. that was worth putting pencil to paper? and dude/lady could have been kinder and more to the point. "please stock soup spoons consistently." done. none of that "what a drag" stuff or "what's so hard about..." attitude.Q: How about some hand wipes at the door when you exit?
A: I have been trying to find sanitizing wipes that are not ridiculously expensive and are environmentally friendly and haven’t had any luck. So, I have decided to just purchase the Purell brand. They should be available for use by the time this goes to print. -Jim Jirous, Maintenance Coordinator
of course there's more...
Q: Please shift the little packets of gummy bears up out of sight of kids-my daughter picks them up every time. In bulk section. Thanks.
A: Thank you for your suggestion. Unfortunately with the recent reset, the gummy bears are at a low level in the Willy Pack set. We will consider moving the up in future resets. -Jesse Jensen, Grocery Coordinator
perhaps the coop will decide to only stock lima beans, brussels sprouts and porridge on bottom shelves, for your ease in parenting.Q: Kindly advise your cashiers not to shove food towards customers in an effort to make them bag groceries more quickly. It’s a bit indecorous. Those items are food that we’ve spent our hard-earned money to buy. It feels a bit like being mistreated. I know you don’t employ baggers in order to keep costs low, and I have no problem with bagging (in fact I enjoy it) but a note to the cashiers: patience please.
i totally give a shout out to the follow-up guy/gal, though i would have chosen to end it with, "get a life, you tool..."Q: We love your baked goods. How about zucchini bread? Tasty little loaves! (We would love your reply to also be in haiku form.)
A: We welcome feedback And wonderful ideas. Keep your eyes open.
-Josh Perkins, Kitchen Manager
I think the attitude of a lot of coop members is like "Well, we're members, which means we're part owners, which means we get a say in every little thing." And for the most part, the coop does an exceptional job of catering to billions of individual needs. But shit like this (the ones you included in here) are just stupid.
Did you follow that months-long series of letters from the person/people who wanted the coop to stop selling meat because this particular customer was vegan? They were really nasty and unkind. Barf-o-matic. Everybody needs to chill the eff out...
I love that you link to the employee's myspace. You rock. Thanks for making us all giggle in my office this a.m.!
When life gives you lemons...
Q: I have a question for the Juice Bar. In my old hometown there was a guy named Don Schrader who drank his own urine. My question is whether we (the Co-op) could get the equipment necessary to provide this service here; maybe some kind of facility where people could collect their urine here in the store and then have it brewed into a drink of sorts. It would be much healthier than coffee!!
A: Thank you for the suggestion. While this is a tradition in some societies and there are claims of great health benefits, there are no well-supported studies backing these claims up. Add to that the fact that our Health Department (and me) spend a great deal of time and energy ensuring that bodily fluids stay out of our customers’ food and I can guarantee that this will not be a service we offer. -Dan Moore, Prepared Foods Manager