I can’t begin to tell you the number of times a cashier fails to understand what “two double paper bags” means.

As a teenager I worked in checkout and never had a problem understanding the concept of “two double paper bags.”

But it just blows my mind that this simple instruction goes over the head of so many employees working at the checkout lanes.

I say that I want my items in “two, double paper bags,” and instead of understanding this to mean four bags total (two bags, each doubled up), she or he thinks it means one double bag or two single bags.

  • I speak loud enough to be heard, and my voice is clear.
  • How is it that these full-grown adults are getting this wrong?

Before you insist that maybe these employees are mentally handicapped, I assure you, they are NOT.

If you were a store manager, would you hire a mentally handicapped person for a cashier position? Of course not.

Thus, it’s logical to assume that these employees would score in the normal range on an I.Q. test.

But scoring in the normal range on an I.Q. test doesn’t always mean that a person can’t be one of the dimmer bulbs on a tree.

Intelligence of Cashier vs. Bagger

Often, the employee who can’t figure out what “two double paper bags” means is the one who’s operating the cash machine!

Furthermore, I’ve noticed that sometimes, the person who has the job of only bagging the merchandise will be operating the cash register the next time I’m there!

So I don’t believe for a moment that these people have some kind of intellectual disability – in the true sense of the word.

However, what in the devil makes it so difficult for them to understand what “two double paper bags” means?

Every so often the cashier or bagger proceeds to put the items in two SINGLE bags. Or, they’ll try to stuff everything in one double bag.

I mean, come ON, this isn’t rocket science, people!