I’ve been a customer of Giant Foods my entire adult life, largely because my parents’ shopped most often at Giant when I was growing up, and so it was that chain of stores I’ve always felt most comfortable doing my grocery shopping in.

When I lived in Timonium, I frequented the Giant groceries in Hunt Valley and Lutherville. I think I first used the Hunt Valley store’s automated checkout lane in 2005, and if you ever want to see an almost entirely automated checkout process, look there. Of fifteen or so checkout lanes, maybe five weren’t automated.

These weren’t like little half lanes, either, these were full, long, checkout lanes, with a belt long enough that you could empty an entire cart onto it without filling it. You’d scan your items at the start of the belt, they’d pass under some sort of sensor-thing and then they’d be deposited at the end of the belt, where you’d bag them up.

Now, flash forward, and I’ve moved to Washington D.C. Here, also, I use two Giants: the first being the store at Van Ness. Being a fellow without a car, I quickly realized how much more comfortable the re-usable bags Giant sells are for people who are going to walk two miles home with their groceries, and it’s an investment I don’t mind making: the bags cost a dollar. When you use one of these bag, Giant takes five cents off your total purchase (per bag).

There’s a hitch, though: Giant’s re-usable bags aren’t usable with the automated checkout lanes. Now, I’ve only used the auto lanes at the Van Ness store once or twice, and both before I invested in these bags. Flash forward to today.

The other Giant I frequent is located at the corner of Old Georgetown Road and Rock Spring in Bethesda. I got my shopping: my American cheese, my ham, some bread, chips, hot cocoa, and as I made my way to the front of the store I realized with horror that the only lane open had a line about a dozen people deep. A manager in a purple shirt was asking people if they wanted to use the mini automated checkout lanes, so I said, “Sure!”

Because, I figured, I used the auto lanes at Giant Hunt Valley. I know the procedure! I can do this!

Well, and the technical stuff I figured out. I was okay with the scanning, and I was okay with paying and signing and all that hoo-hah. I was even okay not getting the $.05 off my order for using my beloved blue Giant bag. Where I had trouble, though, was the bagging.

The bagging? Seriously? Like I don’t know how to put stuff into my goddamn blue bag?

So since these mini-checkout lanes don’t have the space for one of the big sensor things like at Hunt Valley, there’s a weight scale on the shelf where you do your bagging. I don’t quite know what the logic is — I assume they’re worried people might try putting unpaid stuff from their cart into the bag — but the second I put my blue bag on the shelf, I was told that there was a weight error, and the machine froze until the manager swiped her card and set it right.

Essentially, if I wanted to use my blue bag, I’d have to put my purchases into the plastic bags on the shelf, complete the transaction, then transfer my items to the blue bag.

Seriously: what the fuck? How does that make sense? I have a hard time imagining that the Giant development managers who worked on this automated checkout lane couldn’t have figured out some way for a customer to clue the stupid computer in to the fact that a customer was using one, or more, reusable bags. At the very least, the stupid weight scale should be set to recognize the, y’know, weight!, of one of those reusable bags, so that customers don’t have to flag down a manager to set the machines to work properly.

When you pimp reusable bags, you need to actually encourage their use. Giant, your automated lanes discourage their use. Please correct this. If you won’t think of my poor, numb fingers, cold and brittle after carrying your cheap plastic bags the distance to my office, please, please, think of the environment.

Thank you.

the store at Van Ness, and the store on Old Georgetown Pike near Rock Spring Park, where I stop on Monday mornings for cocoa mix, bread, and deli cheese and meat for my work week lunches. As a fellow without a car, it didn’t take m