I wonder why it is that people fail to think things through to what should be their natural conclusion. And I suppose, in this particular instance it is because people feel harried, they are tired, and stressed and feel that any additional obligation others may press upon them is unfair. The customer, in this instance, is not always right, but sometimes appears to be.

As when, for example, I do my weekly shopping. As I did yesterday afternoon, at the supermarket I'm most accustomed to shopping at. It prides itself, so it says, on its basic nature. Which means, in large part, the client, the customer, the shopper must be prepared to look after themselves. No one packs up your purchases; that is left for you to do. And it's surprising how many food items a family of two elderly people can come away with. Requiring packing.

There are items that are awkward, heavy and others that are fragile, requiring care how they're packed. In some ways I prefer to do my own packing. Years ago I bought three plastic carriers, plastic webbed boxes as it were, in which to carefully plunk down my groceries. Each weighs considerably when they're filled and have to be lifted into the shopping cart to be wheeled outside. I do this because my husband waits in our car with our little dog who isn't keen on being left alone.

I do it because I don't mind, and because I'm perfectly physically capable of exerting myself to equal the measure of the activity required. And there's some satisfaction in doing the shopping, acquiring all the necessities of food preparation for a week of breakfasts and dinners - we eschew lunch altogether, and have for many years. The complicating factor in all of this is that I take along an extra plastic bag (rather than pay the five cents charged at the cash register) acquired elsewhere to fill with non-perishable food items.

Those items are meant for deposit in the large metal cage that sits at one corner of the store entrance vestibule. Since that metal cage was finally installed over a year ago I've been faithfully depositing bags of groceries for the local Food Bank each week. It's a badly needed donation, I know. I usually select tins of tuna, of ham and chicken, cans of beans and spaghetti, and boxes of dehydrated macaroni and cheese, and soups. The bag gets full and it's heavy.

When I'm placing all my purchases on the moving platform for the cashier to run everything through, I place that full bag there for her (or him as it happens) to withdraw the items, run them through the cash, and replace them in the bag. Most are happy enough to do that "for me", and I'm grateful and tell them so. Some appear to resent the additional work involved in emptying the full bag then restocking it with the items meant to be deposited for the Food Bank.

They know that this is its destination, because they've long been accustomed to seeing me and the bag. In a sense, the cashiers are not doing this "for me", but for themselves since this is what they are employed to do, with a little modification, and by extension, to benefit those people in need who are able to procure some needed food items from the Food Bank.

In the past I've tried other methods, just keeping the additional items loose, but sometimes they become mixed up with the other things and it's a nuisance. I found, by trial and error, that it's easier and more expeditious to fill up the bag and just hand it to the cashier. Some are cheerful about it, others infinitely less so.

Perhaps it's up to me to become more philosophical about human nature and take it as it is.