grocery-store interface question

[cellio]

[I posted this and then edited it, and the edit attempt failed with just "error" and the post disappeared. Maybe it's really gone; maybe it's not.]

Today, as I approached the checkout lines with a dozen bagels, my salad, and a few other things, I found myself wondering about the specification of "12 items or fewer". (Fewer! They actually said "fewer" instead of "less"!) I assume they do not mean 12 individual items no matter how packaged, else you could never go through with a case of pop or a bag of potato chips. So do they mean 12 scannable things, or 12 items at the smallest unit size sold? Would my dozen bagels be ok in a pre-packaged bag with a UPC symbol but not if the clerk had to type in "12 @ [price]"? Or is the fact that it generates a single line on the receipt what matters?

These thoughts brought to you by "total items: 20" on my receipt, a need to maintain my reputation as a pedant, a desire to test posting by email, and caffeine deficiency. :-)

Comments

[zare-k.livejournal.com]

I usually translate "item" as "thing that must be scanned/coded". So your 12 bagels count as one item. I usually count something like n loose bottles of soda as n items, even though they could be treated as n x 1 scan.

[cellio]

That makes sense -- number of discrete items that come down the belt.

[ironangel]

I agree. so, to my brain, if you stick 3 loose bagels in one bag, it's one. if you stick each in an individual bag, it's three.

having worked as a cashier, mapping item -> scan makes sense...