Baggravation

A few days ago I stopped into Staples to pick up a 2009 blotter calendar. It's not for my desk; rather, it hangs on a door in our kitchen, and we use it to keep track of things like the recycling schedule, when the dog needs her heartworm and flea/tick meds, our haircut appointments, and other general household stuff. I like using one of these because it's cheap (less than $5), easy to read, and has lots of space.

In order to make it an easy errand on my way home from work, I went to the store on Winter Street in Downtown Crossing. The in-town Staples stores tend to be small and sort of lame (the one on Park Drive is much bigger, but it's somewhat out of the way), but this is a pretty basic item so I figured they'd have it, and they did.

I took it to the counter to pay. The cashier rang me up, gave me my change, and walked away. She didn't ask me if I wanted a bag, but the calendar is 17" x 22" so I figured she'd gone to get one in a larger size. But she didn't come back at all; instead she busied herself with some other task at the far end of the counter.

There was another cashier down the counter a bit who was momentarily free, so I stepped down to him and held up the calendar. "Do you have a bag for this, please?" He looked at me and, with a completely straight face, said, "No. If you want me to fold it in half, I could fit it in a bag."

I was at a loss for words. I completely didn't know how to respond. First, I couldn't believe he was serious. Second, I couldn't believe that Staples didn't have any bags large enough to hold the calendar. There are plenty of other items in the store that are larger than a standard-size plastic shopping bag, and when I'd bought a calendar last year I was given a large bag. It crossed my mind that maybe they're trying to get by without larger bags in order to save a few bucks.

This experience wouldn't have bothered me so much, but since this store is downtown, I suspect that the majority of people shopping there are either on foot or taking the T. I had to go get on the T at rush hour and make it the rest of the way home with this large, awkward thing under my arm, trying not to hit other passengers with it and hoping it wouldn't get bent.

Well, Staples can get bent. I sent an email to customer service about it, but I've heard nothing in return. Consequently, this reiterates and reaffirms my hatred of Staples, which I mentioned last February. From now on, I'm going to avoid shopping there if at all possible.