Day 4 since the installation of the debit card machines and OTBKB wants to know how it’s going. The weekend is the busiest time at the Coop (I NEVER set foot in there on Saturday or Sunday). I would Expect extra long lines.
My guess is that it will take a few more weeks for everyone to adjust to this change. Don’t forget, Coop workers work every four weeks for only 2 hours and forty five minutes. That means every three hours or so there are new workers doing check-out.
It’s like "Groundhog Day." Wake up and start all over again.
I know the check-out folks have been trained. But it takes awhile to get the hang of anything new.
The Coop is a bit of a miracle in the way that it works as well as it does. It’s an amazing machine. I am convinced that this change will greatly improve the quality of service to members.
Eventually.
I used to belong to the coop. I was a member for almost 2 years. Despite a few sour apples, I found that most of the members were nice and easy to get along with. I enjoyed the communal atmosphere and all the things I learned about food and nutrition.
However, I left when I got a new job. I used to be a freelancer which meant I was able to do both my work shift and shop during less crowded times of the day. Now I’m working a regular 5 day work week which means I would have only been able to shop and work at the coop during the most crowded times of the day.
It’s a major issue as far as I’m concerned and I’m sure it is for other members, too. The main reason for joining the food coop (despite the widely accepted belief that it’s because of a shared values system pertaining to the politics of food) is that you can get good quality, organic and non-organic products at cheap prices.
The truth is, when you factor in all the time you have to spend there negotiating crowded aisles, waiting on long lines and working your 2 hour and 45 minute monthly shift, it’s not cheaper. Time is money… factor that in to the equation and you’re probably paying more for your food then you would if you shopped at Fairway for instance. Let’s say you’re a freelancer who bills $50 an hour. The mandatory work shift means you’re missing out on an opportunity to make almost $150 a month. Factor in the other time/crowd issues and it’s even more money. It just doesn’t make sense unless you’re at the coop because you truly believe in the collective/kibbutz model.
Also, overtime, there was a change in the attitude of the membership, especially in those obsessed with rules. The coop ceased to maintain a friendly, welcoming environment. People became more concerned with the letter of the law then the spirit of the law. In a communal, socialistic experiment such as the Food Coop, shouldn’t it be the exact opposite?
From time to time, I hear the same complaint about the coop. It goes something like this: “They were negative…”, “They were rude…”, “The people who work there were obnoxious…”, etc. Usually after the offended person has this horrible experience, they decide not to join the coop and/or never return again.
I don’t blame them, really. Who wants to deal with that crap? But what they don’t understand is that the asshole they dealt with is only one person out of 20,000 members. They’re just a shy fraction of the total membership. The people working there rotate so often that the quality of interactions you have change depending on the day, time, and location in the store.
I’m not making excuses for the coop. I’ve been a member for 4 years and have had my share of unpleasantness with people there. But I just want to be clear: It’s not *the coop* in total that’s bad, just *some* of the people.
I recently attended a ‘learn and join’ meeting. This after almost 2 years of living in the neighborhood. I waited so long b/c when i first found out about the place and went in to learn about joining, the vibe was so negative, the woman behind the counter so aggressively being rude that I vowewd never to come back.
But I did. The meeting was too long by half. And the presenter kept us informed about his personal politics and by implication the politics of the coop almost as much as he talked about the quotidian workings of the place.
I’m a liberal, but I believe that politics and religion are matters of personal choice and not meant to be discussed in company.
The place is a backwards attempt at capitalism which fails on all fronts. It is a bit cheaper, but factor in the time you work, the time you wait in lines, the miles you miss by not being able to use a credit card, the hassle of trying to get there when it is undercrowded, no bike rack, no parking, aisles too small for carts, the carzy lines, the bullshit implicit in the politics and what you have is food that is, in my book, way more expensive than whole foods.
So, I didn’t join. And neither should you!
i worked today and it was a bit crazy – the debit system only takes some types of cards, so that was a bummer since they didn’t take mine, and the lines got to the longest i’ve ever seen, but for the most part, same as it usually is on a weekend.
This morning, about 7AM, short line was typical for that hour. There’s a list posted up front and at the checkouts of the debit cards which are working OK and the ones which are still problematic. In addition to Eliot’s observation, that if you get on line at the beginning of a shift, you’re waiting with all the people who just got off working and are shopping, I’d be fearful that all the people at the checkouts have just started doing it for the very first time, rather than having an hour or two experience.
Wow, the coop really inspires some complicated feelings. I don’t belong–I’m too lazy and have commitment issues–but really, why is it such a touchstone of raw emotion? Smartmom, I smell a column!!!
i went in there once and the people were so unwelcoming and made me feel beneath from for wanting to join. Like “we’re too exclusive for you”. So really tell me what is so great about it, that i have to put up with all that bullshit? If it’s between that bullshit and paying an extra dollar at whole foods, i choose whole foods.
the registers froze for 40 mins and people got angry?? wow, the nerve of people to become angry at a socialist-shithole experiment that voted to have atm’s 4 years ago and just gets around to installing them now. Why don’t you just call it the Park Slope Kibbutz?
There’s nothing like a business run by committee.
The best thing about the coop is that the people there (except maybe for some caught up in relationship issues, since it’s a rule that everyone in the household has to belong) want to be there. This is, of course, true for many of the places and organizations which are chronicled here and elsewhere, so what puzzles me is what about the coop inspires such anger?
you elitist scum, what’s so great about your precious co-op
I worked last night, and all the registers froze up for about 40 minutes. People got really impatient, which I thought was kind of ridiculous. It takes a while to iron out the kinks.
Otherwise the system works much better, and there’s now an extra register in the express line. Much faster than before if you use a debit card.
And you know, I think the coop is a great place, (and I don’t consider myself a nazi control freak.)
A tip or two for co-op shopping on weekends. The checkout lines get really long after 10:30 as the 8-10:30 shift goes shopping after their shift ends. So try to be on line before then. Also there is a break in the line between 12:20 and 12:40 or so (it’s true for Sundays and I’ll bet it’s true on Saturday as well). That’s when people would rather be eating lunch than shopping. Try to time things so that you are ready to check out then.
The weekend may be the busiest time (not so at 6AM opening, but fairly quickly thereafter) but the stress level is different. As someone mentioned a day or two ago, long, slow lines during the week have an impact on mealtimes, bedtimes/naptimes, and preparations for the next day.
The only thing I’ve heard so far which concerns me is that some people’s debit cards have been rejected. While I hope this is a small sample, I’d bring cash as a backup.
Four hours? Are you trying to scare potential members away? It’s two hours and forty-five minutes (or less if someone relieves you sooner!) every four weeks.
I agree that the coop is a miracle. There are a lot of changes in the Slope I haven’t loved,it’s probably what keeps me here.
“Coop workers work every four weeks for only four hours.”
Nope. It’s 2-3/4 hours, just SEEMS like four.