It might be a combination of the store's customer service policy, common courtesy, and just plain habit on the part of the bagger. You could always cut right to the chase and simply ask the person who's bagging your groceries the next time you buy milk. If you've been hoping to talk to that person, but didn't know what to say, it's worth a shot. Asking shoppers if they wanted milk to be bagged could be a holdover from one of the big recycling awareness campaigns of the 1980's or 1990's. Remember? At various times during the past 20 years, recycling was suddenly the cool thing to do. Everyone recycled everything possible. All grocery and drug stores adopted a conservative bagging policy. Not only did they want their plastic bags back, they wanted to give you fewer bags from the get-go. That's about the time the baggers started inquiring about the need for a bag when you bought milk. Ditto for other stuff with handles, like jugs of bleach, and anything as big as, or bigger, than the plastic bag, such as a large watermelon. Maybe the stores realized an economic gain from using fewer bags, but only a slight one. With a half-hearted attitude from management towards asking, baggers must have pretty much reverted to auto-bagging. Every now and then, though, it makes sense for the checker or bagger to ask. Say a gallon of milk is your only purchase. Whole, 2%, fat free - doesn't matter. It comes across as somewhat overzealous to bag that. The store wants to conceal the purchase? I'm proud when I buy milk, doggone it, and I like to show everyone. There will be other trips and other items they can hide on my behalf, but that's another story. Just hand me the jug, unencumbered by plastic. Allow us the brief illusion of freedom. OTOH, there's an air of incompletion when left unbagged. Without the subtle "transaction's finished" signal that bagging provides, there's an awkward silence, only stilled when either you or the checker says something to indicate finality. That's just too much stress, in my book. Your book, too, I bet. That stress can be avoided with a simple question: "Would you like a bag?" As for me, the next time someone asks, I'm going to say, "No thanks - just leave it in the carton. It sloshes out of the bag."

Following Jodie44's advice I asked a bagger. I had been itching to strike up a conversation but couldn't think of a way. The bagger told me some people don't like their milk in a bag. Picture irate shoppers accosting the store manager to yell about their milk getting bagged. A shopper told me it might be because the milk already has a handle, making the bag redundant. "I usually don't take mine in a bag," she told me, adding that it really doesn't matter either way. She wouldn't complain if the milk did get bagged. The handle on a milk jug is not really a carry handle, it seems to me. The handle facilitates grabbing from the fridge and pouring, not carrying. The beauty of strong thin plastic sacks is that you can hoist several in each hand. If the milk isn't bagged, you are limited to carrying just the milk in one hand. It could mean making an extra trip to the car. I pointed this out to the shopper I talked to. "Oh, I don't mind," she said. I decided that she was just playing along with the grocery company. The question implies that there is something objectionable about getting your milk in a bag. From my observation, the typical answer is "No, that's all right. Thank you." It's as if they are saying "Don’t make a special fuss over me. I'll take it without the bag." I sought a definitive answer from the company itself by calling the toll-free customer number. "I didn't know they asked," the friendly representative said. "They don't ask at the store where I shop. I don't know why you WOULDN'T want your milk in a bag. It makes it easier to carry." My point exactly. She confirmed that the milk-in-a-bag question is not a company policy. Pending further research, here is where it stands: At least some grocery stores are putting a lot of effort into an apparently pointless question, about as momentous as that other famous grocery store question, "Did you find everything O.K.?"

Milk is not sold in plastic jug containers everywhere. The most common packaging where I live is a plastic bag. Typically, three 1.33 litre bags of milk are packed in a larger plastic bag, making a package size of four litres. Plasticized (formerly waxed) cardboard containers are used for volumes of 2 litres and less. Ever since plastic bags (essentially) replaced paper bags in stores, clerks will ask if you want you milk put in a plastic bag. This is to prevent any milk getting on your other groceries in the event one of the bags leaks. Bags may sometimes also have milk on the outside, if another bag on the shelf has leaked.

I dont know about milk but there is an annoying trend with the question: "Do you want a bag?" asked in all kinds of stores, routinely, with the purchaser having more than two handfuls of stuff. Is there some kind of national bag shortage. It is THE most annoying thing at checkout. I even heard a manager admonish an employee saying "you dont have to ask that?" He is about the only manager in the country with any sense; it is an annoyance which is proliferating? WHat the hell am I supposed to do with my purchases?

Bagging milk defeats the purpose of bagging(unless you have the little cartons)- the items are palced in bags to make them easier to carry for the customers, but if you have a gallon of milk with a jughandle, bagging will make no difference and you will most likey take it right back out of the bag when you get home as you put it in your fridge. Also, bags cost the store money, and they try to conserve, however it is still offered as a courtesy.

I ask because alot of times people find it easier to carry it using the handle

I have never been asked this question in New York. Tbey put everything in a plastic bag. I usually buy a gallon jug at the Hess station around the corner for $1.99 because it is cheaper than the supermarket and I don't wait for a bag, I grab it off the counter and leave.

Plastic bags are harmful to the environment. Most customers don't know that plastic is made from Oil. Its a by product of the oil industry. Any time a grocery store can save a bag it is a small step toward protecting our environment. Not to mention we have soldiers dying so that we Americans can selfishly refuse to change. Do we really need those bags? The obvious answer is NO. All they do is fill up the land fills. I'm no tree hugger, but its ridiculous. Did you know that a seal who swallows a plastic bag will starve to death? Think about this the next time you take a plastic bag you truly didn't need.

The reason milk is put into bags is because milk is bought cold which means condensation occurs and can wet your car seat. It does not necessarily need a bag because it comes with a handle. I think stores ask because they only want to use a bag if it's necessary. If it's cold outside or if you don't care about condensation then you can forgo the bag and help save the environment one milk jug at a time.

Some people don't want a bag, so asking them is a courtesy. Some people do. I like my milk in a bag because the condensation on the outside of the jug + any dirt in my car or trunk makes a mess of the jug, especially if I visited the lawn and garden shop first. I am pleased when they ask me rather than having to ask them to put my milk in a bag.

I would think because of the condensation that builds up of the outside - it will dampen any cardbord articles that are next to it if not bagged

I think because it has a handle ... but I've also been asked if I want paper towels and toilet paper in a bag ... I think they're just trying to save $$ or help the environment.

Most milk these days come in a plastic jug with a handle. Some people would rather carry the milk by that handle whereas others would rather use the handles on the bag. I myself prefer no bag for milk the plastic handles on the bag cut into my fingers.