At the grocery checkout, after you have placed your items on the conveyor, is it courteous to place the plastic divider after your load, or should you let the next person do it?
by 
Alonzo Garbonzo
ANSWERS: 9
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I am usually courteous enough to do it for them...hence the word courteous that you and I used.
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I always do it for the person behind me. The divider is usually closer to the person who just finished placing their items on the belt, so by doing this it keeps the next person from having to reach awkwardly across to get the divider. I have noticed that people who are waiting to place their groceries on the belt also tend to interpret the divider being placed on the belt for them as a sign that the first person is done and they can begin to unload. I once made the mistake of thinking this woman was done unloading and was able to reach the divider so I put it down and began to unload so that the line could keep moving. . . BIG mistake! She wasn't done (she had sent her kid off to get all the stuff she had forgotten and was leaving room for it). She snapped "I am not done yet!" and picked up the divider and held it until she was. Wacko if you ask me. Personally, I think it's rude not to do it for the next person but that's just me. Hope this helps.
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I usually try to place it for the next person. If you are in the express line and they don't have a basket, their hands/arms might be full with their purchases and they don't have an extra hand with which to do it themselves. It's just one of those little considerate things that help the world run a little more smoothly.
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I have actually never used the divider, now that I think of it. A few times a person behind me will place it but more often that not there is a foot difference between my food and theirs and the cashier gets the idea.
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Putting the plastic divider behind your load was a traditional courtesy that I took for granted. The times a thoughtless shopper forgot were so seldom as to be scarcely noticed. The majority of shoppers now neglect this small gesture of consideration. I take this as a sign of a fundamental breakdown in our culture. When it started to happen more frequently in recent years, I was peeved. Now I keep my cool. I accept that loutish behavior is mainstream. Courteous, considerate folk like some of those who have answered this question are now in the minority. Now, when I'm in the grocery line and the shopper ahead of me uses the divider, I'm delighted. One of us! Huzzah!
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The divider is there for your convenience as well as the person behind you so that the checker doesn't start ringing up the others merchandise on your ticket and then you get held up. I actually never looked at it as being courteous, it saves me a hassle. Now if there is no one behind me and I've been waiting on the cashier to ring up my groceries, then someone comes up later and starts putting something on the conveyer belt they should put the divider up.
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If you do not want to pay for that persons groceries, then put the divider down. that's what it is for. the person behind you, may not be as consciencious as you and may only hope your forget. there are all kinds of people in this world. food costs a lot.
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The person in front should place the divider. It's an easy way to tell them that you've finished putting all your groceries on the conveyer belt and they can now start adding theirs on behind.
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See, I grew up in a time (and it wasn't so long ago) when those plastic dividers didn't exist. You put your food on the belt and the next person left a little space and put there stuff up there. In fact, I see those dividers as a signal that says, "This is mine! That's yours!" It's another in the long line of little isolations between people. Personal space has extended to the conveyor belt. We're all smart, we know whay groceries we picked out ten minutes earlier. There's no need to fence it in. That's just my take.
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