Shopping at Big Box Stores

Most of the time I enjoy shopping at those so-called Big Box stores, like Costco.  For several reasons.  

The prices are usually quite inexpensive when compared to retail supermarkets and stores in shopping malls.  

The place is so big that you do a lot of walking, which is good exercise.

There are usually ladies, and sometimes gents as well, serving free hot and cold samples of food items at the ends of the aisles. For those of meager appetite, it is possible if the timing is right to manage to eat a light meal by moving from one server to another.

You can find a number of electronic gadgets there, if electronic gadgets interest you, as they do me.  Just the giant televisions alone can occupy one's interest for a fair amount of time.  Likewise the digital cameras, laptop computers, cordless phones, and so on.

Unfortunately these Big Box stores also have some limitations.  On an average weekend, they can be very crowded, and the checkout lines are usually long (even with a full complement of checkers who are well-trained and fast).  Very often the lines are so long and winding that it's difficult to get into line with one's shopping cart.  (They also have large flatbed carts for people buying the big items, like leather sofas and even beds.  I suppose that's why these stores are referred to as 'Big Box stores'. )

Some shoppers behave in the Big Box store in a way that they would not in a regular store.  Here are some examples of such behavior:

Transferring all the best-looking fruit from a number of cardboard cartons to replace the less-than-perfect ones in the shopper's own carton.

A wife standing in a checkout line with an almost empty cart, communicating with her spouse by cell phone to find and fill her cart with a host of other items, just so she can preserve her place in line.

Leaving empty (or sometimes not empty) paper cups and food containers on any available flat surface, including on top of cartons and furniture, instead of dropping them in nearby trash bins.

You don't see shoppers doing stuff like that at Safeway or Macy's.  I wonder why.