The whole point of a trip to Costco or Sam’s Club (or BJ’s, okay, we see you too) on a lazy weekend afternoon is to eat as many of the free samples as possible — right?
Of course, right. And that’s completely fine, say the hardworking and patient people whose job it is to dole out little bites of frozen shumai and tiny cups of trail mix — but do we have to behave like animals? It’s one bite of free food, people.
And yet — cutting lines, pushing, shoving, blocking the aisles; it’s gotten so bad in at least one store, a sample demo worker took to Reddit to beg fans of the brand to do better.
The fed-up freebie hawker, who works for Club Demonstration Services, a third-party business that supplies Costco with sample-slinging manpower, came prepared with a list of suggestions they hope will help bring calm to chaos.
“I made the post as a way to both air some grievances in a non-confrontational way and also to inform people of some of the rules, since I find a lot of people don’t know how a lot of things go,” the worker, who posts on Reddit under the handle Beansy2000, told Eat This, Not That!
Their first suggestion — the golden rule, if you will — was that customers understand just how important it is to keep their hands off of anything on the pop-up table besides the samples themselves.
“Everything you touch, I have to either resanitize or throw away,” they said.
And don’t be helpful — don’t pick up an empty tray and hand it back to the worker. They’ll just have to waste more time sanitizing the tray. In a word, keep your grubby paws to yourself.
Other asks included being aware of one’s surroundings — what are you blocking, who is trying to get by, etc. — and not to play dumb regarding where the line begins. No cutting allowed.
And if a worker trying to play by the rules asks you to do something, or says there’s nothing available at the moment, don’t unleash the days frustrations on them — they’re just trying to do their jobs.
One of the more surprising things Beansy2000 related — some people will line up without actually knowing what they’re waiting for. Then, when they finally take the mystery sample, they realize they don’t want it.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had someone take a sample then toss it right in the trash,” they said.
Equally frustrated Costco members couldn’t help but chime in on Reddit.
“I’m probably in the minority, but I wish Costco would stop the samples. They just clog up the aisles and people seem to lose all self-awareness as they approach, leaving their carts blocking the aisles so others are impeded,” one fumed.
Others had tips of their own for their fellow, too often misbehaved members.
“Don’t forget to dispose of the wrapper/fork in the garbage bins. There’s probably at least two within 10 [feet] nearby. It’s so gross when people leave them on the shelves or in the cart,” one Redditor observed.
