On another sort of topic entirely I’d like to take a moment to recognize Krystal Smith, from Burlington, Vermont who has been crowned the nation’s top grocery bagger.

Bagging groceries is an art and I recognize an artist when I see them work, which I do not much these days unfortunately.  When I do run across someone who is a good bagger and hands me a compactly packed bag, heavy stuff at the bottom and no big spaces – a really well packed grocery bag – I make sure to compliment them because I think a lot of people don’t bother. You’ll see some snarky comments at the bottom of the article about grocery bagging but I tell you what I’ve suffered through a lot of otherwise intelligent, college educated or college bound baggers at Dan and Whit’s, the Co-op or Coburn’s Market and if you come up and tell me you think you’re too smart to bag groceries I’m quite likely to tell you that you may not be smart enough.

Congratulations Krystal! Well Done!