on the bagging of groceries

You probably read a post title like this one and think, "Not of general interest," but hear me out.

I recently went to Trader Joe's, as our supply of fresh fruits and vegetables had dwindled to a few carrots and a half a red pepper.  Incidentally, Trader Joe's is my favorite place to do the grocery shopping... love that store.

 I had Nell with me, happily snoozing in the Ergobaby carrier while I shopped.  At the checkout counter, the man ringing up my purchases thanked me for bagging my own groceries (as I often do at that store; they don't usually have a second person bagging them for you).  He then commented that he's noticed that it's usually the women that shop there that bag their own groceries, and most often mothers with one or more young children in tow.  It's because women are forced to learn how to multi-task more than men are, he theorized.  He regularly sees women with a baby in a baby carrier or a young child by the hand, bagging their own groceries and then carrying everything out to their cars singlehandedly.  I asked if men bag their own groceries, and he replied, "Almost never."

Then I asked if he bags his own, to which he answered, "Always!  I don't trust anyone else to do it."

Which brings me to the second half of this post.  

I hope this isn't a controversial or offensive topic.

When I shop at places like Stop & Shop or Shaw's, the people bagging my groceries usually do indeed do a terrible job.  Sometimes it's putting a bag of apples on top of a soft loaf of bread, or peaches on top of lettuce, or sometimes it's just that they use way too many bags for my items -- I've literally found a carton of eggs or a loaf of bread in a bag all by itself.  

I would just ask to bag my own groceries, but here's the thing: Often the people working these jobs are handicapped.  I'm glad they have jobs, and I don't want to undermine their work by demanding to do my own grocery bagging.  However, I also don't want squashed bread, bruised fruit, crushed lettuce, and extra bags going to waste.

I'm hoping I'm not the only one who's encountered this conundrum.  

So.

Do you bag your own groceries?

Are you a man or a woman?

{just curious on that one, if the guy's theory holds true or not}

Would you rather eat a bruised apple and support your grocery store employing the handicapped, or politely decline the assistance and bag your own groceries, even if someone is already there beginning to bag them for you?