GROCERY CLERKS AMONG FEW REALLY COURTEOUS.

Byline: Paul Orr  Local View

OK. I admit it. I'm a grocery store groupie. You know the type: Even though there are 12 double-24 packs of toilet tissue stacked in the garage, you never know when there's going to be a sudden shortage. And then there's that extra bag of chips for the big game on Sunday. What would I do if 25 of my closest friends arrived unannounced?

I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the smiling produce guy who saves all those apple boxes for your big move. Or it could be the friendly checker who knows my name even when my own Aunt Gladys can't tell me apart from my cousin Bill.

Heck, my daughter called my regular grocery store recently to remind me to pick something up. The guy she spoke to said, ``Paul? Drives a red Focus, right? Yeah, he's just leaving the parking lot now.'' Now that's a store that knows its customers.

Or maybe it's the cheerful way the cashier smiles and says, ``You've saved 58 cents today'' - making me feel like I've won the lottery.

So, when the news of the grocery workers' strike hit the presses, I was devastated. What would I do? Cross the picket line and spend time with replacements who force my eggs under the super-size box of detergent? I felt jilted, like the bridegroom left waiting at the altar.

But then I realized there was a lot more going on here than my needs and high caloric desires.

The fact is, there's a lot of hard work going on in these places. ``Customer service'' is a term bandied about these days by companies that hire people barely able to put two words together, much less people who really care about customers. Sure, there are some grocery workers who would rather be elsewhere than at their job, but, by and large, what I've found is that the people in the grocery industry really seem to care about their customers.

Many of them seem pretty darn sincere. Like the grocery clerk who went out of her way to help me find something in an unfamiliar store and said that finding things for customers was her favorite part of the job. She really cared about her customers.

And the attitude shows up in other ways:

``Sir, are you finding everything you need?''

``Hi, good to see you again!''

And, of course, that old, familiar standby, ``Thank you,'' that seems to be heard less and less these days in other venues.

It may not be perfect, but it's a step in the right direction in this world of monopolies and big chain stores that look exactly the same from town to town, coast to coast.

And so I will stand by the people who give me a choice of paper or plastic. The grocery workers have provided me with much more than food and convenience. In a world of mass automation, they've treated me like a human being. They've given me respect.

Now it's my turn.