European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 31, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Magazine Conw town Baggert won Tow Lam at a a Tweh str Many. Commissary on the line . Kominicki staff writer hey work from a pair of Wood stalled benches slapped Dawn Between the commissary doors a not Quile Molloy Cine of Young and no longer so. The regulars and irregulars summer helps and after schooners students mothers and retirees. The line it s called the rotation. The jumping of spot Fot troops us the bag borne rangers handle an order and get Back on the Bench. Deliver the goods and head or the rear. Work live minuses and wait 15. Gel out of reads a Magazine and typed up near where the Baggis queue to which has Boon added. And you Are s o l " it is a strange Piole Sion bagging military Tjio Cenes 1o in is a Job hat Oiler r no pay. In place of salary. A kind of Brown bag Loulelia the Bagger bags the customer is supposed to tip and if a customer plotters no tip7 there tnond5, is the Gamble the Varuna la a turns otherwise honest work Mlo 3 game of Chance and Trio Odds apparently Are Rol so Good one if three customers the to a Nieh . ,.ir/ in kaisers Laulen cl3m, not a dime an j nov More leave jus i Cine it s Tough to d l Titis on 10 cent i they re a Good Bunch says head Badger Joe Leyten trom she business end of the number two checkout every once in a while a couple of them get a Lille wild and have to lighten up a Halle Mayhe Send one of them Home hut that s rare they re normally Good workers " Leyten was an air Force finance clerk who loft the service but never left Germany he sports a Fuller Brush thick Mustache and a Frame he keep Short of seed by humping groceries and coaching a Limite sol Ball. He s been Bagger Tor 10 years a decade of walking the sometimes thin line Between a manage Mcnol that does not pay him find a a group of baggers that mus him into pos Mion. The Luck i i lord p the Baggs in in Hal k of them Happy. ,.iys la s a trick in Tui mastered. 01 by his ii Nuiji j tits. Though event c in in inns vim a m 1hc wings can i gri.1. Nit Lvalion at it it 100 replacement in re up. Lead to mi.,. I it c moment i Oil. A irk i Joe s a1i Rii -.,-v a in to Iii n i. I ttii.1 line s undid i i let c a. nt.i1 has 10, Bill in. , . Pitt a Nill i a to i. I things yeah. Ii li.ll", Llull unionist thu Uii to i. T -.1 i " others tune out under Pockl sized headphones some catch snatches of the morning paper Jack assumes the role of soap Boi orator the John l Lewis of the line there it be scholarships Lor Young baggers to Deadpan a health plan and retirement Day care Lor the kiddies Rose you d go Lor iha1 " Tome might Well go Lor that As an air Force wife and Mother most of the tips she earns during Tho week go to a baby Sitter i work saturdays Tor she says i guess i could ust slay Homo during the she adds slowly As if weighing the idea out Tien id be stuck in the House alone Heie i m Cul and meeting people la s work bul it s consider i to Geometric possibilities and bagging is More than merely interesting allow or the packing permutations and in is a rubik s cube of canned goods and cup of soups. To dinners lucked alongside unwieldy packs of Lour ply paper towels. Eggs on lop and no bag too heavy produce Here. Pampers there sort it. Pack it and isolate Lii soaps All to the beep beep beep of the bar code computer la s noon on a thursday the Day before end of month checks show up at she Apo. The morning has brisk the busiest in weeks in act but in is still no record setter. Summers the baggers say Are slow too Many vacations too Many customers coming Back broke from All Hose Days Olf. Today As Wilh every weekday business will Slack Oil noticeably for 1he Neil hour or two As Tho soap operas hit the an airwaves general the baggers Call it Lime to got lunch or run errands themselves. Among those who decide to remain the Lalk As always centers around lips and lipping the Day s takes Ore counted and compared. No one is gelling Ich i had a woman Lead me to the far end of the parking says Lee. Another of the regulars. I Load her car and she pulls Oul a handful of German change then counts Oul 11 pennies Tor a lip i Lold her lady you Musl need those More than a so you keep them another Bagger. Chris displays a Quarter a Nick and a dime forty cells for two Lull Carls to the far endow the parking lol " on the Day in question Lee has already served a half dozen freebies customers who give no tip Al All a Lew classic horror stories untold. Including one about a customer who Tod her Bagger with a week s Supply of groceries in Tow around and around the parting lol before finally admitting thai her husband Musl have taken Ifie car. Jack digs through his pockets and produces k mine Bucks in Oik hours he says not very Good looks like i la be working tale today " Chris returns irom an order waving $7 thai s the other Side of she Sayr sometimes you get a really Good tip and in makes up Lor a couple of Tho Froe bics " the talk inevitably urns to to wanly Dollat Chapu a once a month Patron who has been known to leave 120 tips he s been Cormor lot years somebody in. He used to be called ten Dollar Cli Ailie " there ate Good Days and bad in the Barj my in. Slow Summers and profitable Days around thanksgiving arid coins Las Fred the assistant head Bagger holds whal lie the store Mark a record $72 in lips earned in a 9. Hour shift one payday bul i earned every Penny of in lit says to i1 Clay on Ilia hip Fred s other it copy Conj in Lii i is in g Tow allot a wive v -"1 Vav onto pint it s you. He say i from jul pc ii us Iti. Iii i i Pep corf it if i Jinx i Riet it. I adm. As an ,.him" Mirm-l.,. Titi ,. I p i. , j i i .1, a .1 it .1. I t i 1 is i i 1 in " r " -.i. T i i1 i. I. Ii.-. In,.,i i in .1-. I".,. I .1 if a
