Bagatelle

I wrote this before the introduction of the 10p charge for a re-useable carrier bag. The urgent need to reduce the use of plastics in eveyday use and the environment makes the multiple use of shopping bags more important than ever.

Choosing the perfect accessory to go shopping is a critical issue nowadays. I have been all ready to set off but have been thwarted by indecision and angst about the finishing touch to my attire.

I am talking about the selection process over what plastic carrier bag to take along.

I have a good collection of the things, always have but then that stems from the days of dog owning when a few bags squirrelled away in coat pockets were invaluable.Habits honed over 18 years of poop scooping do not get dropped overnight. On one very wet expedition with my two daughters, when they were very small we all ended up, dogs included, huddled in a steamed up telephone box awaiting the arrival of my wife in the car. In the mad dash through the storm to the place of refuge the girls had made good use of an extra waterproof layer in sporting fetching tabards made from Sainsbury plastic bags retrieved from the darkest depths of my Helly Hansen cagoule.

The big weekly shop was the opportunity to replenish the bag supply and the children were well trained in packing as few items as possible in each bag to maximise numbers. We were awash with the things briefly but they were soon used up and off we would soon be off again to restock under the guise of structured shopping.

We were regular customers at the local Sainsbury Supermarket but only because it was convenient and after a while we knew our way around the aisles which ultimately saved a lot of time in filling up the trolley.

It appears that there is quite an element of snobbery in the UK over where you shop and research in recent years has shown that more than half of Britons felt that their choice of supermarket was a reflection of their place on the social ladder. Just over 10% of those partaking in the same survey expressed a belief that you could appear more affluent by frequenting certain stores and to back this up the average UK citizen actually spends an extra £260 a year just to be seen amongst their aspirational peers.

Top of the tree in prestige is of course Waitrose with the distinctive green carrier bag displaying to casual observers that you are potentially a career professional, discerning shopper and one who places high priority on price as an indicator of quality.

Second in the league table of supermarket snobbery comes Sainsbury's in the orange bag corner followed by Tesco, Asda and Morrisons. The store whose mantra is "every little helps" is regarded as being of very broad appeal attracting families with large discounted quantities of everyday household goods, OAP's with frequent rotation of useful bargains and the price conscious which, under inflationary conditions in the economy, includes just about everyone else.

Tesco pride themselves on a store in every postcode district and it is said that every one pound in eight spent in the UK is through their tills.

Asda are the champions of hard working families originating from the former coalfields and heavy industry areas of the country and have also recently moved into developing smaller local stores to match the Tesco saturation tactics.

Morrisons in their yellow bags attract more close knit community types and since their integration with Safeway there is a widening of appeal to those defined as rural isolationists.

Of all the main supermarkets perhaps only the Co-Operative maintain an ethical and equitable image in their distinctive logo embossed bags.

After the big six come the pretenders who struggled initially to get recognition and acceptance mainly because of their European style and product ranges in spite of Brits not hesitating to go to a Lidl or Aldi whilst on their summer hols abroad to get those chocolate sandwich biscuits, Ritter Sports and strangely named crisps and savouries. Netto, the Danish supermarket, is regarded as being at the bottom of the pecking order and has suffered from many stereotypical misrepresentations. How much has changed in the last five years in the people's league table of preferred places to shop.

It is an undeniable fact that in our choice of regular supermarket we may argue the case for frugality, economy, ecological ethics and convenience when we, ion reality, base it on the desire to mix and match with "nice people just like us".

So next time you reach for a plastic carrier bag on your way out to the shops just give a thought as to how you want to be perceived by the public at large.