Buying things in the U.S.

When we buy some things in a supermarket, there are some differences between the U.S. and Japan. People living in the U.S. use a big shopping cart and put food in it directly without a basket. This action is not seen in Japan, because we make use of a basket to stock food and goods on a cart. Then we carry them to a cashier and put just the basket with stuffs before her/him. In this situation I found the second difference. The American supermarket usually has a conveyer on the cashier’s desk. I was surprised at this. That machine is very useful, but on the other hand, it wastes energy. Compared to using peoples’ hand to check goods, it does not take as much time. That is the difference I can feel in a grocery.

Rie