Say what you will about Star Market. At least they know what the Internets are for. Seems the Mt. Auburn Star was prepared for Paul and his TV-screen flashmobbers yesterday: Not only were three cops waiting for them, but the store made sure all the registers were manned to keep his band of merry pranksters from gumming up the works - because they'd heard all about it via a copy of the e-mail Paul'd sent out:

... They put on extra cashiers to deal with a possible agitprop Armageddon! That's money out of their pocket, folks! We also helped shoppers by shortening their lines - in effect, we gave them customer service they never could have dreamed of on a Saturday.

At the checkout, with my greeting card rattling around in my otherwise empty hand basket, I stared at the checkout TV. A woman with a full cart came up in back of me. "G'head," I told her.

"But, you've only got one item," she reminded me.

"S'ok." I pointed to the TV. "This is really good." Reluctantly, she moved ahead of me. ...

Earlier:
Flashmob at the Star Market!

Paul's putting together a flash mob for a local Star/Shaws this Saturday at noon. Yes, of course he has a reason - to convince the chain to keep all those wonderful TVs that seem to go mostly unwatched:

I fear that if customers don't start paying attention to these screens, they'll take them out of the stores. I don't know about you, but I cannot bear to think about a world where you can't watch TV in the supermarket. ...

Depending on how many show up, you'll either congregate around the biggest TV in the store or break into groups at each TV:

Then...we watch TV, discuss the programs, take notes, pull staffers aside to ask what aisle these products are in, get annoyed because other customers are jostling us or talking too loudly to hear it. Or anything else you can come up with. If the crowd is huge, I'd love to place people in the checkout lanes who will keep letting people get in front of them because they just can't take their eyes off the screen.

The mega-humongo-hyper-huge Star Market on Rte. 1 in Dedham has a freezer section that seems to stretch for about a mile. And a good thing that is, given that whoever designed it apparently had a warehouse full of exclamation points they had to do something with.

Sarah wonders when the Auburndale Star Market decided to hire crazy people, specifically, the bagger who starts yelling at her when she tries to use the self-checkout line:

... "Hey miss! are you trying to put me out of a job?"

"um, no", i said (not quite realizing the crazyness)

"yes you are. you want my job!" he said, narrowing his eyes, "you ALL of you want my job!" he motioned to them people using the scanners in front of mine ...

And then a co-worker joins in ...