It's not like Talia Randle grew up dreaming of being the fastest grocery (食品杂货店)baggerin the West.
But when the 17-year-old university student started her first job this summer as a clerk at Metropolitan Market in Washington, US, her natural skills appeared according to store manager Glen Hasstedt, her coach.
Hasstedt has trained four Washington State Best Baggers. He said every great bagger has a few key talents.
"They have to be fast, have great hand-eye coordination (协调能力) and be competitive and focused." Hasstedt said.
Randle said bagging seemed natural to her and within a week of starting, co-workers were commenting on her speed.
"I enjoy it," Randle said. "Heavy things should be on the bottom, and everything should be standing up. It's a little bit like Tetris (俄罗斯方块) or a puzzle."
To represent Metropolitan Market at state level, competitors first have to be the winner in their store. They then compete against the best baggers in each of the company's five other local stores.
In bagging contests, competitors are asked to place a number of items into a certain number of paper bags.
Judging is based on four criteria (标准): how fast the items are bagged, whether the bags are filled in such a way that items inside remain standing when placed on a table, how evenly (平均地) the weight is distributed among the bags and whether the bagger has a good attitude.
In some contests, judges slice away (撕开) one side of the paper bags to make sure items remain standing. Hasstedt said. They're also looking to see if the bags are too full for a customer to pick up with on hand, he said.
Randle was a favorite to win the state competition. But once there, she was up against several very experienced competitors and had to deal with a loud audience that almost made her nervous.
"There were people wearing cow bells and yelling," she said. "It was loud."
That's where Hasstedt's mantra (原则) of "just stay focused and don't let things distract you" came into play, she said.
But Randle did what her coach told her and ended up winning the state title, filling three bags in 47 seconds.
