U

U-Boat n. See U-CART, below.

U-Cart n. A regular RUNNER, but without a shelf, thus having the overall shape of the letter U. Also FLOAT, GLIDER.

Upromise^SM n. An free, independent, third party subscription/membership program which potentially accrues (usually small) percentages of moneys paid for selected PRODUCTS and SERVICES to go towards college or school expenses.

NOTE: Selected PRODUCTS around the STORE have an additional, distinctive small blue and yellow shelf tag identifying their affiliation with the Upromise^SM program. The tag features the Upromise^SM logo and wordmark, along with the message, "Buy this item and SAVE for college," as well as their internet address, upromise.com.

According to that website, it's a simple four step process:

1. "JOIN Upromise^SM for free to save"
2. "REGISTER your credit cards and rewards cards" (e.g., your STORE BONUS CARD)
3. "SHOP for products and services you already love"
4. "EARN a portion of your spending for college or your school automatically"

Could be a great program. Me? Personally, I'm a little leery of sharing credit card information, etc. over the Internet. And, we have to ask ourselves, what's their business model? Most likely they're turning around and selling the information they collect about you and your shopping habits.

My advice: judge for yourself. For more information about Upromise^SM, see:
^{http://www.upromise.com/}

U-Scan n. Doubtless from "You Scan." A CUSTOMER-operated checkout area, where a number of checkout SCANNERS, scales, and bagging areas are overseen by a single operator from a central station.

UFCW n. United Food & Commercial Workers. See UNION, below.

Union n. A collective barganning body which negitiates contracts on behalf of its members. See also SHOP STEWARD.

NOTE: Some STORES, like mine, are closed shops, meaning that if you're hired, you have to join the local Union. Thus I'm a member of UFCW Local One—that is, United Food & Commercial Workers District Union Local One. They negotiate the contract we agree to work under, including all terms, like length of BREAKS, lunches, benefits, and so on. Union dues are automatically deducted from your paycheck.

UPC n. Universal Product Code. The BAR CODE used by SCANNERS to identify PRODUCTS and PRODUCT information such as its PRICE at checkout.

NOTE: No LABEL on that jar or package? Yep, it's STORE DAMAGE. However, you now have a job to do.

If possible, look for another of the same ITEM in the same CASE or on the SHELF that does have its LABEL, take your MARKER, and carefully copy the entire UPC onto the glass, including the tiny first and last single digits. That wat the RECEIVER knows exactly what it is when you put it into the STORE DAMAGE shelf on the RACK.