So you think you can bag?

There will be a lot riding on Jordan Kessler Friday when the Solon native competes in the 2010 Iowa Grocery Industry Association’s Best Bagger competition at the Iowa State Fair. Kessler, 22, will be competing for the North Dodge Hy-Vee. The Hy-Vee company hasn’t won the competition since 2001, being shut out by Fareway for the remainder of the decade. That year was the last time the winner came out of Iowa City.

On top of that, the 2001 winner was Kessler’s father, Jeff Kessler, the frozen food manager at the North Dodge Hy-Vee. The younger Kessler said he isn’t feeling any pressure, though. “It doesn’t put any pressure on me,” the University of Iowa cinema student said Wednesday. “It just makes me want to do better so I can show him up. It’s a friendly rivalry, I guess.” Jordan Kessler will be competing against 17 other baggers across the state, including a bagger from New Pioneer Co-op in Iowa City. Kessler has worked for Hy-Vee for about five years, but he’s never been assigned to bagging. Instead, he started off in the garden center, then moved to the frozen food section to work under his father. “But I get called to bag when they need help when we have lots of customers,” he said.
The lack of experience shouldn’t hurt him though, Kessler said. The competition is a far cry from regular bagging and focuses on speed and weight distribution.
Kessler said his father has been giving him pointers. The younger Kessler also attended all of his father’s competitions, so he’s picked up a thing or two there. The father and son planned to stage some practice rounds at their Solon home Wednesday afternoon. “He wants to work on having the items spread out like they would be at the competition,” Jordan Kessler said. Despite being a former bagging champion and appearing in this year’s celebrity bag-off, Jeff Kessler said there’s no pressure on his son to bring home the gold his first time out. “It’s one of the few things I can still do better than him,” he said.

This competition reminds me of a scene from one the gayest movies ever, "Employee of the Month."
And the best douche-bagger in the state of Iowa goes to....

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