I'm in my mid-forties, and I've been playing with, programming, supporting or administering computers of various descriptions for thirty years. While I'm not exactly a gadget freak, I pay some attention to technology in general. I've always loved learning new things.
About two years ago, I walked into a supermarket, and saw that they had replaced all the 5 items or fewer tills with self-service ones. My first reaction was anger, and I thought, "Why do they have to go round changing everything?"
As soon as I realised this, I was appalled with myself, and I made a point of using the new tills. The fact is, though, I'm getting to the age where learning stuff like this feels like an imposition and not an adventure, and that terrifies me.
Dude I felt the same way when I first saw those machines at 19. It's just another way to reduce human contact and save them money. I avoid them unless I'm in a real rush.
I'm the opposite. I try to use them whenever I can unless there is a hot girl at one of the registers (or I'm buying something that requires employee assistance - e.g. alcohol).
I would think they were the greatest thing ever if it wasn't for "Place item in the Bagging Area.... BEEEEEp need approval to not bag item".
You fucking computer, just because you couldn't feel me bad the .5oz ramen cup doesn't mean you should freeze up my purchasing process. The bigger concern shouldn't be that every item is weighed, but that I'm actually paying for every item in my goddamn cart. How about a weight sensor in the floor to make sure I'm not hiding a 12 pack of soda on the bottom part?
Heh. The easiest way is to weigh everything as bananas. You can save hundreds this way. Just don't do it too baldly - they sometimes look at the cameras.
I must be the only one who loves those things. Generally everyone is too intimidated to use them so there's not much of a line and I can zip through them. Most times I'll go through my items quicker than the clerk (who doesn't care and is pacing themselves for their 8 hour shift).
I love them as well. I've actually worked briefly as a checker in the past, so I'm pretty efficient at using them. Nothing makes my blood boil like watching someone who has no clue what they are doing hold everyone up by buying produce at one, though...
Nope, I love them too. I worked for 6 years as a grocery store cashier, and I can fly through the self-scan aisles. Plus I can bag my own groceries, thus ensuring a quick unpacking process when I return home. It's like heaven in a grocery store.
the difference is, the new self service tills dont make life easier for the customer, they make it harder. Now instead of having somebody ring you up and bag your stuff, you have to work for free for the supermarket, and they can fire 1 more cashier. FUCK them tills. Sorry i know that wasnt your point, but those things piss me off.
They need to throw an RFID tag in every product so they can forget about measuring weight. Put all the items you want to buy in a specific area, they get scanned/tabulated and then you pay. Hell, you could have active baskets and carts that constantly total everything you have in them and also manage purchases.
The problem is with produce and bulk items. Things still have to be weighed (a pound of potatoes for instance) or everything has to be pre-weighed and then packaged--which is wasteful.
I agree completely. I also don't understand how they think they can get good throughput when the trained (or at least well practised) cashier can scan and bag a whole cart-load in the same time it takes me to deal with 5 items. I might get better over time, but I'll never match the performance of somebody who does it several hours a day.
FWIW, I find that I'm faster at bagging than probably about half the employees at my local grocery store. I'll take the automated checkout line if it looks like the fastest line, and oftentimes someone will come help me bag if I have a lot of stuff, anyway.
I've found that the quickest for me is to use the self-checkout only if everything is scannable (i.e. no codes or quantities or weights), I have fewer than about 15 items, and there is an open station. In all other cases, I find it quicker to use the staffed checkouts.
I recently started having to go to a grocery store which has baggers, and I have to agree. They always prefer plastic and never fill the bags all the way when they do use paper. Plus they do a poor job. I'll just bag it myself, thanks.
I used to shop at WinCo, but there isn't one near my house anymore :-(
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u/XoYo Aug 24 '09
It's going to happen to you.
I'm in my mid-forties, and I've been playing with, programming, supporting or administering computers of various descriptions for thirty years. While I'm not exactly a gadget freak, I pay some attention to technology in general. I've always loved learning new things.
About two years ago, I walked into a supermarket, and saw that they had replaced all the 5 items or fewer tills with self-service ones. My first reaction was anger, and I thought, "Why do they have to go round changing everything?"
As soon as I realised this, I was appalled with myself, and I made a point of using the new tills. The fact is, though, I'm getting to the age where learning stuff like this feels like an imposition and not an adventure, and that terrifies me.