OSP: WELCOME TO OUR FIRST GUEST BLOGGER!! Enjoy!
Hello everyone. Long time reader, first time blogger here.
As I was waiting in line today at CVS I realized I had something to add the internet complaint echo chamber. Why is that? Because I was waiting in line for the self-checkout counter.
I remember back when these were first introduced. I was an undergrad at Michigan State and the Meijer put four in. I was stoked. The future was arriving in the form of touch screens and conveyor belts just like Soylent Green promised! (This was a pre-iTouch world but anything seemed possible.) My enthusiasm was quickly tempered by problems with the technology. If there was an issue with the weight, the machine froze. If I was buying booze (not really an if situation) I had to wait for an attendant to come and enter in my age. If I was buying fresh produce it was just a huge pain in the ass. Eventually I completely gave up on the whole idea.
Unfortunately, the CVS near my work has converted to one old-school checkout line and four self-operated ones. My experience has only justified the switch in my mind. Apparently, operating a self-checkout line is a skill on par with rocket science or raising a Quiverfull family. The people ahead of me took my entire lunch break up just checking out. None had more than five items: candy, soda, candy, chips, tylenol. These people were bad at scanning, bagging, paying, and, given their aversion to the human check-out counter, human interaction. Unbeknownst to me, people still pay for things with cash. They also apparently carry their cash in crumpled wads of each pocket of every item of clothing they have on. While I am sure this is effective anti-theft protection, it renders the cash useless to any automated cash reader. Feed, spit, feed, spit. I have seen babies hold things down better than these machines did.
It took me 40 seconds, I timed it. This really isn't hard folks. If you can't use the machinery, please use the cashier line.
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