Can we please bring checkout lanes back? The number of people who take an entire, overflowing cart of groceries through a self-checkout lane thinking they can scan groceries faster than a cashier is astounding, especially when they eventually run out of space on the ever-so-sensitive bagging scale and start standing around to wait for employee assistance anyway.
I’ve seen people with a broken arm and a full cart of groceries go through the self-checkout. I’ve seen parents letting their children painstakingly scan each and every item in the cart, only to have them not put something in the bagging area and—surprise!—require the help of an employee!! The grocery store checkout is not some play place! I’m sure you could even buy a toy checkout set at Fred Meyer!!
And remarkably, some people still have NO IDEA how to use the self-checkout. They treat it as if it were some sort of elder alien technology they are first encountering after being unwillingly thrust a thousand years into the future. (Maybe they were? If so, fuggin’ talk to me! Let me live out my X-Files/Futurama fantasy!)
Can we PLEASE just get rid of the self-checkout and go back to checkout lanes, with express lanes for 8 items or less? Or at the very least make self-checkout express only!?
Just let me leave this place and show my receipt to the security guards on my way out.
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It’s absolutely outrageous that anyone would consider eliminating self-checkout stations without recognizing the ableism inherent in that decision. This move completely disregards the autonomy and dignity of people with disabilities who rely on these stations to shop independently. It’s infuriating that instead of addressing the real issues in our society, like underemployment and inadequate support for workers, some people choose to attack a tool that many find empowering.
This decision reeks of ignorance and a lack of understanding about the diverse needs of our community. It’s not just short-sighted; it’s actively harmful. We need to be fighting for more accessibility and inclusion, not rolling back progress because it’s convenient for a few. Listen to disability advocates, engage with those who are directly impacted, and stop making decisions that strip away the independence of vulnerable populations. This ableist nonsense has got to stop.
Self-checkout (where one employee can monitor 8+ “lanes”) is not a matter of convenience, but one of capitalism. Less workers needed = more money for the company. Make the customer due most or all of work and tell them it’s a benefit. The ableism argument from post #1 is interesting but I can’t tell if it’s serious or satirical.
Either way, this is a legit I,A rant that I actually enjoyed reading: solid A. Well done.
How about …. both?
The stores I frequent have self service lanes. Plus the cashier kind. Pick whichever you want. You see a parent with young children ready to do the tot-scan, just move over. Standing behind George H. W. Bush looking like he is having a supermarket scanner moment (there’s even a Wikipdia page)? Choose more wisely.
@3 linked to “prosumption” — getting the consumer to also do the producing.
@4 that’s what I do. Sometimes I like self-checkout, especially if the lines are long elsewhere. But sometimes the lines are longer at self-checkout. If I threw a shitfit when someone was taking what I deemed to be too long at self-check, I think I would do myself a favor and just go to where the cashier is.
Dear IA, Your cliche ‘need for speed’ does not Trump my enjoyment of a leisurely self-scan session of all of my loose fruits and vegetables. How dare you try to steal the best part of my day. Be Here Now. Namaste.
To me this falls in the malicious corporate strategy of getting customers to blame other customers for issues that are ultimately the company’s responsibility. It’s like when you board an airplane and the flight crew admonishes passengers for taking too long to board. As if passengers were the ones to regulate when they could board the plane and set the schedule for the turnaround between arrival and departure.
@capnblinky that made me laugh. Thanks.
@9: Yeah. But it’ just TS boilerplate.
@8: “It’s like when you board an airplane and the flight crew admonishes passengers”
“You’re not wealthy enough to turn left when boarding”.
Yo — you can steal like crazy in self checkout
Seems like a very first world complaint. Think of it as a rare opportunity to hone the rarest skill called “patience” in these bat shit crazy times we live in.