Considering the number of consumers who can’t seem to get the self-checkout to work (and I blame this more on user error than the software/equipment itself), using self-check out would likely increase employment. At any given time at the self-checkout, half the people don’t know what to scan, doesn’t know how to enter bakery items, didn’t weigh their vegetables/fruit and can’t figure out what to do, or doesn’t know that there sometimes is a 1-5 second pause before the screen transitions to the next. All the while, I’m ready to go or waiting for him/her to help scan my unscannable hotdogs (bumpy labels don’t work well) or audit my items to prove I didn’t steal broccoli.
I think a fair number of people have “learned” to use self-check out - but what I see is the bells and whistles confusing people.
one of the most frequent wtf’s I hear is “why is the discount / two-for-one / etc not showing?” to which the attendant would have to explain it is calculated / shown when you hit “Pay for Your Order.” then people would stand there with the printed recipe double checking to be sure they got their discount(s) . . .
which was recently changed, thank heavens. now the discount ‘notice’ - in yellow - appears immediately on scan.
but they still haven’t refitted the coupon slot sensor to reliably detect “Insert Your Coupon in the Slot Below” activity - I gave up on that routine - now I just hand the attendant any coupons and ask them to apply the coupon values. much faster.
the software runs on Windows. it’s a 50-50 bet whether one of six or two od six self check out lanes will be out of service on any given day . . . mebbe that software would work better in a shoe store - they have better capacities to re-boot…
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Best question of all at the checkout line is: “Would you like a bag, sir?”
As of April 1, bags are now 10c apiece in my neighborhood, so every line is full of the same exchange:
“Would you like to use bags?”
“Uh… yes? Why do you ask?”
“Because they’re ten cents each now.”
“WHAT?? [expletives]”
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Strange. Seems like people mostly bring their own bags to the supermarket these days.
Every store in town has had big signs saying “As of April 1, bring your own bags!”. But I guess a lot of people don’t read signs. If they didn’t bring their own bags before, they’ll start pretty soon!
That is dependent upon the demographics of the area in which the store is located. As a retiree who’s been using reusable totes for decades, it is disheartening to me that my young, middle-class homeowning neighbors, who’ve just had their first baby, bring home their groceries in the store’s plastic bags. They and their child are the ones who’ll be affected by environmental destruction, not me.
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Not sure I want anyone to assume that I want a bag or not. A question is always good. Although bag my own stuff.
I don’t know about Long Island, but I am always shock how New Yorkers drive. I won’t say I have been around the world, but I have driven in numerous cities, and NY really stands out.
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Do they honk and cut in front of you like when you are in Italy . They are superb drivers .
Well, I suppose drivers in India are even more crazy. Constant honking to the point which honking has no meaning.
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I live in Manhattan, and I’ve been to Mumbai and Rome. The drivers in India (where honking and moving are inextricably linked, and the law apparently requires swerving across lanes) and Italy (where any flat surface counts as a roadway, and the rules are there ain’t no rules) are far crazier than anything NYC has to offer. Don’t get me started on Nevis or Venezuela.
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Man. I barely survive NYC driving. I will not see another sunrise in Rome or Mumbai. 
Please, folks…stay with the discussion. This is about the checkout line at markets, not driving issues in India, nor about BMWs actually. Thanks!
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I am all for bringing bags from home. I just wish folks would bring clean ones. It gives me the willies when I am behind someone who puts dirty bags where my groceries are headed. Most of these bags can be thrown in the washing machine.
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I bring these, though mine are solid colored and cost me only $9.99 at Marshalls. They hold a ton, the balance and handle cushion mean they’re still easy to carry when full and I can put one in the sink, spray it with Oxyclean and rinse it under the faucet.
As to filth at the checkout, given all the food drippings and leakage I routinely see on the conveyor (sometimes I just ask for a disinefectant wipe first, if it’s a sticky, icky mess) and the fact that I don’t know where stuff has been before landing in the store, other people’s dirty bags don’t register as worse to me.
Meh. Life’s way too short to get upset about little annoyances like that.
It’s rude, but as rudeness goes it’s a fairly unimportant inconvenience.
Which means dark color bags must be better than light color
This isn’t exactly on-topic, but seeing comments about entitled Whole Foods shoppers, etc, reminded me of one of my all-time favorite posts from CH (by “Larry W”):
“…Next rant… Berkeley Bowl. God, do I ever love the selection and the prices are normal grocery store to better, but I can’t stand the parking and I have even less love for (dare I say it) the patrons. Please take this in the nicest, most constructive criticism way, but Berkeley bowl shoppers can be the rudest, pushiest, most arrogant, self-aggrandizing, solpisistic, ankle-bashing-with-their-carts doofi I have ever had the misfortune to encounter. It’s like bottled Berkeley PC concentrate in there. As much as I love the place, the gauntlet I have to run just to get good veggies makes it not worth the trip.”
Funny, thanks for sharing this. Wonder what its like at the checkout line…
