No Grocery Store Patron Left Behind
Would it be asking too much to ask grocery stores with Self-Checkouts to implement some kind of basic proficiency testing for those patrons who would like to use self-checkout? It really isn't rocket science, but for some people (usually those immediately in front of me in line), self-checkout turns them into deer-in-the-headlights in no time. While I generally have no use for the Bush Administration, I think they should get 100% behind this, so that they can implement an onerous and short-sighted standardized self-checkout testing program (with hidden agenda of steering grocery patrons to Private or Parochial Grocery Stores), determine which establishments are Failing Grocery Stores, and make life easier for those of us who simply want to zip in and out of the local Acme (known as, and pronounced, "The Ack-A-Me") to pick up a few mangoes.
Might I also submit a minimum (particularly for those patrons using Sport-Utility Kiddie Carts and think it's never too early to give little Madison or Max a lesson in cashiering skills) and maximum age limitation for users, and a restriction on number of items? The bagging areas at the self-checkouts are about as large as postage stamps (and not even commemoratives!), and removing an item usually results in the system hanging up and flashing what I like to call the Idiot Light, requiring intervention by the harried Self-Checkout Clerk, who oversees several of these terminals, is constantly in motion resetting them, and probably slips into the break room for hits of NyQuil whenever possible.
Thank you. I await the Administration's response.
P.S. Thanks to a recent outbreak of spam comments, I have started comment verification...hope the 5 or 6 of you loyal readers aren't too inconvenienced! It WAS a tough decision...while not as witty as your comments, the spammers DID seem to really think I'm brilliant and have wonderful blog design skills...
posted by J.Po @ 1:25 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
How about we just pay Walmart check-out clerks another buck an hour so that the unionized grocery stores don't feel they have to force us to do their job for them?
Sorry, self-check out is one of my peeves.
I'm with you, yello... I freaking hate self checkouts, just like I hate pumping my own gas. Granted, there are aspects of the self-checkout that might be useful, such as avoiding lengthy lines etc, but there are a lot of glitches in the system, especially if you're dealing with security tags, coupons, sales items that don't ring up right, etc. Not to mention the voice telling everybody you're some kind of thief if heaven forbid you should take too long to put the item in the bag. And it irritates me that I'm paying their ridiculous markup for the privilege of ringing myself up and bagging my own things. So I only hit the self-check if I'm getting a soda or something minor and I want to get out quickly.
As for the gas thing: I grew up in one of the two states where you can't legally pump your own gas, and I just don't think it's that bad an idea that teenagers and stupid people and old folk don't have access to free-flowing streams of highly flammable, toxic petroleum product. Plus it's a total pain to get out and stand there by the pump when it's cold/hot/boring outside. And you have a toddler who's screaming her brains out in the car. But hey, that's just me...
But Po, you do have an excellent point, all these things notwithstanding, that if self-checkout must exist, there should be rules, and these rules should be enacted and strictly enforced by grim, humorless Republicans, because they are better at that sort of thing.
P.S. I applaud comment verification. I think it's very little hassle for great return.
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Well, at least you didn't have to endure the spammers that consistently suggest, disingenuously so, I might add, that I have a small penis . . . .
Why else would they ask me if I'm interested? ;)
As for proficiency, my parents had to hire someone to put phones in. When I explained that I could have done the same thing in about an hour for free, they tried not to look embarrassed. Technology has so many, many people flummoxed, that perhaps it is time to start teaching VCR programming and such in our public schools . . .
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