05.14.07
Self-Checkout is the Bane of Human Existence
One thing that changed in America from when we left for Italy until now is Self-Checkout. When I first saw one, I thought, “How nice! I can check out on my own and save so much time.”
How wrong I was. Saturday night I went to Wal-Mart and the place was packed. Every checkout was four and five people deep. For some reason the express lanes were closed. The perfect time to try our self-checkout. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The self-checkout lines were also full, and I got behind three young men from Africa. They were speaking to each other in French, and we generally confused by the whole process. The last of the three to check out was having trouble with his card, and the machine kept beeping at him. His friends thought this was hilarious. The people behind me were getting very impatient. I was less so, because boy have I been the foreigner before!
Finally, the harried supervisor of the self-checkout (whatever they’re called) comes over and quickly swipes the man’s card and punches some button on the screen. Now I realize that he has a credit card and doesn’t know his PIN. But the supervisor punched debit. The beeping begins again. Lots of groans behind me. I try to help them out, but by now the machine is convinced that someone is trying to rip it off and says “Please wait for assistance.”
The supervisor swoops over, speaks to the man very loudly (because all foreigners who don’t speak English well are also partially deaf), and gets it all squared away. The man apologized to me, and I smiled and said, “No problem.”
Now it’s my turn. Scan number one - hydrocortisone. Scan number two - super glue. The machine locks down again, waiting for a supervisor. She’s now nowhere to be found. I wait and wait, and the people behind me are again moaning. Finally, she comes over, types in some magic code, which then causes the computer to have her verify my age. You have to be 18 to buy super glue. As I paid, I turned behind me and wished the couple next in line good luck.
In theory, self-checkout sounds great. But why do stores want to give up the last chance to leave a good impression with their customers? And why do so many items require the supervisor to come over and type in her magic code? Checkout with a real live human being may be slower, but she can at least glance up and see that there’s no need to card me for super glue.
Emily said,
05.14.07 at 7:06 pm
I didn’t know you had to show ID for super glue, but the last time I bought air to clean out my computer, I had to prove I was over 21. It was crazy. Oh the joys of living in a country where people try to get high off of everything!
pbearden said,
05.15.07 at 1:12 pm
My first (and only) experience with self check out was very similar. Only instead of foreigners in the line in front of me it was my sister. Among our purchases were several long (awkward) styrofoam “noodles” used for swimming. My sister is quite a lot like me - so needless to say we had an uncontrolable fit of giggles and had to apologize profusely to the people in line behind us! We determined that instead of a time saving convenience, self check out is a life experience!