Check It Out
The Checkout – A Consumer Report By Caroline Mayer
“I was wondering what others thought about Giant Food’s self-checkout aisles. My problem with them is that if one utilizes the self-checkout, all one is doing is adding to Giant’s profit margin. If Giant was serious and transparent in their ‘push’ to have consumers utilize the self-checkouts, then Giant would include a 2-5% discount as an incentive.”
Well…yeah…
But I love self-checkout!
I really like not having to talk to anyone during my shopping trip. I can listen to cool music on my iPod up and down the aisles and not have to stop listening in order to make small talk with a stranger. I’m an introvert, okay?? I don’t like talking to strangers.
And self-checkout is fun. It’s all so… digital!
I’m enthusiastically awaiting the day when EVERTHING is “self-checkout”. Wouldn’t it be cool to go into a restaurant where you didn’t have to talk to anyone!! You go in and sit down, there’s a machine at the table where you select your menu choices and slide your credit/debit card. When your food is ready it comes to you on a conveyor belt (like the ones they have at sushi restaurants) that’s programmed to stop in front of your table. You can order more food or drinks if you want or, if you’re done and ready to leave, you just push a “checkout” button on the machine and it totals up your bill and prints out a receipt for you. You don’t have to deal with a single human being during the whole experience!
I’d love that!
Posted by RebeccaHartong on April 21, 2006 under Uncategorized
Oh, Rebecca, you poor anti-social cretin, you! You’re just part of the problem!
Kidding aside, I prefer the self-checkout, too. The checkout people here in Maryland are much less chatty than those in the South anyway, even if I wanted to chat up a storm. Plus, being single, I usually only have a few items, so why stand behind someone with a full cart of food, stuffs and caterwauling kids?
The self-checkout does have a problem with some items, though. Greeting cards are not good to buy in the self-checkout. They either don’t register on the conveyor belt or they get sucked into the belt and shredded if you do let them ride…
“You’re just a part of the problem!”
Sigh… I’ve heard that before…
As for the link you provided to “Poet Babies Urges iPod Users to ‘Unplug, Hear the World’” — I’m all for hearing the world when there’s something worth hearing. If I were out hiking in the woods, for example, I wouldn’t dream of listening to the ‘Pod. But grocery shopping? Please.
I do have to admit, though, that my local Food Lion has remarkably good music playing. Much better than Giant or Safeway. Last time I was in Food Lion they were playing Van Morrison’s “Jackie Wilson Said (I’m in Heaven When You Smile)” — truly one of the greatest songs ever. (Though, when you look at the actual lyrics, it looks like it would be really lame.)
Anyway, you’re right about the problems you can run into with self-checkout. And, if you’re buying beer or wine, they always have to come and verify your age anyway, so… that’ll slow you down. (‘Course, if you’re in that much of a hurry to get home with your beer or wine you probably have bigger problems than just self-checkout anyway…)
I’m sympathetic to the idea that when a business wants me to do something that saves them money they need to make it worth my while; it’s why I have resisted all those paperless offers from my bank and others all this time. You don’t send me checks anymore, so if I agree to this I am now completely beholden to you for any backup material I might need in the future and need access to the web to verify stuff. In exchange I get… what? You save a stamp, what’s the advantage to me?
Giant’s self-checkout, on the other hand, usually gets me through quicker than the regular lane. Even when it doesn’t it means more lanes are open than at the other Giant I have access to, presumably because one person can watch/man 4 self-check lanes. 99 times out of 100 my groceries still get bagged for me because the watcher has time to bag for everyone since s/he isn’t running a register.
They don’t have to bribe me with cash, they’re already delivering superior service to me with it.
See? Now, I like the paperless banking thing. Maybe we just have an especially good deal from SunTrust, but we pay ALL of our bills online (on the SunTrust site) now. If they don’t have an electronic funds transfer agreement with whomever it is we’re paying, they print up a check and mail it off on their own dime!. You can’t beat that deal.