quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
I recall a story in which the elder President Bush went to the grocery store and was amazed to see the technology. He had never seen a bar code scan before.

In one episode of Third Rock from the Sun, Harry cracked the bar code:

Fat bar, skinny bar, skinny bar, skinny bar
Fat bar, skinny bar, dollar twenty-nine.

I've used them occasionally and had a 75% failure rate due to smudged barcodes, reader keeps saying "I'm fine, how are you?", etc.

When they give me a discount to use them, I will.

I will use them if I only have a few items, and there is a line at the cashier lines.

Because I get hard at the thought of forcing another person to live in poverty, literally stealing food from the mouths of their kids by taking their job at 90 seconds a pop.

Also it's faster if I only have a couple items, and I don't want to stand around while Shani'q'ua' (What's the extra apostrophe for?) argues with the cashier about how they's a racisms for not having their brand of menthols, then pays for their name-brand everything with their Uncle Sugar card.

But mostly it's the trouser-rending erection.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris42:
Personally, I rarely use them. My belief is that the young workforce needs beginning jobs to get hands on experience. Cashier is one such job. There used to be guys that pumped your gas as well. In PA we now, for the most part, pump our own gas.

Yes, the young workforce needs beginning jobs to get hands-on experience, but the reality converging with that one is one where any job that can be reasonably and reliably automated, or converted to a self-serve function is already being looked at converted over, if it hasn't been already.

I'm 34 and grew up pumping my own gas like a big boy. It wasn't until I visisted New Jersey, unfortunately, that I got to experience some nutflake racing up to me at the pump, wholly excited that I was doing his job for him. Guess what? I pulled up to the pump, got my ass out of the car and would have been done if it wasn't for the inability to pay at the pump by the time he got out to my car to inform me that politicians who think like you do had already guaranteed his job and he got to feel superior about it. I just got to wait. Since that day, I have been very much in favor of automating jobs that can be. I'm smart enough to pump my own gas, and so I should, and not have to pay someone else to.

Remember, "torchman" used to be an occupation. We used to cut ice blocks and sledge them down out of the mountains for refrigeration. Technology decided there were better ways to handle those sorts of things, and the many people that held those jobs found other stuff to do, in time. Is there a place in the world like New Jersey, where there's no streetlights, because that would put some poor torchmen out of their job? Perhaps, but who the hell wants to go there?

quote:

Originally posted by airsoft guy:
Also it's faster if I only have a couple items, and I don't want to stand around while Shani'q'ua' (What's the extra apostrophe for?) argues with the cashier about how they's a racisms for not having their brand of menthols, then pays for their name-brand everything with their Uncle Sugar card.

Oh, you mean the ultra-discreet "here's my credit card that I keep in the special paper sheath it was issued in that I can only run transactions at the awkward end of the counter, away from everyone in line behind me while I look guilty for spending tax dollars on 532,378 calories of refined sugar" card, right?

Yeah, we weren't born with a silver spoon in our mouth, unfortunately.{quote}

I gather you remember the famous Ann Richards quote about Bush. LOL

Because I'm in cahoots with The Man.

[QUOTE
Regarding the self check out thingies, I've often wondered how much stores lose in theft at these things. It would be quite easy to just toss items in the bag without scanning them.Only if you don't have the bag on the shelf provided--it would notice an item being added without a scan. Of course, one could scan a low-priced item instead and place the higher-priced one in the bag.

I nearly always have some kind of a scan problem the few times I've used them, so avoid the self-scanners.

Regarding sanitation at fast-food places: most of them have facilities where one can wash up before eating if one desires to.

flashguy[/QUOTE]

When you scan and item and place it in the post scan area, it is weighed. I am amazed as how sensitive these scales are. You can't just toss an item in there without scanning it. It will report something like "unexpected item" or some such. I've scanned very light weight things like PVC elbows or sprinkler head nozzles which are accurately recorded. Ain't technology great.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Yeah, we weren't born with a silver spoon in our mouth, unfortunately.{quote}

I gather you remember the famous Ann Richards quote about Bush. LOL

That grandma Richards had a way with words.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris42:
Do you use the self check out? Why?

Fulfills my need to avoid interaction with people.

If I've got a couple of items, sure. If I've got a cart full, it's sure to end poorly. I've left an entire cart of groceries sitting there and walked out after being told about the unexpected items in the bagging area or whatnot. I refuse to shoot a machine in public.

Last week we discovered the local Wally World had found card skimmers on some of the self-checkouts. Seems that a number of credit cards had been hacked. I'm not sure if the checkouts with the actual cashiers are safer but the self serve aren't.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Shugart:
If there is a young lady with a nice butt, I usually get in line behind her. It's one of the few times you can stare at the butt of a hot stranger without getting smacked or going to jail. If the clerk is inefficient or a customer has a whole shitload of coupons, no big deal.

I'm retired. My time is not valuable.

Same here. Well, the retired part. Unless I've got ice cream (rarely), I'm in no hurry. For the longest time the grocery store clerks were all friends of my daughter until they all went off to college.

I use them whenever I can because I don't want to talk to or interact with people if I don't have to.

^(active misanthrope, future hermit)

quote:

Originally posted by kx90:

quote:

Originally posted by Chris42:
Do you use the self check out? Why?

Fulfills my need to avoid interaction with people.

I'm the opposite. I know all the cashiers at the two grocery stores I visit. They say hi to me when I walk in and ask me how things are going while I check out. They notice if I haven't been in, in a while.

I talk Redskins with two of them, one is an import from India and is a huge Redskins fan. I think he's awesome, perfect example of America's melting pot.

Edit, not from India, forgot the country, but he hates H1B visa guys preventing him from working in computers which is what he got his degree in.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Skins2881,

Won't.

quote:

Originally posted by Aquabird:
Won't.

Won't here, either. I tried them a time or two, and they were a pain, requiring agent assistance to complete the transaction. I will go to a human cashier always, even if I have to stand in line and surf on my phone for a few minutes. I'm retired and in no hurry. If there are no human cashiers available (never happened yet), my cart will get left behind right at the "self-checkout register", and I leave. I can pick up the stuff the next time around. I refuse to "check myself out".
 
At our Surprise Home Depot, the "contractor" cashiers are always looking for customers to check out. I always go there first.
 
Our local (Surprise) Walmart seems to be especially sensitive to adding cashiers to the lineup when things back up. Screw self-check-out.
 

Our local walmart has a bunch of them and I will use them if I only have a few items. There is a learning curve to them but after that they are pretty reliable.

If I were to generalize about the responses so far it appears that we have some majority that is utilizing the self check out. Virtually all are rational reasons.

We also live in a variety of environments as well, from high density cities to extremely rural. This, coupled with our pace of life affect our need to get our stuff and move on.

In my case I live in a suburban/rural area, so the pace is slower than some. Semi-retired, I try not to be in a rush whenever possible. I can afford the time and rarely are checkout lines long.

Most of the time at the check out line I come across senior citizens and high school graduates(?) that need some kind of job to make ends meet or as a stepping stone to something else. My wife and I have both worked in education, with special needs students (some of the time). For some of these cashiers this kind of job is perfect. Completely within their ability. They will never be a manager.

Maybe this is about as liberal as I get, helping those that need a job to have one.

Considering the discussion so far, I will consider self checkout when lines are long and I only have a few things, but I do prefer a store with more human interaction vs. a store where help is hard to find.

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmund:

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Shugart:
If there is a young lady with a nice butt, I usually get in line behind her. It's one of the few times you can stare at the butt of a hot stranger without getting smacked or going to jail. If the clerk is inefficient or a customer has a whole shitload of coupons, no big deal.

I'm retired. My time is not valuable.

Same here. Well, the retired part. Unless I've got ice cream (rarely),

Wait...what do you go to the grocery for if its not ice cream? It upsets me when my wife comes home without it.

As for me using the things, it is better than waiting. But then came the day at Home Despot. I had my treasure and was trudging along past the self checkout toward the girl who was standing out by her register, waiting for someone. Then some nasty female waylaid me. I wasn't easy. She said "why don't you use the self checkout?" So quite honestly it replied that I can't. My wife was along (I take her everywhere just to avoid kissing her goodbye) gave me an odd look, knowing I use them from time to time.

But the nasty one wasn't to be denied. She saw a perfect opportunity to re-educate a lowly male. I forget now what I was buying, but it was something I'd planned on for a while (I know, old guys save to buy some things). So the dominatrix took the purchase and showed me how easy it was for her to scan my item. She turned her great mass and headed away. So I pushed the button to call for help. Annoyed, she returned. It was time to pay and from my wallet I'd retrieved my saved $100 bill. Ben Franklin and all. Her wonderful machine would not accept my cash! Too big, $20s or lower only. So the machine was tied up. She took my prized money and had to take it to the then busy cashier for change. Then waddle back to hand me the smaller bills to feed to the machine. Took several times as long. But as seen above, my time isn't all that valuable, particularly to the employed supervisor.

Actually, that first time, the total was nearly $100 and it was the only way I could pay with cash. No, I don't use credit cards for most things. But now I often carry a $100 to use again just for that purpose. Confounding the over employed can be fun. Almost as much as seeing the young girls at cash registers try to make change and do math.

Back to Shugarts logic. If the girl has a nice ass, I don't mind nicely prolonging the encounter. If she's misshapen or just ugly, I try to find another line. I have my standards, low as they may be.