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Self Check Out…

A few stores in our area have turned to the self-checkout means of getting us out of the store. As a former grocery store employee, self-checkout isn’t that big of a deal. I’m familiar with how a checkstand works and can easily scan my products, bag my stuff and be on my merry way. It’s a convenience I’m willing to use to avoid long lines.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people that aren’t as familiar with the system and bog it down fumbling with how to scan something or pressing buttons which requires human intervention to get the system back on track. These people are idiots.

Now typically there are four self-checkout stations grouped together in the store. Customers are supposed to form a single line for these four checkout stations and then grab whichever next becomes available. Wifey™ and I had noticed a lady standing at the center of these four checkout stations and took a place behind her. The next customer to arrive took a place behind us and so on. This is the rule and it typically works out very well. Except when people try to break the rules. Then it’s every man for himself.

And this was the case the other day. In the area where we live, there are a lot of foreign people who are either oblivious to rules or haven’t taken the time to learn them or the english language. There are numerous times when I have to point out to older asian women that they can’t just bypass the entire line because they pretending to not understand anything.

As we stood in line, with a young lady in front of us and a few others behind us, this lady pulled up with her cart, kid in tow and placed her cart behind a gentleman that was checking himself out—bypassing the entire line. I quickly asked the lady in front of us whether or not there was one line or two, just to make sure that we hadn’t falsely assumed that the one-line rule applied at this store. She nodded that yes, there was only one line.

With that I gently reminded the woman with the cart that there was one line to which she replied, “Fine, I better get into line since everyone’s having a cow”. Erm. Well yeah, since all of us managed to figure out that there was one line.

Personally, I think stores need to be more proactive about putting up signs that let customers know about the one-line rule at the self-checkout stations. It’d avoid arguments and make things simpler overall. The last thing I need is to have to get all medevial on someone for cutting in front of the line. Hummph.

Tags: self-checkout, stores, shopping

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