There is a large grocery store near us and we visited it to get things we were missing. She made the dreaded request "Why don't we just go up and down each aisle?" The idea is that items we need but failed to list would get our attention, or at least, hers. There are so many items we don't need that such an approach seems wasteful to me but we did it anyhow.
We had a good-sized cart load in a pleasantly short time and arrived at the checkout booths. Fairly long lines at each that was lit up and being staffed. Accept, wait, that one woman was still standing out front, looking for customers. We went towards her. "Looking for business?" I asked. Yes, she was, as long as we were willing to use self-checkout. I could see many customers waiting to get to a real, living clerk and all the signs said to join them. Still, she was accommodating in manner and I could see that Lynn was attracted. I told her to go on with the self-check out while I went back to the lemon juice we had skipped.
The self-check lady had assured Lynn it was very easy and that she would even help her through the steps. I use self-check most of the time at home and I like it. But I didn't know these machines. Like those I had used, one gets set up and then scans a bar code or looks a code up. Once the machine recognized the item and its weight and adds it to your bill, it locks until it registers that item's weight added to the grocery bag being filled. It estimates the time it should take you to add the item to your bag and once it decides you are tardy, a voice says "Please place the item in your bag." The voice is a female one and speaks in a tone a mother uses to sooth an irritated or injured child.
I asked the self-check lady if she found the voice soothing and she snapped, "No!" She found quite a number of our items were without bar codes and were not listed on the look-up charts. She was doing her best and I was glad we had her to lead us through the work. Several times, the soothing woman's voice said,"Please wait for assistance from the cashier." A couple of times, patience worn thin, the nice lady said, "I AM the cashier!" Our leader had several tools at the ready, including some sort of handheld device but there were times when she had to go to her own workstation and a few when she needed to go to other people to check on an item. She did her best to remain calm and cheerful but it was a comedy in action. Finally, all items had been accounted for.
But wait! We were eligible for a $10 gift certificate for having spent more than ten thousand dollars! A look of steely determination came over our leader's face as she informed us of our good fortune and her resolve to secure that certificate for us. She butted into a line of previously patient customers and got assistance from a human clerk. Unfortunately, that clerk powers only extended so far and we were sent with several documents to the customer service station to get final papers and clearance. Our leader apologized for the complexity. I assured her that trying to replace humans with machines is a famously difficult task. Sometimes, the result is a genuine improvement.
--
Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
