self checkout lanes

[Mr. Laser Beam]

What? I never heard of a cashier not beeing able to SELL alcohol because he´s underage...is this common?

Depends where you live. In Illinois, you have to be 21 to sell alcohol. If you're underage, you need to get someone else to do it.

Yeah. In Indiana, you have to be 18. If you are under 18, you can't handle alcohol at all, even as part of your job.

At my store you have to be 19 to ring up alcohol, but if you're under 16 (I think) you can't even touch the bottle. Apparently osmosis through glass is more of a problem than I realized.

As for self checkout: They get a lot of use with us. Fortunately even our customers can handle it. UNfortunately, these machines have the most annoying prerecorded voices in all of creation. They are so softspoken and wimpish that they make the network announcer from The Running Man sound like Rammstein.

 

[Sean Aaron]

Here's one I don't get: Self check out at the Home Depot. The local one actually has hand scanners for scanning large lumber pieces...then promptly tells you that you need to place the item in the bagging area.

That's funny. B&Q (local equivalent) self-checkout actually works pretty well. If the item is large it tells you to wait for an associate to confirm the item. How is it that a giant hardware store can do it right, but a grocery cannot?

 

[CorporalClegg]

Depends where you live. In Illinois, you have to be 21 to sell alcohol. If you're underage, you need to get someone else to do it.

Yeah. In Indiana, you have to be 18. If you are under 18, you can't handle alcohol at all, even as part of your job.

At my store you have to be 19 to ring up alcohol, but if you're under 16 (I think) you can't even touch the bottle. Apparently osmosis through glass is more of a problem than I realized.

It has nothing to do with that. It is because it's been proven that 16 year olds are much more likely to sell to other 16 year olds.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ After careful observation of my coworkers I have found that being a lazy jackass who won't check IDs is hardly age dependent.

 

[RoJoHen]

The problem isn't that 16-year olds don't check IDs. It's that they knowingly sell liquor to other underage kids because they think it's cool, or they just don't care about the laws and think they won't get in trouble for it.

 

[Trekker4747]

Use them whenever I can, hate it when I'm behind someone moving slowly or clearly doesn't understand the machine. I've bee behind countless octogenarians trying to use the thing that operates on technology decades beyond their years.

I can scan, bag and pay for my groceries pretty quickly -faster than the check-out lanes with under-trained staff. But, man, do I hate being trapped waiting to use one when behind people who clearly should not be using them.

 

[pigletsgiblets]

I love 'em and use them all the time.

 

[RAMA]

Use them whenever I can, hate it when I'm behind someone moving slowly or clearly doesn't understand the machine. I've bee behind countless octogenarians trying to use the thing that operates on technology decades beyond their years.

I can scan, bag and pay for my groceries pretty quickly -faster than the check-out lanes with under-trained staff. But, man, do I hate being trapped waiting to use one when behind people who clearly should not be using them.

I find that octogenarians generally don't use the self-checkout lanes, which only leaves more room for me.

I did use a regular checkout line once last week, and the octogenarian in front of me didn't even know how to use her ATM card...in 2011!!!

RAMA

 

[kirsten187]

I have no problem with them if they're working properly!

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Use them whenever I can, hate it when I'm behind someone moving slowly or clearly doesn't understand the machine. I've bee behind countless octogenarians trying to use the thing that operates on technology decades beyond their years.

I can scan, bag and pay for my groceries pretty quickly -faster than the check-out lanes with under-trained staff. But, man, do I hate being trapped waiting to use one when behind people who clearly should not be using them.

I find that octogenarians generally don't use the self-checkout lanes, which only leaves more room for me.

I did use a regular checkout line once last week, and the octogenarian in front of me didn't even know how to use her ATM card...in 2011!!!

RAMA

I don't get it. Swiping a card is so much easier than counting out cash. How do you fuck it up?!

 

[RoJoHen]

There are buttons to push and computer screens to look at. Technology is hard!

 

[MacLeod]

Use them whenever I can, hate it when I'm behind someone moving slowly or clearly doesn't understand the machine. I've bee behind countless octogenarians trying to use the thing that operates on technology decades beyond their years.

I can scan, bag and pay for my groceries pretty quickly -faster than the check-out lanes with under-trained staff. But, man, do I hate being trapped waiting to use one when behind people who clearly should not be using them.

I find that octogenarians generally don't use the self-checkout lanes, which only leaves more room for me.

I did use a regular checkout line once last week, and the octogenarian in front of me didn't even know how to use her ATM card...in 2011!!!

RAMA

I don't get it. Swiping a card is so much easier than counting out cash. How do you fuck it up?!

Swiping a card is so last century, it's Chip N Pin and Contactless technology these days. All I can say is roll on the cashless soceity

 

[Holdfast]

All this impatience over a few minutes in a checkout queue; what were you going to do during that time anyway? Might as well relax and use the break to browse the internet or meditate rather than fret about the queue or the difficulty people are finding with the machines. Enjoy the enforced break as an opportunity to unwind.

 

[RoJoHen]

All this impatience over a few minutes in a checkout queue; what were you going to do during that time anyway? Might as well relax and use the break to browse the internet or meditate rather than fret about the queue or the difficulty people are finding with the machines. Enjoy the enforced break as an opportunity to unwind.

I unwind at home, not in line at the grocery store.

That said, I am very patient and am often in the middle of text conversations, so I am not bothered by waiting.

 

[Holdfast]

All this impatience over a few minutes in a checkout queue; what were you going to do during that time anyway? Might as well relax and use the break to browse the internet or meditate rather than fret about the queue or the difficulty people are finding with the machines. Enjoy the enforced break as an opportunity to unwind.

I unwind at home, not in line at the grocery store.

Might as well make the most of the opportunities wherever they arise.

 

[RoJoHen]

Unwinding for me requires laying down in sweatpants.

 

[Holdfast]

I suggest you try that in a supermarket, and see what happens....

 

[Owain Taggart]

They're Ok, but they're a bit complicated and I feel you really need to know how to use them in order to move quickly, otherwise you have people who fiddle around not knowing what to do and it slows down everything.

Funny story. My Dad went to buy beer once and used the self-checkout, and for whatever the reason, the system thought he was too young, so we had to get the attention of the person in charge of these things to ring it through.

 

[Bisz]

Can't remember the last time I went to a normal check-out line.

 

[23skidoo]

I used to avoid them, because I was worried about them costing people jobs and the like. That worry still exists, but unfortunately at least in my neck of the woods I've come across far too many cases where less-than-capable (or at least poorly trained, or don't-give-a-s*it) staff have been hired to man the tills leading to trying, if not occasionally unpleasant experiences. Sometimes it's better to just do it yourself. Even when the clerk knows what he or she is doing, can speak the language, etc. I've found as I get older the "have a nice day" routine is getting more irritating as I realize how few people really care. The one that really bugs me is "Did you find what you were looking for?" - well duh, I'm buying something ain't I? I answered "No, I did not" once and it completely flustered the person - they're never prepared for an actual reply.

Ironically, however, I've found myself using the "human" check-outs more often these days as the line-ups for the self-serve are getting too long. I was at a grocery store the other day and the self-serve lineup went to the back of the store, and I went right up to a clerk, paid for my item, and left in about 30 seconds. My rant above notwithstanding, sometimes self-serve isn't the best option (especially when the line gets tied up because someone ahead of you pushes the wrong button or is one of those who still has to be walked through how to use an ATM or debit card reader).

By the way, I'm only talking about big-box department and grocery stores here. Mom and pop shops and small businesses are another matter of course. I'd hate to see their clerks replaced by machines.

Alex