Perhaps one of the ultimate inventions of recent years is the self check-out line at the grocery store (as well as other stores with similar set-ups). It is still probably a second beyond the "pay at the pump" invention, but still a wonder in the modern grocery world. Sometimes I really love the line, and other times, it is a bit more trying.
Last night, while rushing through our "we only go here when we need a few things or are in a rush" grocery store, I decided that this was the fastest option. I didn't take into account that I had one cucumber, three bananas, two apples and one white onion, all of which require looking up the item and then weighing the item and then it processing the price. Needless to say, there were many people in line behind me by the time I was halfway through ringing in my order, most of which seemed a bit perturbed, or at least tired and ready to get home. Had I been behind someone like me, I would have also been crabby and questioned their choice of lines. Either way, there was no turning back. When I got to the point of my bananas, I found the right spot on the alphabetical list, then hit the bananas that most resembled the ones I had (which said "I like lunch boxes" on the sticker, by the way). After that, the voice (the one that is always supposed to sound like a calm, beautiful woman, but usually bothers me) told me to place my bananas to be weighed. Then she said, "Please remove your (pause) BANANAS from the check-out area!" It was said so loudly and so firmly that I couldn't help but laugh. No other items has to be shouted out for all to hear, but she was so adamant about me moving my bananas. I started to laugh and tell Tom (who was bagging the groceries) how funny is was and I glanced behind me, laughing. Somehow, this didn't change the expression on the people's faces behind me. After that, I proceeded with my white onion, and only found it funnier when told, "Please remove your WHITE ONION from the check-out area."
It was quite enjoyable for me. Sometimes, the lady upsets me when she tells me of the "UNEXPECTED ITEM IN THE BAGGING AREA!" which she usually repeats over and over until I shuffle stuff around my bags to confuse her. Other times she yells at me to "PLEASE PLACE YOUR ITEM IN THE BAGGING AREA!" Either way, she is usually a delight.
3 comments:
There is a grocery store near us that not only has self-check out, it's got something new: scanner guns. You walk around scanning items as you put them in your cart, then walk up to the check-out, scan a barcode, and pay for your items. Pretty cool.
That is pretty cool. I now feel behind the times for not having that here.
What happens when you scan an item and then at some point during the trip realize that (a) you don't have enough money to cover all your items (like some people realize at the register) or (b) "I don't REALLY need that chocolate cake." In other words, how do you de-scan?
The whole time you are scanning your items,it gives you a running price total of your groceries. You can immediately de-scan something if it is too much or you decide you don't want it.
You can also do vegetables at a weight set up in the produce area - you weigh your stuff and it prints out a bar code for you to scan. Very cool. Kind of like you are registering for stuff for your wedding...except you are going to eat everything you scan.
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