The Fred Meyer store near my house has installed self-checkout machines -- lots of them. They're being pitched as a convenience, but they're far from it. For one thing, they're buggy as hell. Nearly every time I go through, I end up being instructed by the condescending female voice to "wait for assistance," or "remove the last item from the bag and wait for assistance," or "touch the last item to the yellow pad and place it back in the bag." Argh! This is convenience? It is Fred Meyer suckering their paying customers to do the job of their cashiers so they can fire their cashiers and save a great deal of money. Is any of this savings passed on to the throngs of suckers like me who stand and take abuse from a computerized voice? Nope. We pay the same price as we would if we went through a line where we're actually giving a human being something to do — and thus some job security. On top of that, the block that Fred Meyer occupies is by far the most disgusting in the neighborhood, with litter strewn everywhere.
I don't ask for much, but do me a favor and boycott the self check out machines. They're a complete racket.
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