I use the self-checkout so I don't have to talk to anyone.
The self-checkout at Aldi is a godsend. Way too many times I've been on my lunch break trying to buy a sandwich and snack, only for some old git to be using the time at the till to have a chinwag with the cashier!
By all means, have a chat with the cashier, but not when there's a massive queue of people waiting behind you! Also, you know those shelves near the window with the sign saying "Pack here"? That's not a suggestion. Pack your shopping away from the tills so people can keep buying stuff.
Look, saying “I don’t work here” to avoid using self-checkout completely misses the point. Technology has always evolved by shifting little tasks onto the user in exchange for speed and convenience. It’s not about “working for free,” it’s just self-service - like when grocery stores first let people grab stuff off shelves instead of asking a clerk behind a counter. At the time, some people probably whined about it too, but now nobody thinks twice because it’s way faster and gives you more control. Same thing with ATMs - you used to have to stand in line and talk to a bank teller just to get cash, now you punch a few buttons yourself. Are you ‘working for the bank’ when you use an ATM? No, you’re just getting your money faster without the hassle. Self-checkout is the same idea: a tiny bit of effort, way more convenience. Complaining about it like it’s some moral stand is honestly missing the bigger picture.
Now playing The Bravery - An Honest Mistake
If I look at this topic the American skewedness is so obvious.
In Belgium the only thing you get by going the old fashioned way is they scan your shit and push it off at the end or you need to rush to put it in your cart. Same in The Netherlands. There are no baggers.
So yeah, let me just scan my items, put them in my bags like I want them, scan the thing at the self checkout, put scanner in tray, pay, walk out.
Every so often you get a bag check and if less people cheated on their scanning there would be less of that (is what they hope you think)
Cashier line: Empty
Me: "I don't come here to talk to people"
My grocery store recently got rid of their self checkout machines, and I'm actually upset by it. It went from having 6 self checkout lines plus the cashiers to only the cashiers, and now it takes like three times longer to buy my shit.
Also I'm team self check out because I dont want to talk to people
Not only do I not work here, I wish to spend as little time here as possible.
So I’ll hand the scanning and bagging task to someone who has been doing it every day for years and can get that done quickly, in the lane where they provide enough table space to actually work, two people to do the two jobs of scanning and bagging… and all that without the extra steps of weighing every individual item, stopping for assistance if you look at it funny, and stopping to upsell you on the fucking loyalty program.
Grocery pickup > normal checkout > self checkout.
I like the scan and go in the Sam’s club app. Scan the items with your phone, and if the QR code receipt is visible when you walk through the gate thing they usually wave you on without a person checking.
Then just wait in line.
It’s reasonable to have a store provide a service where an employee processes the customer’s items to check for damage, verify prices, and bag them intelligently.
But it’s not worth the risk of getting the wrong chatty cashier.
No, I’ll roll the dice and scan them myself. If I hit an “unexpected item in bagging area” error that requires someone to come over and help me, I can always burn down the store and run away and try again somewhere else.
A local grocery store had self check out lanes and removed them and replaced them with 5 express check outs. I feel conflicted about it.
