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I've just witnessed a completely civil and righteous rage against the machine by an elderly man (80s+) at supermarket self-service checkout here in small city Aotearoa #NewZealand and it was a little bit wonderful.

He'd just finished paying for his groceries when the machine started saying "Please take your items" every 15 seconds or so. At first he just says "I'll do it in my own time thank you," while bagging things up.

The machine keeps telling him to take his items. After around the 5th time, he starts really arguing back:
"I don't have to do what you tell me to do."
"I'll take as long as I need thank you."
"I'll thank you to stop harassing me."

On around the seventh or eighth request that he take his items, he stands back, crosses his arms and says loudly snaps, "No! Not until you be quiet!"

The machine keeps going. The man just stands there, crossed arms, chin stuck out. A standoff is on. Staff come over and ask if they can help and he tells them that if they switch the voice off, he will continue bagging his things and go. If they don't, he's retired and can wait all day.

Machine is turned off/down with sympathy from supermarket staff. Moments later the man leaves the supermarket with the air of someone who's just won a war, expression completely stoic.

#NewZealand
Unknown parent

Ω 🌍 Gus Posey
Ω 🌍 Gus Posey
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@libroraptor @anne_twain Respectfully, one of the functions of well-staffed, high quality grocery stores was to evolve a breed of baggers who were exceptionally good at packing groceries. I understand your desire to pack your own groceries but I'd like to assure you that there was a time when that was entirely unnecessary.
@ChookMother πŸ‡¦πŸ‡ΊπŸ¦˜ @Alistair K
Unknown parent

Alistair K
Alistair K
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@anne_twain @Gustodon Aside from that, we have some checkout operators who pack very brutally. Only good if you like crumbs and bruises.

Then there are the ones who make unstable stacks that collapse as soon as the bag's moved, often with things like cornflakes and potato chips and delicate produce on one side for tins and bottles and frozen meat to fall onto.

I just don't have the cognitive capacity to deal with that.

@ChookMother πŸ‡¦πŸ‡ΊπŸ¦˜ @Ω 🌍 Gus Posey
Unknown parent

Alistair K
Alistair K
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@anne_twain @Gustodon The relationship to packing is that most of us don't live anywhere near your local independent supermarket. What I like about the scan-it-yourself systems is that I can pack as I shop and there is no damage, and none of the bags collapse through poor stacking when I move them into the car or carry them on the bus. Occasionally there's a complication when the staff need to inspect but they're receptive when I ask them not to jumble things up.
@ChookMother πŸ‡¦πŸ‡ΊπŸ¦˜ @Ω 🌍 Gus Posey
Questa voce Γ¨ stata modificata (3 mesi fa)
Unknown parent

ChookMother πŸ‡¦πŸ‡ΊπŸ¦˜
ChookMother πŸ‡¦πŸ‡ΊπŸ¦˜
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@libroraptor @Gustodon Not sure how this relates to packing. I don't have a problem with how my stuff is packed and I go to an independent supermarket that has promised to never have any kind of self checkout and never skimps on service staff and that's how I like it.
@Ω 🌍 Gus Posey @Alistair K
in reply to George Penney

Ω 🌍 Gus Posey
Ω 🌍 Gus Posey
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Self checkout is one of our society's greatest failures. Every one of those machines deserves thirty seconds of sustained gunfire.
in reply to Ω 🌍 Gus Posey

ChookMother πŸ‡¦πŸ‡ΊπŸ¦˜
ChookMother πŸ‡¦πŸ‡ΊπŸ¦˜
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@Gustodon One of Australia's supermarket giants, Woolworths, is trialling a system where a scanner is actually fixed to your trolley. πŸ™„ You have to collect the scanner first, using the company's RFID card.

I'm sure we'll all be rushing to do that.

@Ω 🌍 Gus Posey
Unknown parent

Elena ``of Valhalla''
Elena ``of Valhalla''
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@Alistair K @ChookMother πŸ‡¦πŸ‡ΊπŸ¦˜ @Ω 🌍 Gus Posey @George Penney where I live we've never had packers at the supermarkets: you were always supposed to take stuff out of your cart and put them where staff would scan them and move them to another area where you could pick it back up and put into your bags.

in this context, self-checkout with a scanner that you carry through the store is pretty convenient, since it gives plenty of time to pack things without being in a hurry (and then you can pay at a human-staffed checkout, and have the best of both worlds.

Self-checkout at the shop exit with a queue and everything is the worst.

(Maybe it's because I'm not used to them, but the idea of having somebody else pack my groceries sounds really strange: they may be good at packing things in a safe way, but they can't know that I want stuff divided into different bags depending on where in the house they go, and stuff like that)

@George Penney @ChookMother πŸ‡¦πŸ‡ΊπŸ¦˜ @Ω 🌍 Gus Posey @Alistair K

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