02-22-2008, 10:00 PM
Quote:Self serve checkouts are a good idea on paper, but from what I've experienced and seen so far it's still got a lot of teething problems.
Many of the ones I've seen are either empty because no one wants to use them, or are staffed to assist customers using them. Making it sort of a Rube Goldberg oxymoronic device.
How 'bout this one?
I was once in a self-serve checkout behind a very foreign-looking person who was buying produce, fresh jalapenos. And the way produce worked, you press the "Produce" button and select from a menu (with pictures) the food that you're buying. The menu is alphabetized, but there were shortcuts to start at whatever letter you need, right? Now, the menu was in English. He had Jalapenols. He started in the A's, moved on to the B's... went well past the J's into the S's and the T's...
I would've changed lines if any of the other checkouts were less busy. That particular day everyone decided to take items-hanging-off-the-sides shopping carts through each of the self-serves. People are such bastards.
-Lem