Just realized the self checkout machines are making me work harder than the cashiers ever did

I went to Home Depot last Saturday to grab some mulch for a job. 4 bags. Figured I'd use the self checkout since there was a line at the registers. Scanned the first bag, the machine said "unexpected item in bagging area" and locked up. Had to wait 4 minutes for a teenager to come over and swipe his card. Then it did it again on bag 2. Then on bag 3 the barcode wouldn't scan so I had to type in the sku manually. By bag 4 I was sweating and my back hurt from lifting the bags on and off the scale. The whole thing took 15 minutes. Meanwhile I watched a cashier ring up a guy with a full lumber cart in like 30 seconds. I used to think those machines were saving time but they're just shifting the work to me at a slower pace. Has anyone else noticed stores don't even have enough staff to fix the machines quickly?

3 comments

3 Comments

murray.cora22h ago

Self checkout is basically unpaid labor with extra steps. My first attempt at the grocery store last week ended with me apologizing to the machine like it had feelings. Then I stood there staring at a flashing red light for five minutes while a cashier helped someone with a full cart in half the time. By the end I felt like I'd earned a paycheck I was never gonna see. Pretty sure the only thing I'm getting good at is waiting for a teenager to fix my mistakes.

gavin46915h ago

Honestly, my buddy Dave tried self checkout at Walmart last week and ended up in this whole weird standoff with the scale. He put his bag of apples down and the thing kept yelling "unexpected item in bagging area" like he was committing a crime. He stood there holding a single banana, arguing with the screen, and finally a kid from the dairy aisle came over and just pressed one button and it was fine. Dave said he felt like the machine was judging his produce choices, and now he just goes to the regular line every time.

adams.uma21h ago

Wait, hold up @murray.cora - you actually apologized to a machine? I've been a mechanic for years and I talk to stubborn engines all the time, but apologizing to a self checkout is a whole new level of frustration I gotta respect. I did something similar last month at Lowe's though, I literally said "please" while trying to scan a rake and then felt like a complete fool standing there talking to a glowing screen. That blinking red light is basically the machine's way of saying "you're not good enough for me" and it gets me every single time.