U-Scan't

I haven't complained about anything for a while, so I am going to bitch about the whole U-Scan thing...

I really hate these things.

I think we are supposed to believe that some time is saved, byusing these things.

Maybe we are supposed to feel empowered by the act of checking ourselves at the store. Resting the control of scanning and bagging from unwashed heathens, who could never understand the consideration that went into the selection of whatever bullshit thing it is that we are buying, and handling the entire transaction ourselves...

Man, these things are lame.

There is always something that costs less than a dollar, which always sends the process into a dead stop...

While you wait for some poor store associate to enter a random code into the system, you can get ahead by bagging up some of your crap.

Pffttt...

Most people get to go through this, so you have time to watch that employee flitter from aisle to aisle, repeating process endlessly.

God forbid anybody have coupons or foodstamps...or be purchasing vegetables...

That will slow you down, way down.

But really, what the hell is wrong with talking to a cashier?

I mean, presumably, you are buying stuff in the vicinity of your home...

The people working at the store likely live in the same general area...

It can be kind of nice to talk to people that are sharing the corner of the world you live in.

Outside the fact that I see the U-Scan things as a removal of a base part of the service I expect in retail experience...

And I hesitate to see how I am doing anything but increasing a stores margins by using the damned things - without seeing any additional savings in my purchase for having reduced the labor required for the transaction.

I just think they are bad for communities...

You hunt for your stuff alone, you wait in line alone, you scan your crap alone...

Ya don't have to interact with anybody.

It seems sad, to me...

I mean, sure, that chat with the kid bagging your shit is forced...but you may learn something about the kid, the neighborhood or life by having that chat.