You'll probably end up waiting behind a bunch of old folks confused by the machines and lasers & UPC codes and touch-panels and "where do i put my quarter and loonies?" and "oh, my card? oh...what's the PINthingy again..." etc. You'll still end up standing there like Peter Griffin waiting for Robert Loggia to spell his name out...
Self checkouts only if I only have one item or so. Otherwise cashier unless they want to give me a discount for self checkout. I also make them bag my groceries and put them in the cart otherwise it would go to a discount store if I wanted to do it myself.
I am split on this one. I prefer some customer service rather then do it yourself.
But watching, and more importantly how these 12% thinkers, cashier/staff function and touch your items has caused me concerns. It is starting to drive me batty when I see a cashier wipe their nose, or cough into their hands and proceed to touch all your items, especially when it is food items. I have moved checkout lines, or told the person that behaviour is not hygienic (blank stare or dumb response), at fast food places I have left all together when I see it happen. I am not (I don't think) a germaphobe, I just don't want to share or be exposed to someones' bad habits.
For this I am starting to use self check out more.
I go with whatever is fastest, and in most cases it is self check out. I get in and out while others are waiting in line. I am assuming many people still find self check out confusing and intimidating.
Cashier....I’ll probably head to the self checkout if I only have a few items and they all have barcodes, otherwise it’s cashier.
I also try to price match as much as I can, and I need a cashier for that.
But watching, and more importantly how these 12% thinkers, cashier/staff function and touch your items has caused me concerns. It is starting to drive me batty when I see a cashier wipe their nose, or cough into their hands and proceed to touch all your items, especially when it is food items. I have moved checkout lines, or told the person that behaviour is not hygienic (blank stare or dumb response), at fast food places I have left all together when I see it happen. I am not (I don't think) a germaphobe, I just don't want to share or be exposed to someones' bad habits.
There is an absolute possiblity that the guy loading tomatos onto the veggie display took a dump and never washed his hands. But I didnt have to watch that. Watching the girl put on plastic gloves, make my submarine sandwich , cash me out whereing the gloves, and make the next guys sandwich wearing the gloves, after handing cash, the filthiest thing in existence, well ewww.
It happens all the time, I just dont want to watch.
Many years ago I had a client from the Netherlands and he made an interesting observation.
He left Holland just after WWII and they were rebuilding from the war damage. The dams, bridges, roads, canals etc were being rebuilt by thousands of men using picks, shovels and wheelbarrows. When he returned for a visit ten years later work was still underway but instead of thousands of men working with picks and shovels there were far fewer working with dump trucks, excavators, bulldozers etc.
He mused, was it right to make people work with picks and shovels just to create jobs when the work could be done more efficiently by machines.
With AI and robotics this is going to be a bigger issue every year. How about autonomous trucks and taxis?
Whether it was the cotton gin over a century ago, the milkman or the Blockbuster Video clerk, jobs disappear.
The problem is far larger than just the checkouts.
Agreed. I watched a documentary about automation and the future of work. As more jobs get displaced further and further up the white collar ladder, topics such as Universal Basic Income started becoming more relevant.
Not for welfare overhaul, but because the machines will do our jobs.
Many years ago I had a client from the Netherlands and he made an interesting observation.
He left Holland just after WWII and they were rebuilding from the war damage. The dams, bridges, roads, canals etc were being rebuilt by thousands of men using picks, shovels and wheelbarrows. When he returned for a visit ten years later work was still underway but instead of thousands of men working with picks and shovels there were far fewer working with dump trucks, excavators, bulldozers etc.
He mused, was it right to make people work with picks and shovels just to create jobs when the work could be done more efficiently by machines
Indeed, but people forget that jobs don’t simply disappear in that case, they just get moved. Someone has to engineer, manufacturer, and build those machines, and all their parts. And a lot of those people are skilled labour making way more money and benefits vs a pick-axe swinger. As is the person who then operates that piece of equipment afterwards.
Anyhow, this whole outrage reminds me of what happened when ATM’s became commonplace. People were outraged at the loss of jobs, the “no personal interaction” thing, blah blah blah. Now, people accept them, and I’d argue if they disappeared and we went back to 100% tellers (standing in line, limited hours, time consuming) a huge percentage of the population would be even more ******.
Times change. Jobs move or are shuffled. We need to just accept that it’s inevitable
Many years ago I had a client from the Netherlands and he made an interesting observation.
He left Holland just after WWII and they were rebuilding from the war damage. The dams, bridges, roads, canals etc were being rebuilt by thousands of men using picks, shovels and wheelbarrows. When he returned for a visit ten years later work was still underway but instead of thousands of men working with picks and shovels there were far fewer working with dump trucks, excavators, bulldozers etc.
He mused, was it right to make people work with picks and shovels just to create jobs when the work could be done more efficiently by machines.
With AI and robotics this is going to be a bigger issue every year. How about autonomous trucks and taxis?
Whether it was the cotton gin over a century ago, the milkman or the Blockbuster Video clerk, jobs disappear.
The problem is far larger than just the checkouts.
30000 new jobs created in Canada and we just set a record for the last 43 yrs. stats can says .
Not cashier jobs , I feel bad for career cashiers , but you gotta move with the times folks
Except that the number of jobs created by one company making self-checker-outer machines is far fewer than the thousands of people put out of work by them. As well, the people losing the check-out jobs are often termed "most vulnerable"; they are often students or older people working to supplement pension income to make ends meet. Or they're middle-aged people with limited socio-economic mobility; they often have limited skills, limited training, limited education with little prospect of things improving.
There's an old nugget that goes something like:
"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."
I'm reminded of it when I think of automation: First automation came for the "lowly" jobs but everyone else was okay with it because it made things a bit more convenient for them. But as automation becomes more advanced, more and more jobs higher up the food-chain will be at risk. People being smug now about self-checkouts or Timmy's kiosks now might well be the next victims of this trend.
I don't know if there's a fix for this trend; probably not. But it's worth at least thinking further ahead than the next 10 seconds you might save because that checkout person is now out of a job.
There is a seemingly endless supply of entry level jobs so until we get to a point where the supply of unskilled labour exceeds the demand, -- offsetting a few of those jobs with higher paying technology positions is a much better path to follow. If we don't... maybe all we'll end up with is more unskilled jobs.
There is an absolute possiblity that the guy loading tomatos onto the veggie display took a dump and never washed his hands. But I didnt have to watch that. Watching the girl put on plastic gloves, make my submarine sandwich , cash me out whereing the gloves, and make the next guys sandwich wearing the gloves, after handing cash, the filthiest thing in existence, well ewww.
It happens all the time, I just dont want to watch.
I was in Turkey one time and this old guy was grilling meat in the local square. It smelled delicious....I bought some and never even thought about where the dude washed his hands etc. I had the ***** for a week. Never again.
I was in Turkey one time and this old guy was grilling meat in the local square. It smelled delicious....I bought some and never even thought about where the dude washed his hands etc. I had the ***** for a week. Never again.
My son and I were in Peru last year, the guide we had warned us the food in the market while super cheap was super dangerous for non locals. They clean and rinse the chicken in the same 5 gal plastic pail where they rinse thier hands and wash the dishes. Its been that way forever, so if your from there ok, for the rest of us oy vey.....
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