Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

Grocery self-checkout is an un-American monstrosity — shut it down

theblaze.com · 1h · first reportShare

I don’t recall when I applied to become a checker at a grocery store. In fact, I’m fairly certain I am a writer by trade and have never worked in a grocery store, honorable work though it may be. And yet it seems most stores I wander into to make a purchase have enlisted me to check out my groceries. Well, I QUIT this unsought job I've been shanghaied into. The self-checkout machine has been around longer than you might think. I had that thought once again recently, standing beneath the cold fluorescent lights of a large American retailer, attempting to make my purchase — avocados, paper towels, toothpaste, and a package of hamburger — from a machine that clearly regarded me as a criminal. It beeped red and sounded an alert as if a thief were attempting to steal the Mona Lisa. After what seemed like an eternity, a bored, obese woman with four-inch nails ambled over to look me up and down and punch numbers into the screen. No, I thought. Your look of annoyance notwithstanding, no — I’m