Thursday, February 14, 2019

Self-checkouts are such fun






I’ve never done this before,” I said to the fellow standing next to me at the self-check out. I was hoping maybe he’d have a suggestion to get me started. I would not have ventured out to shop so early if I’d known that King Soopers’ manned checkout counters aren’t open in the early hours. So, it wasn’t like I had a choice.

If it hadn’t been for the lady assigned to help newcomers, I would not have made it out of there with my purchases.  The fellow told me to scan my King Soopers card to get started, and that’s all he had to offer. A voice keeps telling you where you must put your items. I managed to obey and scanned away, one item at a time, until I had only a red lettuce and a celery stalk remaining in my cart. No codes attached to them.  Now what?

I learned that if there’s no bar code, you must weigh an item, identify it, look up its code on a rotating bar and insert it. With help, I got that done. After I had inserted my credit card three times, only then did it allow me to swipe rather than chip, and I was done. I looked around until I found a receipt emerging from another machine. I moved my things into my own bags and got out of there—quick.

On the way, I thanked the nice lady for her help and told her the whole experience had made me feel like an idiot. “Come back and try another time,” she said.

Maybe I will.

Submitted by Libby James

By: Partnership for Age-Friendly Communities

2 comments:

  1. I have to admit that at times I have tried to talk back to the machine when I was not doing things in “their “order!

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