Wait, is this a thing? What's wrong with you people?

It's not that bad, it's just more bad than self check.

Personally I hate waiting in line, I can feel the life leaving my body. I self check for speed.

Apparently line impatience is an ADHD thing, but regardless of where it comes from I appreciate being able to do it myself instead of waiting.

I am definitely not an outgoing or social person, but a big "Thank You" to all those pro-self-checkout folks ITT for making me feel like a social butterfly. I'm gonna brag and annouce I can say, "Hi." and "Thanks" to a cashier like a goddamn boss.

That is if the cashier isn't even more socially awkward/angry at their boss than I am and refuses to talk at all.

Woot! I'm gonna run for office!

Reporter: "Sturger, how are your policies going to improve life for the average voter?"
Me: "Get these goddamn cameras and microphones out of my fucking face. Thanks."

Camera pans as I push my shopping cart out the door like a pro.

Stores near me first put in self checkouts around a decade ago and still have the original, problematic machines. It's the newer stores or ones recently renovated that have upgraded, but that is rare.

In every store I've been in, I'm the guy who has to take everything out of my cart and put it on the little conveyor belt thing. Self checkout is a second or two on top of that (which is usually made up by not having to wait in line) with no real additional effort (I'm already picking up and placing my stuff in a specific spot) I also can type in my number for the coupons at the same time I'm scanning my card, and move the bags into my cart as my payment is being processed, which ends up saving even more time.

The only place I appreciate a cashier is when I get a boatload of groceries at Costco, those folks are box-packing wizards.

As a former cashier, I really hate people like you.

No, I will not check out your groceries for you. You are in self checkout. Wait in line like everyone else if you don't want to check out the items yourself, you impatient, obsolete bastard. FFS, self checkout has been a thing for over twenty years now; get with it, old man!

(Edit: I haven't been in retail for over a decade now. This post really triggered some PTSD I didn't even know I had.)

Have you been in the American minimum wage job market in the last 10 years or so? Every job that pays minimum wage doesn't give enough hours for the employee to be full-time, which means they don't get benefits, retirement contributions, etc. In these cases, outside of the onboarding costs, a $15 an hour employee does in fact cost $15 an hour.

A grocery store I used to frequent, I always picked this one lady's cashier line if she was around 'cause she was nice to talk to. She liked Mortal Kombat and making her own pickles.

I used to work service, and having people to talk to generally made the day much better. I definitely had favorite customers, and what do you know, it was typically people who were social.

Oopsie, accidentally forgot to scan an item

(Don't worry, I check the statute of limitations so you can't charge me with a felony )

I know I'm in the minority

Dude look around the comment section. 90% talk about prefering self checkout

That's what I'm saying! Not 1 in 20 cashiers give a shit to chat you up. And I'm in the American South!

Is there something physically preventing you? That sounds like a thing the fire department would shit all over.

I guess the store I went lost more money than what the cost of maintaining these barcode scanners and the system itself was.

I would kill for this. Maybe not kil, it's not a big deal. But I used to walk into my local grocer and just drop shit in the reusable bags I always bring. Then people were stealing, obviously, so they said you gotta use the baskets or a cart. So I use a cart, and it's not a big deal, it doesn't matter, but if I could scan, drop in my bag, and walk on, it would save a couple minutes. But as I said, it's not a big deal, nothing matters.

I love my self-checkout, so much better than waiting in line for a slow cashier to make chitchat.

I've never even considered it. If I have too many items, I go cashier. We shoot the poop or we don't, I bag my groceries and go home. If I have few items, I qualify for the self-checkout, I do my shit, say "Thank you" to the person who monitors the lanes, and then I go home. I give none of it a second thought because it's such a meaningless part of my day.

Aww.

Well, I know this doesn't help, but you know you're never going to get over this without messing up a few times, yeah?

When I learned to sing, I was so overcome with embarrassment that I could barely do it in a big building I knew was empty (I was the closing manager for a while). I only got over that feeling by singing anyway. I would get loud, my voice would crack, I would stop and apologize to the ghosts nearby, and then I'd steel myself and try again. This built a lot of confidence, though. I learned not to fear the embarrassment and eventually stopped feeling it altogether.

If this matters at all: to the right kinds of people, being a little embarrassed is endearing anyway. I would help somebody learn the self-checkout if they didn't know.

tucking specialist

Is this a type of drag queen? I agree you probably wouldn't need one to pump gas.

So Idk where you guys live and how your self checkouts look but here is my German perspective.

1. If I need a new gas cylinder I have to exchange it at the cashier's
2. If I buy alcohol or cigarettes I also have to get my ID checked. The self checkout will then be put on pause until some worker shows up and realizes I am well in my 30s. I can also not buy things like razorblades at self checkout.
3. Often the stuff will be weighted to ensure I put it in the bag and not more or less. When I buy something light, think a small back of herbs of like 15 grams, the scale doesn't realize it and again a problem occurs and a worker has to come
4. If I make a mistake like scanning twice I cannot cancel and again a worker has to come
5. It usually is a much more crammed space. I don't even need a whole trolley for it to become uncomfortable. More than 5-10 items just don't work because I have no space. Putting everything out of the trolley on the conveyor belt, getting it scanned, and then putting it back in the trolley is much easier.
6. If there are any items with a sale (30% off because BB date is approaching) I cannot scan this and again a worker needs to come.
7. I am not as fast. Not only because it is not a conveyor belt and I am not sitting at a scanner deck, but also I am just slower than a cashier who knows the code for fairtrade bananas and the avocados from spain but not from peru by heart. It's my first time scanning this can of beans, where is the bar code? While it is 9 am and the cashier has already scanned this can of beans 25 times today.
   (8. In some supermarkets my kid gets a free fruit which it not necessary but I find super cute. This is only a thing at the cashier's)

All I have to say is "hello", "card please", and "good day". And I can also just wave these things. So yeah, I am absolutely standing in line if it is possible. It is so much faster and more convenient and going to self checkout to then get an error code and wait for help to arrive for 10 minutes is absolutely not worth it. (Looking at you, cursed Rewe in Munich). Then I also have to explain what's the problem much more embarrassingly than any "hi thanks yeah with card please have a great day you to bye" conversation could ever be.

Edit:
I just thought of an important 9.

9. I feel so much more anxious and pressured in the self checkout. How fast I am done with scanning, paying, and packing things up depends entirely on me. And I feel the stares of the people in line at self checkout stabbing my back. Telling me to hurry. I try to be fast but the more I try the more I fuck up. So for all the folks who don't like cashiers because of social interaction, don't you feel the angst of the line?