No cashiers, please: Futuristic supermarket opens in Mideast

[discocrisco01]

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Middle East on Monday got its first completely automated cashier-less store, as retail giant Carrefour rolled out its vision for the future of the industry in a cavernous Dubai mall.

Like Amazon's breakthrough unmanned grocery stores that opened in 2018, the Carrefour mini-market looks like any ordinary convenience store, brimming with sodas and snacks, tucked between sprawling storefronts of this city-state.

https://news.yahoo.com/no-cashiers-please-futuristic-supermarket-110427271.html

[Champp]

1. Sterile

I'm just sayin...

[kcr]

2. Not really

The store still needs other employees to handle the stock and maintain the store. Not to mention all the other customers touching everything.

[CurtEastPoint]

3. Perhaps they meant 'sterile' as in 'no soul or humanity.'

[kcr]

4. Ah. So used to thinking in terms of covid

In that case, I agree.

[Champp]

5. Bingo!

[kcr]

12. In my defense

It was the "I'm just sayin'". Made it read less as social commentary and more as an attempt at a selling point.

[NurseJackie]

6. I approve! I'd much prefer a NEAT and CLEAN and WELL-STOCKED store...

... rather than a slow cashier with an attitude. I remember when the "self-serve" checkout first started popping up in stores. I hated them.

But now, my feelings have changed. I actually PREFER self-checkout because it's FASTER. Another added benefit is that I don't have to worry about my bread and eggs being placed at the bottom of the bag, with canned goods stacked on top!

I tend to be old-fashioned when it comes to getting competent service. But when good service at the checkout has become a thing of the past, then I'm more than willing to embrace the future of self-checkout and AUTOMATIC checkout.

[bigtree]

7. it was defensible when people could argue cashiers weren't actually losing jobs over this

...those pesky cashiers (stressed out of their minds these days) trying to earn a living for themselves.

I worked in grocery retail (UFCW) for 36 years.

[NurseJackie]

8. The good old days... before bar-codes and slow service with an attitude.

[bigtree]

9. I worked in grocery retail for 36 years

...eliminating cashiers is a corporate, profit-inflating, dick move.

It's all about eliminating workers and eliminating the labor costs.

Why Self-Checkout Is and Has Always Been the Worst

There are fewer better poster children for shitty automation than self-checkout. I have literally never, as in not one single time, successfully completed a checkout at a self-service station in a grocery store without having to call a human employee over. And it’s not because I’m an idiot. Or not entirely, anyway. Incessant, erroneous repetitions of “please place your item in the bag” and “unknown item in the bagging area” are among the most-loathed phrases in the 21st century lexicon for a reason, and that reason is that self-checkout is categorically awful.

Hence, I turned to Alexandra Mateescu, an ethnographer and researcher at Data & Society, and a co-author, with Madeleine Clare Elish, of “AI in Context: The Labor of Integrating New Technologies,” which uses self-checkout as a case study, to find out why.

“We as consumers have been acculturated to the concept of ‘self-service’ for decades, so doing labor that used to be done by workers has largely been naturalized,” Mateescu tells me.

According to a 2009 study by Christopher K. Andrews, the author of The Overworked Consumer: Self-Checkouts, Supermarkets, and the Do-It-Yourself Economy and an assistant professor of sociology at Drew University, NCR claimed that each of its self-checkout lanes, which cost around $30,000 each, would “pay for itself in twelve to eighteen months.” Similarly, PSI “advertises that its machines save businesses up to $225,000 a year.” The cost savings, of course, were to come from automating people out of work.

“By automating labor, self-checkouts may allow businesses to replace cashiers with machines, and thus shed significant labor costs... Most of the self-checkout manufacturers’ websites readily acknowledge their savings in labor-related costs; a report on NCR’s website states that ‘self-checkout…allows stores to cut labor costs, which account for more than ninety percent of the costs associated with running the front end of a retail store.’ Likewise, Optimal Robotics notes that a four-station, one-attendant configuration would require approximately one hundred and fifty fewer labor hours a week compared to the regular checkouts…”

Just to reemphasize, the pitch from the automated checkout makers was and is all about labor savings and much less about any perceptible improvements for customers. The automated checkout companies do try to nod to some consumer benefits, but it’s a distant and deeply secondary tier of the sell. “While the manufacturers also promote consumer advantages that may indirectly affect businesses‚ most commonly shorter lines and faster checkouts—the main selling point is lower labor costs,” Andrews writes.

https://gizmodo.com/why-self-checkout-is-and-has-always-been-the-worst-1833106695

[NurseJackie]

10. And assembling cars with robotic arms...

And assembling cars with robotic arms, with automatic welders, automatic stampers, automatic paint tunnels... was a "corporate, profit-inflating" move too, eh? Think of all the seamstresses who were "eliminated" with sewing machines. Push button phones and direct-dialing was a "profit-inflating" move that "eliminated" switchboard operators.



Time marches on. Retail technology evolves and advances. People need to adapt to the new realities of the Space Age advancements.

[bigtree]

13. good for you, promoting edging vulnerable workers out of jobs

...because, 'time marches on.'

What a cold and heartless assessment.

This is why we have unions. Businesses looking to automate millions of workers out of life-sustaining jobs to feather their billions of dollars in profits, will always get hurrahs from consumers too obsessed with saving a minute or a few cents to consider the livelihoods of workers.

I wouldn't vote for anyone pushing this abomination, and I'll politically fight anyone who supports it.

Figures this comes from the human rights abuser capital of the world.

[Treefrog]

18. I guess you never use ATMs either?

[sarcasmo]

22. No need for ATM's take cash out at checkout.

[bigtree]

23. so we've eliminated banks then?

...was defensible when it was argued that cashiers still retained jobs.

This is in Dubai where they treat citizens like peasants without rights or opportunities afforded in this country. Kind of a bad look to go all in on such an anti-worker initiative, but nothing surprises me anymore these days.

'Hey, works in human rights abusing, women's rights denying Dubai. Why not try it here in the United States?'

[Treefrog]

37. Well, I hear what you're saying there.

But in my lifetime they’ve eliminated gas station attendants, numerous assembly line jobs, numerous postal worker jobs…

[kcr]

68. The thing is, the rate at which this replacement is happening is rapidly increasing

Until recently, the pace of modern innovation was slow enough that new jobs could replace the ones being phased out. That is no longer the case as the technology behind automation grows ever faster and spreads in its scope. And there are no real policy plans in the works right now for how to make up the difference.

[kcr]

20. Agreed

I don't even get the argument when it comes to self-checkouts. I think they're a huge pain in the ass. Much easier to set everything on the belt and let the cashier do the rest.

[NurseJackie]

24. I like nostalgia, but I don't cling to the past. Especially when it comes to improved service...

I like nostalgia, but I don't cling to the past. Especially when it comes to improved service, improved efficiency, and improved accuracy. (Not to mention, being able to get home with a dozen UN-broken eggs and a loaf of UN-squished bread.)

All this and NO ATTITUDE too? It sounds like a definite "win-win" situation.

Businesses looking to automate millions of workers out of life-sustaining jobs to feather their billions of dollars in profits, will always get hurrahs from consumers too obsessed with saving a minute or a few cents to consider the livelihoods of workers.

It's ridiculous to romanticize a world without automation, without assembly line automation. I prefer today's modern cars compared to a horse-drawn buggy or wood-slat open-cart. The "Little House on the Prairie" days are in the past.

I wouldn't vote for anyone pushing this abomination

I know, it's horrible, isn't it?

[bigtree]

27. workers are 'nostalgia'

...got it.

And who are you supporting politically? (rhetorical question)

You'd love Dubai.

[NurseJackie]

28. No. Slow, error-prone, inefficient "service-with-an-attitude" is nostalgia.

workers are 'nostalgia'...got it.

No, Bigtree. I never said that. What I am saying is this: Horse and buggy days is nostalgia. Horse-drawn plows are nostalgia. Kerosene lamps are nostalgia. Living an Amish-style existence without technology is nostalgia. I'm not being cryptic here. Anyone who gives it some thought will easily understand what I'm saying.

It's time to face reality and accept the fact that not EVERY job can be preserved. Time marches on, technology rolls ahead. People can choose to either join the parade and march along with it... our try to remain frozen in a single spot and get rolled over and LEFT BEHIND.

And who are you supporting politically? (rhetorical question) You'd love Dubai.

Oh, charming. I haven't personally insulted or attacked you. Why do you think it's okay to do that to me?

[bigtree]

29. no, I understood, right from the start of your defense of this Dubai abomination

...you just devalued 100s of thousands of workers because someone 'broke your eggs' and was 'rude' to you.

This view of yours, expressed here on a progressive, Democratic message board is heartless, short-sighted, corporatist claptrap.

These are my co-workers. United we stand, more than just a slogan to us.

[NurseJackie]

30. ... you forgot slow and inefficient.

...you just devalued 100s of thousands of workers because someone 'broke your eggs' and was 'rude' to you.

... you forgot slow and inefficient.

This is heartless, short-sighted, corporatist claptrap.

Time marches on. Join the parade or get left behind.

Oh no! Automation! It's the work of the devil!

[bigtree]

32. you forgot corporate profiteering

...remember, my perspective comes from more than a few broken eggs. I worked grocery retail for 36 years.

Nice to know some customers couldn't care less that I was working there. Raised my family on union wages, but i get it. Screw me, as long as the customer gets what they want. Nostalgia, I know, expecting a community to care about the jobs that support it.

Shoppers complain self-checkouts are inconvenient, confusing, and pose accessibility issues for the elderly and disabled, and they don’t like to see people being replaced by machines.

Beyond the fact that self-checkouts can be cumbersome and annoying, many people prefer the social aspect of being able to interact with a cashier. A cashier can help answer any questions you might have about a product and can direct you towards the item that you’re looking for.

Cashiers provide a valuable service in retail stores, which is why consumers like them. And in unionized stores, a cashier position is often a family-sustaining job that provides benefits, a pension, and income that is then reinvested in the local economy. This means that cashiers not only help retailers meet consumer needs – they also drive our economy.

According to a 2009 study by Christopher K. Andrews, the author of The Overworked Consumer: Self-Checkouts, Supermarkets, and the Do-It-Yourself Economy and an assistant professor of sociology at Drew University, NCR claimed that each of its self-checkout lanes, which cost around $30,000 each, would “pay for itself in twelve to eighteen months.” Similarly, PSI “advertises that its machines save businesses up to $225,000 a year.” The cost savings, of course, were to come from automating people out of work.

“By automating labor, self-checkouts may allow businesses to replace cashiers with machines, and thus shed significant labor costs... Most of the self-checkout manufacturers’ websites readily acknowledge their savings in labor-related costs; a report on NCR’s website states that ‘self-checkout…allows stores to cut labor costs, which account for more than ninety percent of the costs associated with running the front end of a retail store.’ Likewise, Optimal Robotics notes that a four-station, one-attendant configuration would require approximately one hundred and fifty fewer labor hours a week compared to the regular checkouts…”

Just to reemphasize, the pitch from the automated checkout makers was and is all about labor savings and much less about any perceptible improvements for customers. The automated checkout companies do try to nod to some consumer benefits, but it’s a distant and deeply secondary tier of the sell. “While the manufacturers also promote consumer advantages that may indirectly affect businesses‚ most commonly shorter lines and faster checkouts—the main selling point is lower labor costs,”

https://gizmodo.com/why-self-checkout-is-and-has-always-been-the-worst-1833106695

[Hortensis]

35. All three of my former lines of work were rendered at least

partially obsolete by the advances of IT, and millions of jobs were lost to computers. Reality is that profits rise because IT could could do significant portions of the work incredibly faster and more competently with injection of far fewer mistakes (!), as well as without the enormous total "human" costs of human employees.

Unlike many of my angry colleagues, I never once argued that my job should be saved even though it could be done better without me. Each time, I cheerfully retrained for a new adventure in work where I was needed and could contribute value. I wouldn't have hung on some forcibly available corporate teat if I could.

The job at hand is how to provide incomes, and proper ones, to people (consumers!) as modern production produces greater and greater riches, and fewer jobs. This is a democracy, and 250,000,000 adults can and should use their power to redistribute wealth for everyone's benefit, above all to keep the nation everything depends on healthy and happy.

Subsidizing millions of elevator operator, file clerk, and horseshoing jobs in every town long after the horses are gone would not be good for us.

And the need for checkers is also going, going... I once had favorite checkers at my markets, and I do miss them and those ways, but I can find people to chat with many other places. I go to stores for the items on my shopping list. What I want from the store is good selection, good quality, good prices, and efficiency. Smiles are nice also, of course, but I won't choose a store for them.

[bigtree]

41. well, that isn't the case at all

...there are myriad issues with self-checkouts, and plenty of opposition and complaint from consumers, like elderly and disabled who are not being adequately accomodated by automated checkouts.

But, I get the short-sighted, profiteering side of this. In the case of self-checkouts, CONSUMERS are doing the work the company used to pay cashiers to perform. It's not as much of a convenience for shoppers, as it is a boon for retailers.

Yay progress. Damn people in communities looking for employment from these corporate giants sucking every last dollar out of neighborhoods.

[Hortensis]

55. Unfortunately, all you're getting is the negative side of this,

including wasting energy on resentment of wealthy people instead of focusing on making work, nonwork, and incomes all better.

All my favorite cashiers valued what they did and were proud of being good at it. It took a lot of time to get good in those days, and they were valued for what they did, being good was rewarded with higher pay, and altogether they were happy at work.

Not so much now. jobs dumbed down, pay and benefits not so good, sometimes poverty level. Easily replaceable but valued anyway? Not so much by a long shot. Employers and customers no longer know or care who could once ring up 50 items without having to check a price. But what remains is standing all day 5 days a week, for years.

This is no place to stop, to settle for. Yuck!

What comes next can be better in a number of ways and should be. For most will be. Humanity has never been so healthy, comfy and rich! More coming too, but needs to be handled better.

What does come next? Btw, we're in transition now. Always painful, exciting for some, but never the end,

[NurseJackie]

36. I understand your "perspective". Nostalgic and outdated.

Cashiers provide a valuable service in retail stores, which is why consumers like them.

Provided... past tense. Switchboard operators provided a "valuable service" also... there's no denying that. But, time marches on. Welcome to the future!

[kcr]

65. What is outdated

is thinking automation can only affect blue-collar/working-class jobs like checkout workers. What is outdated is assuming that the momentum behind automation in its modern form is the same as it's always been. As if the forces generating it, the technology and the corporations wielding it, haven't changed.

[NurseJackie]

70. Ohhhh.... okayyyy.

I guess I'm just less paranoid than a lot of people. I'm not afraid of tech, or automation, or self-serve, or bar-codes, or debit cards, or dialing my own phone, or riding in automobiles from automated/robotic assembly lines. I embrace the future and all the advancements that are yet to come. Medical advancements (from "big-pharma" and "corporate-hospitals'') are interesting to me. Space exploration (funded by "evil-billionaires'') is exciting to me.

I'm as nostalgic as the next person. I like old cars, diners, jukeboxes, retro-styles and retro-tech. I just don't see any great value in clinging to the past as if everything the modern world has to offer is evil. It's not.

[kcr]

72. What does paranoia have to do with it?

If you're okay with getting shafted, that's on you. There are other instances where modern technology has indeed made things more convenient. ATMs mean not having to go into the bank, for instance. It would be one thing if these checkouts were being replaced with robots. Then maybe you'd have a point. But it isn't even that. They're being replaced with... nothing. You now have to do the work yourself. But still paying the same amount for everything. If that's winning for you..... okayyyy.

[NurseJackie]

43. No they can't.

A cashier can help answer any questions you might have about a product and can direct you towards the item that you’re looking for.

No they can't. What century are you talking about? That's certainly not a universal truth today. Those days are over. The one's I've encountered can't do simply math calculations in their heads to make change... wouldn't smile, wouldn't speak, wouldn't even tell me the total. Good luck finding a cashier who knows the store layout, or who views customers as anything other than a distraction to filing their fingernails or chatting on the phone.

[Ohio Joe]

33. Except... This is not automation...

This is replacing workers with each customer doing a part of that persons job for free... With some of the customers laughing at and mocking the worker.

[NurseJackie]

34. Of course it's automation.

With some of the customers laughing at and mocking the worker.

No... just the ones who cling to the past and refuse to adapt. We all survived when switchboard operators were replaced. We'll survive this too.

[bigtree]

38. this is how communities gentrify and die

...companies neglecting to hire enough workers in the communities they serve are just profiteering off of the residents.

That's why most city councils demand companies establishing themselves in their communities hire a certain amount of employees. Of course, there are always going to be those lobbying for them to require less workers.

Your 'convenience' concern ranks much lower than customer service in almost every retail survey. It tops the list of concerns. Most people understand that these cashiers are there for their benefit, and should also be aware of their benefit to the community, as well. That's been my *experience*, notwithstanding your self-interested perspective.

[NurseJackie]

49. Times change. The future is already here. Adapt or get trampled...

... as progress marches on.

neglecting to hire enough workers in the communities they serve are just profiteering off of the residents.

No, the people who buy things get something in return. It's not as though people are simply handing over their money and getting nothing in exchange.

If automated or self-serve checkout bothered the majority of shoppers as much as it bothers you, then these "evil" grocery stores would make adjustments. If having well-trained, competent, efficient, friendly, professional cashiers was a big enough draw (novelty?) to bring in loyal customers, then that would be the norm... but it's not.

Those days are gone.

🎵Ding-ding!🎵 "Welcome to Texaco! Fill-er-up? Check your oil? Clean your windshield?"

[bigtree]

53. you just described profiteering

...not one concern for the worker.

Just 'adapt' to losing your job, or 'get trampled,' like someone need to remind vulnerable workers of that corporate heartlessness.

I'm in the business of supporting workers, who are the foundation of businesses, and are most often the people who spend their money in the communities these big box stores benefit from in the form of tax breaks and other incentives at taxpayers' expense.

I don't want any big box store in my community which disregards their workers like Dubai has in this instance. At the very least, they should not be advantaging their profit taking off of communities they neglect to provide proportional opportunities for.

Companies do this all of the time. I don't need to support their neglect to support progress. It's a false choice, and an invitation for big box stores to exploit communities they profit from.

[NurseJackie]

54. No, I just described embracing the future and not clinging to horse-and-buggy days.

you just described profiteering

No, I just described embracing the future and not clinging to horse-and-buggy days. People who once worked in a now-obsolete job should be retrained or offered other low-skill jobs. We can't freeze time and progress for the sake of those who would rather crank-the-handle or click-the-receiver and tell "Sarah" to connect them to "5-4-6-8". We don't live in Mayberry any more. Time marches on.

[bigtree]

60. utopian nonsense

...and a blatent disregard for the workers and communities caught in the way of corporate profiteering.

[NurseJackie]

67. It's 2021. Not 1921.

It's not "profiteering" ... it's providing better service at a better price. I appreciate when my local store makes an effort to keep their prices lower, or when they're able to use their profits to grow and offer more items and better service as a result.

It's just a matter of embracing the future (and, frankly... REALITY) and being appreciative of all that the advancements that the modern world has to offer. This genie is out of the bottle and all the griping in the world isn't going to change the new direction of retail.

I'm looking forward to the day when every item in a cart can be recognized with its own RFID tag. Individual barcode scanning won't be required. Just push the cart through a walk-through scanner, and everything is counted and totaled-up.

Typewriter ribbon factories are struggling. Let's all go back to manual typewriters.

Remember when boxboys would use their spring-loaded pricing-inker to stamp the price on top of every can? Then along comes barcodes and their jobs are obsolete. One person can stock the shelves (without pricing items individually) much faster than five box-boys who needed to stamp prices before putting them on the shelf. OH NO!!

Are there people seriously advocating that we get rid of bar-codes so that more box-boys can keep their jobs? (That's "profiteering" too, right?)

[bigtree]

69. none of those equate to eliminating cashiers

...as in Dubai.

You're 'splitting hairs' to defend big box stores eliminating workers for your convenience, and corporate profit.

[NurseJackie]

71. Every business needs to make profit. Deal with it.

You're 'splitting hairs' to defend big box stores eliminating workers for your convenience, and corporate profit.

Every business needs to make profit. Deal with it. Or if it bothers you so much, don't shop at stores that don't have cashiers. Problem solved.

Or never use the self-serve checkout. Problem solved.

Or always wait forever in the ONE line with a retro-cashier (while your ice cream melts and leaves a trail from the back of the store to the checkout line) instead of zipping through the dozen self-serve lines. --- Problem solved.

I'm telling you... it's the way of the future. It's here. No going back. Embrace it.

[bigtree]

74. see: 'profiteering'

...

Do more than defend corporate profiteering. Defend workers.

[NurseJackie]

76. Self-serve checkouts is not "profiteering" ... it's meeting a need.

If the customers didn't like it, they wouldn't use it. Obviously enough people like it and the stores keep it. If nobody used it, then those self-serve stations would be replaced, and new friendly well-trained, efficient and speedy cashiers would be hired instead.

But that's not happening is it? It's the same reason that people shop online rather than driving to Sears or Penney's. Sears missed the boat. If they had embraced online retail at the same time that Amazon first went online... then they'd still be solvent today. But they were stuck with old-school thinking and they couldn't provide what today's modern customer wants and expects.

They were FROZEN in time... but the future arrived and marched right over them. They couldn't adapt.

Defend workers.

Now those former Sears employees, cashiers, drivers and warehouse workers don't have any job at all.

[bigtree]

79. what nonsense

...big box stores benefit more than consumers, none of the dollars saved by the companies evident anywhere for customers.

Besides it's all about 'covenience' for you, and somebody broke your eggs.

Mocking workers made redundant, as well. Just awful.

So glad most Democrats don't talk this way.

[NurseJackie]

81. Wrong again.

none of the dollars saved by the companies evident anywhere for customers.

Of course it is. It's just not re-invested in obsolete tech or redundant workers.

Mocking workers made redundant, as well. Just awful.

No... but what I am doing is offering legitimate and reasonable explanations why it's a mistake for incompetent "workers" like this to be kept-on. If I was a store owner, I certainly wouldn't keep someone employed who wasn't up-to-snuff or who provided no value to me or my business.

and somebody broke your eggs.

Well, not just that! Don't forget squished my bread. Bruised my tomatoes. Dented my cans. Melted my ice-cream. Cracked the mayo jar. Ripped my bags. Crushed my muffins. Spilled my blueberries. Took their sweet time doing an incompetent job, and then gave me attitude because I dared to use a credit card that they don't accept. (At least she didn't have to break a sweat trying to come up with the right change.)

So glad most Democrats don't talk this way.

All I can tell you is that this is a battle you've already lost. The sooner you accept it, the sooner you'll be able to focus efforts on other more productive causes. Right now it's just wasted effort. That's all I'm trying to say.

[bigtree]

82. just a load of naivete to think profits go to consumers, or 'retraining workers' What bs.

...and the mocking of the unemployed and folks being made redundant is utterly disgusting.

Go talk to someone else. This is just sad and gross. What a performance.

[NurseJackie]

83. Nobody is doing that. I'm just telling it like it is.

mocking of the unemployed

Nobody is doing that. I'm just telling it like it is. I'm giving you the lay of the land. Trying to help you to realize that the future is here already. You can't go back in time. Romanticizing incompetence and being nostalgic about obsolete jobs serves no good purpose.

Go talk to someone else. This is just sad.

If it makes you so sad, then why keep responding to me?

[bigtree]

85. misinformation on a public forum deserves response

...but you're essentially correct that someone arguing against workers out of concern for their own 'convenience' shouldn't be taken so seriously.

[NurseJackie]

87. Oh, hello again! 🤣😂🤣

No, I'm arguing that the infatuation people have with the old way of doing things simply doesn't make good sense in today's modern world. There's no "misinformation" there. Cashiers are becoming obsolete. Consumers are adjusting. Some of us like the cashier-less experience even better.

Switchboard operators became obsolete and people adjusted. The ABJECT OUTRAGE at having to dial a number soon passed and the ones who were most resistant to change eventually got on board with the new rotary-dial technology.

[marie999]

102. It is not meeting a need.

You don't have a choice when there are 16 self-checkouts and only 1 cashier.

[NurseJackie]

103. Definitely faster.

Some stores, however need cashiers for bulky items. When there's a line at the main cashiers in Lowe's... there's a "secret" cashier that's almost always available in the Garden Department. I'll roll down there and check-out fairly quickly.

[iemanja]

111. It's eliminating workers

It's only convenient because they have eliminated the cashiers and leave only one or two open, if that. There is a reason those lines are so long. Cashiers check out people more quickly, but the company has to pay them, which they don't want to do. Hence the auto-check out. The purpose is to reduce worker costs, which means an increasing reduction in the standard of living. It is nothing to be celebrated.

If we don't think about the consequences of such things, what makes us better than Republicans?

[NurseJackie]

114. The same way that dial telephones eliminated switchboard operators.

The same way that self-serve gasoline pumps eliminated getting oil-levels checked, tire pressure topped-off, and windshields cleaned with a fill-up of Ethyl.

Things change and there will always be growing pains. But in the end, people adapt and do okay. This isn't the end of the world.

[iemanja]

115. and the standard of living keeps dropping with them.

And the distribution of income becomes more unequal. And taylorism and fordism before the changes you note. It's the increasing spread of capital and the dehumanization of society.

Don't think that they aren't coming up with ways to automate nurses' tasks either.

[Ohio Joe]

42. ahhh, I see... You do not know what automation is...

Automation is replacing a human worker with a combination of hardware and software so the task is done with little/no change to the customer and no added burden to the customer. The only change here is that the customer does the work for the company for free.

"No... just the ones who cling to the past and refuse to adapt."

As a programmer, I've automated many, many things over the years. One of my first tasks employed as a programmer was to automate 150 accountants out of a job by automating a bank reconciliation process for a large retail chain. Not everything a company does to save money is automation... In this case it is getting the customer to do an employees work for them for free... Not automation.

[NurseJackie]

46. The level of care one spends trying to split hairs...

... is a good indicator of how weak their argument is.

The only change here is that the customer does the work for the company for free.

No, that's not entirely true. The store gets to keep their costs down and remain competitive in a highly competitive industry. Survival of the fittest. I get to have more control and speedier checkout.

It's really not that hard to take an item out of the cart, pass it over a scanner, then place it in a bag. Simple. Done! I spend as much time and effort doing the same thing to place an item on the conveyor belt... letting the cashier pass it over a scanner... then bagging my own groceries anyway (because they're "not allowed" to touch my reusable canvas grocery totes.) I'm doing all the "work" anyway.

Honestly, it simply makes zero sense for a grocery store to have ONE checker at 5 in the afternoon... with a line that extends halfway to the back of the store, when a half-dozen or more automated, or RFID, or self-serve lines can accomplish MORE for LESS.

I'll prefer the modern solution, thank-you-very-much. Times change.

You won't get me to change my mind. I'm a Modern Woman... I don't cling to the past. (I also pump my own gasoline.)

[Ohio Joe]

57. Define... Irony...

"The level of care one spends trying to split hairs... is a good indicator of how weak their argument is."

You then spend three paragraphs splitting hairs to justify why it is ok for companies to have you do work for them for free... Fascinating.

"I'll prefer the modern solution, thank-you-very-much. Times change."

Times do indeed change... But not always for the better or even the betterment of people. Are you also on board with how the times are changing in Texas?

"I also pump my own gasoline."

Not in New Jersey.

[NurseJackie]

64. I'm not the one splitting hairs.

Times do indeed change... But not always for the better or even the betterment of people. Are you also on board with how the times are changing in Texas?

I'm also not the one moving goalposts, changing the subject, and comparing two unrelated things. GMAFB!

What good purpose does it serve to try an insult me by insinuating that I'm in favor of Texas' "heartbeat" laws and bounty-hunter laws? Absolutely ridiculous.

But now that it's been mentioned, I can point out that Texas also wants to cling to, or return to, the past. They need to embrace the future too.

Not in New Jersey.

I never said otherwise. But if it will make anyone feel better... they can be proud of the points scored with such a clever and snappy comeback. So amusing!

[Silent3]

39. I think it's the job of unions to ease the shock of transitions caused by new technology...

...but not to preserve outmoded jobs forever just so someone can keep a job long after than job no longer makes practical or economic sense.

Should we still be employing people to make horseshoes well in excess of the number of horses people use, and typewriter ribbons well in excess of the number by typewriters still in use?

[bigtree]

48. this is a fight for the communities which these big box stores profit from

...and as many local councils demand they employ certain numbers of workers, there are always corporate pressures to limit that responsibility.

We should be in the business of demanding opportunities for workers from these profiteers, not just cheering on corporate progress for progress sake.

Such a strange, compromised view of unions. At any rate, they don't support eliminating cashiers altogether, like Dubai.

[Silent3]

61. If you read my comment about what unions should do...

…to help ease transitions caused by changes in technology as somehow meaning I said that this is the only thing unions should do, period, then you have reading comprehension problems I don’t care to waste my time fighting through.

[bigtree]

63. if my union presented that as their operating principle they'd be run out of town

...it's just absurd to use unions as an example.

The UFCW doesn't support eliminating cashiers like Dubai. They actively resist eliminating workers due to automation, and the 'transition' support for displaced workers they provide is triage, not aspiration.

Apologies if I misunderstand your reasoning.

[Ptah]

14. Spot on, NurseJackie

[Treefrog]

11. I'm the same. I always choose the self-serve if available.

I like to bag my own groceries.

Lately, I’ve been ordering pickup service again.

[NurseJackie]

15. I take my own canvas totes to the grocery store...

... the hard-sided ones (like a cube with handles) that will fold-flat for easy storage between trips to the grocery store. The flat rigid bottom lets me pack them heavy. (And it's easier to load in the back seat without worrying about cans rolling around every where.)

[Treefrog]

17. Exactly what I do!

I love those totes!

[Lancero]

47. Best part, I can bag at my own pace.

I'm not a trained scanner and bagger though, so a line tends to form. Still, I don't let it bother me - If people being slow at scanning and bagging their own items was that big of a issue, the store'd hire and train people to perform such tasks at higher speeds.

[Treefrog]

50. I'm pretty fast. Faster than the employees usually.

It’s not hard.

[NurseJackie]

75. Yes... the inconvenience is WAITING and SLOW SERVICE.

No, it's not hard. I'm not even "trained" as a cashier and I can work FASTER than a cashier.

[NurseJackie]

52. I'm not all that speedy either... but unless there are FIVE OTHERS just like me...

... my speed isn't likely to be noticed by others in line. With a half-dozen or more automated checkout scanners in use, the line (if there is one) moves at an acceptable pace.

[Politicub]

16. Like shopping in a giant hotel mini-bar

It’s more sophisticated because of the cameras and identity tracking, but same principle of take one and get charged.

[Sneederbunk]

19. Shoplifters will be chased by robots.

[NurseJackie]

31. Just like in the movies...

[sarcasmo]

21. Universal basic income now.

[2naSalit]

25. No thanks.

[brooklynite]

26. Next up, they'll expect you to pump your own gas and place your own phone calls!

[Treefrog]

40. Lol.

Well spotted.

[USALiberal]

62. And withdrawal your own cash from bank. Nt

[Me.]

44. What If You Have Questions Or Make A Make A Mistake?

who to ask?

[Blue_Adept]

56. There are still people working in the store

It's not like a supermarket has JUST cashiers.

[Me.]

66. Yes....But Can You Find Those People

at times they are few and far between

[Blue_Adept]

90. Experiences will vary

It's all anecdotal at that point. Some markets are sparsely staffed with just cashiers and do all their stocking overnight. Others do everything during the day.

Either way, the reality is that it would be a "new normal" and things change when these situations happen. Assuming that it'll just be like now, but worse, isn't an unexpected reaction but that's not what consistently happens. If it did, there'd be no progress at all.

[marie999]

45. I think that when you do self-checkout, you should get a 5% discount.

[leftstreet]

58. At the very least. They're getting free labor from us

They're replacing paid labor with unpaid, and selling it to us as "but convenient!!"

[Boomerproud]

51. Anyone remember the book "A Jobless Society "?

It came out in the '80s I believe. What is the solution?

[bigtree]

59. it's a fantastical appeal which supposes we can eliminate the middle class

...utopian notions of majority of us becoming 'wealthy' because of technology, and a beneficent society catering to the 'lower class.'

The first thing that would need to be established is a universal income. But, this is all nonsense. There won't be a shift to this, more of a societal collapse, where even more money would flow to the wealthy few, while the rest of society tries to gain elevation on the new pyramid scheme.

Such a willing acquiescence to the death of communities.

[NurseJackie]

77. The sky is falling.

Such a willing acquiescence to the death of communities.

The sky is falling.

[bigtree]

80. if you don't care

...you don't care.

What a thing to bandy about when your admitted primary concern is your own convenience.

Anyone who's spent any time on the approval of big box construction will understand the concern for the health and life of communities. This is just ignorantly mocking something you don't give a shit about.

No one who cares about communities should put their convenience in front of eliminating jobs, but I do see it does happen.

[NurseJackie]

86. Well it's a concern, but not necessarily my primary concern.

I'm also concerned with selection, value, safety, competence, freshness... I don't like to drive more than 15 miles to get to the grocery store, so having a store close to me is "convenient" too.

For the most part, the days of Mayberry-style downtown areas is long gone. Even shopping malls with boutique stores are suffering. Times have changed. Nobody wants to go to "the butcher" then to "the bakery" then to "the candy store" and a quick stop at the roadside produce stand.

The "big box" grocery store (or Super Market) replaced all that. You can't go back in time. I like the convenience of one-stop shopping. (I also like the convenience of shopping online, too.)

Again with the insults, why?

[bigtree]

89. you've taken shots at workers, essentially my co workers

...false, uninformed, broad swipe insults of grocery store cashiers.

And you want me to treat you with comity? You got as much as I can manage, more than you deserve for the hatefulness with which you've attempted to label grocery workers, imo.

All of this corporatism wrapped in utter contempt for unemployed workers, including those made redundant, and selfish arguments against workers based on your own 'inconvenience.'

'Why,' indeed.

[NurseJackie]

92. No I haven't.

89. you've taken shots at workers, essentially my co workers

No I haven't. I've been completely truthful with you at all times.

...false, uninformed, broad swipe insults of grocery store cashiers.

Wrong again. I've conveyed to you nothing but the truth.

And you want me to treat you with comity? You got as much as I can manage, more than you deserve for the hatefulness with which you've attempted to label grocery workers, imo.

So now I'm "hateful" too, eh? No, I do not "hate" cashiers. That's ridiculous. What I cannot tolerate is bad service, slow service, and incompetence.

and selfish arguments against workers based on your own 'inconvenience.'

LOL! So now I'm "selfish"... what a riot! If the stores provide me with more convenience, then it's a win-win! Nothing wrong with that.

Back in the day, NOT having a party-line and dialing my own telephone is also a big convenience too. Switchboard operators adjusted, or were shuffled around in the company, or they found new jobs (probably as cashiers).

'Why,' indeed.

At least I can control my temper.

[bigtree]

93. you haven't seen my temper

...and your abuse is all over the page.

Not what I'd term 'progressive politics.' Corporatist reasoning, and utter disdain for workers. No way around that, no matter how offended you are at being confronted.

[NurseJackie]

96. Nonsense. Nobody is being abused by me.

My only distain is for slow service, rude employees, incompetence, laziness, dishonesty, tardiness, and insubordination. Even without training, I can do their job faster and better. That's the simple truth.

So in addition to name calling and insults, I'm being threatened too? Good grief.

[marie999]

104. Yes, you and others on both sides need to tone it down.

[NurseJackie]

105. What's to tone down?

[marie999]

107. Putting people down because they don't agree with you.

Too many people are making too many snide remarks about the people who don't agree with them.

[NurseJackie]

108. I'm not the one hurling personal insults and making veiled threats.

[marie999]

109. I guess the definition of rude has changed since the way I was raised.

[NurseJackie]

110. Very likely so.

[Treefrog]

112. I don't see Nurse Jackie hurling insults.

I do see other posters doing so.

[Treefrog]

97. Insults generally indicate someone has lost the argument.

[NurseJackie]

98. True.

I wonder what it means when someone resorts to veiled threats.

[Treefrog]

101. More of the same.

Smh.

[JCMach1]

73. Big improvement... UAE doesn't have the concept of waiting in line

Get In line for a cashier there and you will have numerous people try to cut in line as you wait without so much as a pardon me.

[Goodheart]

78. And if the register doesn't deactivate the product's RFID tag

you get vaporized by a laser as you attempt to walk out the door.

[haele]

84. They still need people, though.

Stockers, price programmers, maintenance people, daily testers, and customer service in larger stores.

We have one of those cashless mini-marts at one of the office buildings for the small command. Because we have 24/7 shift work, it allows people to get some real food and sundries vice vending machine selections at 1am if they have the need.
The nice thing about the machines is you can set up an account and pre-fund your monthly expenditure.
Downside is that there is pretty much always one of the two cashier machines down, so the tech is there at least daily, sometimes two or three times to troubleshoot or reboot the machine, especially if the daily stocker didn't scan some of the items in properly - like fresh fruit or day-old/sale items.
But again, this is a small federal facility where they have to limit vendor access due to security requirements.
It works here. I'm just not sure it's that much of a cost savings in a commercial setting under constant use.
Those machines go down, the options will be getting a cashier in to cover or shut down.


Haele

[NurseJackie]

100. There's a little sundry shop like that in the old terminal at Washington National.

Drinks, sandwiches, snacks, candy, gum... batteries, toothbrushes, razors... magazines, newspapers, paperbacks. Just scan, tap and go. (But obviously someone restocks and keeps the shelves neat.) But airport convenience shops are always overpriced anyway. No savings there.

[iemanja]

88. This is about eliminating workers

Same with the auto-check out machines in stores in the US. I'm surprised to see so much support for it. This is not good for the economy or for people.

[Hoyt]

91. Not a fan of featherbedding. But something will have to be done as more and more workers are

displaced.

[OnlinePoker]

94. And if you don't own a mobile phone, you're screwed.

The worst part is the data mining the companies will be doing on your purchasing habits with every item noted. In the past year, I've only paid using a debit or credit card 3 times. The rest of my purchases were with cash.

[Sympthsical]

95. Stores make things inconvenient on purpose

I pop into Safeway pretty often. It's next to gym, so I always go in for some little thing I need maybe every other day. Today was tea bags and red curry paste.

Place is jammed. There are two cashiers. Lines stretching into the aisles.

Yeah, there's no way I'm standing there for 15 minutes or more. If you go more towards opening or just vaguely later in the evening, it's always only ever one cashier. Again, newp. I swipe in self checkout and wander off in under two minutes.

When Costco got self checkout, it was my favorite day in personal shopping in history. Whenever I was trying to decide if I could do a Costco run, I always factored in a 20 minute wait at checkout. And if I only needed a few things, like butter and eggs, then I really had to decide if the wait was worth it. "Do I want to get behind this person with 42 items . . ."

Nope. Wander over, beep beep, leave.

They're doing it on purpose. They don't want to pay cashiers. They sure as shit know I'm not going to stand there if I don't have to. So they funnel us more and more towards automation.

I seriously do not understand why Safeway has like 8 check out aisles. Even on the absolute busiest days, I don't think I've ever seen more than three operating.

It's like they're taunting us.

[NurseJackie]

99. I know they tend to put the most commonly-purchased items in the REAR of the store...

... so that you're tempted by everything else along the way. Many times I've popped-in to get eggs and milk... and walked out with a cart full.

Well, I didn't simply "walk out". I scanned and bagged them, swiped my Loyalty Card... and then tapped my chip-enabled credit card. After the receipt printed, THEN (and only then) do I walk out.

[marie999]

106. I think people need to tone it down a little.

Not just on this, but on others like why Hillary lost the election people are getting way too emotional and being quite rude to others.

[Treefrog]

113. Wow, somehow you've brought Hillary into this?