Man, am I part of a minority that vastly prefers self checkout? I just scan my shit, pay, and leave while everyone else is waiting in line for a person. No awkward small talk, no one in front of me holding up the line with a mountain of coupons or anything, just efficiency. They're honestly not hard to use. Barcode go beep. Carrots under C. Stuff goes in bag.
I've had some finicky ones, but the only reason I would ever choose a person instead is if I have alcohol, and that's not really by choice. Most times, I finish shopping and walk out the door within 2 minutes. I've waited in line for like 15 before. I don't see why it's more popular other than the desire to "be serviced."
I wonder if self-serve gas went through this, too.
Had an idea to pre-print barcode stickers for various items that ring up the product as something similar, but cheaper. Then slap em on as you shop and checkout at either the self checkout or with a cashier.
Not sure if a database of products and their barcode IDs for certain stores exists, but you could also make a trip to do the scanning. I'm sure we could find at least one comrade at each major store to leak a database of barcodes.
This would work as I’ve done this, but not printing my own but as you said returning with the barcodes from a previous trip and sticking them on as I walk around the store.
Now I want to print my own so I’ll be looking into doing some testing.
If I'm scanning groceries for somebody else then sure but if it's just my own stuff, it's not work. Take pumping gas, some locations do it for you but if I'm pumping it myself, I'm not doing work for fre.
You're performing labor vital to the store's goal of selling you shit. Either someone else does that labor and gets paid for it, or you're doing that labor for free. Doing it "for yourself" doesn't make it not-labor and pushing the labor costs onto you are literally the entire point of these things from the business's viewpoint. You're choosing not to be bothered by it.
Just curious, how do you feel about ATMs for banking instead of the tellar? Although I agree labor is labor, freeing up a task for a cashier/grocery worker so they can focus on something else is a win. If I see a grocery cart far from the return stack, I'll move it. That's somebody's job, but I don't see it as free labor.
The task of the ATM used to solely be performed by bank tellars. Looking up accounts, checking balance, taking out the money, depositing checks, etc. It was all automated for self service, which is good as it frees up tellars responsibilities, but necessary labor before.
I'm not talking about the use of the ATM by pressing buttons, I'm talking about the functions it serves. The functions that an ATM performs were once functions only a bank tellar did but we're not against ATM because it was automates task for the better. Self checkout requires nothing but scanning a barcode for me (before self checkout, I bagged for myself and paid for myself; things I carried over).
My point being, ATM have been around long enough that we don't even regard those task as labor anymore, which is okay and will be how self checkout looks. Bank tellars can focus on people who have other questions. Grocery workers can focus on stock, albiet most stores I go to still have checkout lanes open. The grocery owner will underpay and price gouge.
That's somebody's job, but I don't see it as free labor.
That's how you choose to see it, but you also did work for the bourgeoisie for free
Look at it this way: nobody has ever had their workload lightened by it. Companies have just cut positions and hours instead.
With the cart example, yeah, cool, that's good. I could fold every messed up shirt I ever see in a store and that would certainly make some workers day easier, but I'd also be doing work for free
To be clear since people seem to regularly confuse arguments for endorsement, I use self checkout, but it is what it is. I'm doing something someone was paid to do, for free. That's the facts. And if you think about it, when i do so, I do especially valuable free labor because I used to work retail and can easily deal with it. Even if it's slight it's still a form of exploition and it's galling to think of my past exploitation providing value to this current form. I was a good little retail worker long enough that I can add to walmart's throughput by not clogging up a checkout, yay
Maybe, but this principle feels still reactionary in this case, depending on your presented solution. For now, we are more progressive towards our communist goals and better off with the self-checkout. It is a more centralized and efficient option in general. The problem isn't the fact that we are doing work for free that someone else should be paid for, it's that we should socialize the results of that free work in dropping prices and investing that labour elsewhere. Otherwise we're just re-privatizing the half of a process that's closer to socialization.
I don't think I'm necessarily complaining about your position here, you could just be using this phrase and agreeing, but I often see this phrasing followed by the reactionary "we can finally have normal lines and clerks like we used to have". Giving them that job back now (in full amounts, like before self-checkout lowered the amount) just results in even lower pay for those people and decreases every other benefit from it. There's never a going back in these cases which won't result in much worse things and further from a workable position strategically..
Of the three stores near me, all of them have switched over the years from having most of the checkout stations staffed with someone, to having 0-2 and forcing everyone to go to the tiny self checkout stations instead
Edit
Also the stations always yell at me and call the staff for doing it wrong somehow
Agreed, way more efficient and convenient. Where I live customers always bag their own groceries anyway so the only difference is taking 2 seconds to run it through a scanner before putting it in your bag and you never have to stand in line for them or anything. Like I couldn't care less if the convenience store isn't giving me great customer service I just wanna grab what I want and get out asap.
I'm on your side on this. Usually when I'm grocery shopping it's at the end of a long day, and I just don't want to deal with other people in any capacity at that point.
No awkward small talk
Oh god so much this. Especially from other people in line. There's something about my face that seems to invite conversations from strangers. I have no idea what it is. And it's always the last thing I have any interest in doing. Especially when they're offering recipe advice. Self checkouts are a godsend.
Man, am I part of a minority that vastly prefers self checkout? I just scan my shit, pay, and leave while everyone else is waiting in line for a person. No awkward small talk, no one in front of me holding up the line with a mountain of coupons or anything, just efficiency. They're honestly not hard to use. Barcode go beep. Carrots under C. Stuff goes in bag.
I've had some finicky ones, but the only reason I would ever choose a person instead is if I have alcohol, and that's not really by choice. Most times, I finish shopping and walk out the door within 2 minutes. I've waited in line for like 15 before. I don't see why it's more popular other than the desire to "be serviced."
I wonder if self-serve gas went through this, too.
Nope. I prefer them too because it’s easier to steal from corps.
You still have to scan stuff, but 500g of potatoes is cheaper than 500g of cheese. Just match the weights and give yourself a discount.
Had an idea to pre-print barcode stickers for various items that ring up the product as something similar, but cheaper. Then slap em on as you shop and checkout at either the self checkout or with a cashier.
Not sure if a database of products and their barcode IDs for certain stores exists, but you could also make a trip to do the scanning. I'm sure we could find at least one comrade at each major store to leak a database of barcodes.
its trivial and happening way more than you'd think
people were doing this with human cashiers decades ago
Just buy a cheap thing and take a picture of the barcode for next time
This would work as I’ve done this, but not printing my own but as you said returning with the barcodes from a previous trip and sticking them on as I walk around the store.
Now I want to print my own so I’ll be looking into doing some testing.
I prefer just leaving stuff at the bottom of the trolley than alt-scanning personally.
you're doing work for free and it should bother you
If I'm scanning groceries for somebody else then sure but if it's just my own stuff, it's not work. Take pumping gas, some locations do it for you but if I'm pumping it myself, I'm not doing work for fre.
You're performing labor vital to the store's goal of selling you shit. Either someone else does that labor and gets paid for it, or you're doing that labor for free. Doing it "for yourself" doesn't make it not-labor and pushing the labor costs onto you are literally the entire point of these things from the business's viewpoint. You're choosing not to be bothered by it.
Just curious, how do you feel about ATMs for banking instead of the tellar? Although I agree labor is labor, freeing up a task for a cashier/grocery worker so they can focus on something else is a win. If I see a grocery cart far from the return stack, I'll move it. That's somebody's job, but I don't see it as free labor.
ATM: push button, receive money
Self checkout: you scan, look up, and physically manipulate and bag dozens of items
You: these are equivalent
The task of the ATM used to solely be performed by bank tellars. Looking up accounts, checking balance, taking out the money, depositing checks, etc. It was all automated for self service, which is good as it frees up tellars responsibilities, but necessary labor before.
But the use of the atm requires no labor other than press button
I'm not talking about the use of the ATM by pressing buttons, I'm talking about the functions it serves. The functions that an ATM performs were once functions only a bank tellar did but we're not against ATM because it was automates task for the better. Self checkout requires nothing but scanning a barcode for me (before self checkout, I bagged for myself and paid for myself; things I carried over).
My point being, ATM have been around long enough that we don't even regard those task as labor anymore, which is okay and will be how self checkout looks. Bank tellars can focus on people who have other questions. Grocery workers can focus on stock, albiet most stores I go to still have checkout lanes open. The grocery owner will underpay and price gouge.
That's how you choose to see it, but you also did work for the bourgeoisie for free
Look at it this way: nobody has ever had their workload lightened by it. Companies have just cut positions and hours instead.
With the cart example, yeah, cool, that's good. I could fold every messed up shirt I ever see in a store and that would certainly make some workers day easier, but I'd also be doing work for free
To be clear since people seem to regularly confuse arguments for endorsement, I use self checkout, but it is what it is. I'm doing something someone was paid to do, for free. That's the facts. And if you think about it, when i do so, I do especially valuable free labor because I used to work retail and can easily deal with it. Even if it's slight it's still a form of exploition and it's galling to think of my past exploitation providing value to this current form. I was a good little retail worker long enough that I can add to walmart's throughput by not clogging up a checkout, yay
Maybe, but this principle feels still reactionary in this case, depending on your presented solution. For now, we are more progressive towards our communist goals and better off with the self-checkout. It is a more centralized and efficient option in general. The problem isn't the fact that we are doing work for free that someone else should be paid for, it's that we should socialize the results of that free work in dropping prices and investing that labour elsewhere. Otherwise we're just re-privatizing the half of a process that's closer to socialization.
I don't think I'm necessarily complaining about your position here, you could just be using this phrase and agreeing, but I often see this phrasing followed by the reactionary "we can finally have normal lines and clerks like we used to have". Giving them that job back now (in full amounts, like before self-checkout lowered the amount) just results in even lower pay for those people and decreases every other benefit from it. There's never a going back in these cases which won't result in much worse things and further from a workable position strategically..
Of the three stores near me, all of them have switched over the years from having most of the checkout stations staffed with someone, to having 0-2 and forcing everyone to go to the tiny self checkout stations instead
Edit Also the stations always yell at me and call the staff for doing it wrong somehow
Agreed, way more efficient and convenient. Where I live customers always bag their own groceries anyway so the only difference is taking 2 seconds to run it through a scanner before putting it in your bag and you never have to stand in line for them or anything. Like I couldn't care less if the convenience store isn't giving me great customer service I just wanna grab what I want and get out asap.
I'm on your side on this. Usually when I'm grocery shopping it's at the end of a long day, and I just don't want to deal with other people in any capacity at that point.
Oh god so much this. Especially from other people in line. There's something about my face that seems to invite conversations from strangers. I have no idea what it is. And it's always the last thing I have any interest in doing. Especially when they're offering recipe advice. Self checkouts are a godsend.