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    77 months ago

    I’ve recently visited a grocery store in Hamburg, where you just put all your items on the self checkout counter, it detects all the prices and quantities in an instant (yes, including fruits and vegetables that require weighted!) you pay, you go. So great ! The only truly practical implementation of a self checkout, in my opinion. I’ve seen this in other types of store before (clothing) but never for groceries.

  • @[email protected]
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    7 months ago

    I get being mean to walmart because corporations are bad but being needlessly rude to random employees rubs me the wrong way. Most of us can’t get a job anywhere better despite having a degree. We have to deal with the mental abuse of people constantly treating us like dog shit just because we exist. The job situation is so fucked right now. I should not be having to compete with people that have masters degrees and decades of experience for tech support jobs that pay $15 an hour. Fuck this broken society.

    The last time I was not underemployed was 2018.

      • 𝕾𝖕𝖎𝖈𝖞 𝕿𝖚𝖓𝖆
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        337 months ago

        You’re either the kind of person who reads their emails in real time and freaks if that little blue number ever reads “2” or you’re the kind of person who selects their entire inbox and marks it as read twice a decade.

        My wife is the former. I am the latter. I get too much junk. I go through my inbox a few times a day, read what looks important, and ignore the rest. I have 2,174 unread emails in my inbox and a folder called “auto junk” with 5,116 in it.

        • @[email protected]
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          17 months ago

          I like keeping the unread count low, but I get so many junk notification emails at work I’ve given up on checking.

        • @[email protected]
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          7 months ago

          See if your email provider lets you whitelist addresses. Every known sender goes to inbox, all the rest to trash. Great for keeping things tidy and helping to sniff out fake emails from eboy.

          • @[email protected]
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            17 months ago

            Is there a way to delete all emails from a single address at once in Gmail? That would help a lot for me.

              • @[email protected]
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                57 months ago

                Pro tip: the checkbox at the top of the column only selects the first page worth (100 messages). You have to click that and then also click the “select all N messages?” link that appears.

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    87 months ago

    The self checkout is a perfectly viable option, so long as Walmart can find the strength inside themselves to open 3-6 manned tills on a Sunday for folks with large carts or children. Nothing is more demoralizing than getting up to the checkouts after a huge shop and finding there isn’t a single till open whatsoever. Throw in a four-year-old who wants to help scan every item and you’re ready to burn the store down by the time you leave.

  • @[email protected]
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    127 months ago

    I used to love using the self-checkout. But then it became a trend among the corporate overlords here to get all paranoid about people stealing food, so now they have the weight system calibrated too strict. Now if you breath on the items in the bag it locks you out and someone has to come unlock the system to continue scanning. So it’s not really worth the hassle, and seems kinda pointless since an employee has to unlock the system after every few items.

  • @[email protected]
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    217 months ago

    I enjoy turning this one around. “Oh, you’re one of those socialists who wants everybody else to do your work for you, too lazy to lift your own groceries. Nobody wants to work anymore!”

  • @[email protected]
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    317 months ago

    This says much about respect and social competence in this society when the first instinct is to mock and abuse someone with different priorities than yours.

  • @[email protected]
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    877 months ago

    My parents refused to use the self-checkout because “They take people’s jobs.”

    They were hardcore republicans perfectly happy to make sure those jobs got paid shit.

    • @[email protected]
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      7 months ago

      Do they also book all their travel through travel agencies, always use full-service gas stations, valet their cars instead of parking on the street, make restaurant bookings through concierge services, etc? Those are people’s jobs too!

      • @[email protected]
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        127 months ago

        Also, let’s not forget that you are doing someone’s job simply for using a shopping cart at all. Traditional grocers didn’t have anything like the aisles we wander through now. Rather, there would basically be a warehouse with a counter at the front. You walked up with your list of items, gave it to the grocer, and they would grab the items for you. Customers gathering goods themselves didn’t come about until the age of the supermarket starting in the mid 20th century.

        This is also why I have zero sympathy for stores that complain about theft and shrinkage. They’re the ones choosing to operate in a business model that makes theft easier. Traditional grocers didn’t have to worry about shoplifting, as everything was kept behind the counter. Sure, armed robbery was a concern then as it is now, but shoplifting wasn’t a concern.

        When the grocery stores abandoned the traditional model, they realized the money they saved on labor would more than make up for the increased losses due to shoplifting. And that was simply a choice they made. And it’s the same with self-checkout. They made a business decision that would inevitably result in increased theft, and they have no one to blame for it but themselves. If they don’t like the increased theft, they can go back to cashiers. Or hell, there’s nothing stopping Walmart from going all the way back to the traditional dry goods store model even. That would work really well with online orders as well. You don’t even let customers wander through most of the store. You just have a very long counter at the front of the store that customers walk up and tell the workers what they want. And the workers gather the order. You either wait for them to gather it, or you place the order in advance and have it ready when you pick it up. If Walmart did this, shoplifting would become virtually impossible. Their labor costs would skyrocket, but Walmart has it in its power to completely eliminate shoplifting if they really want to.

      • @[email protected]
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        27 months ago

        I’d book a flight through a travel agency if these still existed. Booking online is pure dread to me. I’m too young to have ever seen a travel agency but the concept of not having to deal with Ryanair and Wizzair is very luring.

        • @[email protected]
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          7 months ago

          Travel agent saved my ass about 10 years ago when my connecting flight was delayed in air while I was on it. Completely missed the final leg of my journey because of a storm. Middle of the night and she helped me switch everything over and rent a car to drive the rest of the way and even got me upgraded to a more fun one. This was when I was going to a job interview and flying in the night before.

    • @[email protected]
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      47 months ago

      They were increasing demand for labor which pushes up the price of labor.

      Maybe in spite of themselves, they were helping.

    • @[email protected]
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      47 months ago

      IE. We like the idea of slavery! Someone to do the dirty work while we act superior…while shopping at Walmart.

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    7 months ago

    They also don’t schedule enough employees to keep the lines running quickly, they only have 2-3 lanes open most of the time when it’s busy as having another line is 2x $13-15 an hour for a bagger and a cashier. This gets people to either go to self checkout or wait forever. Naturally most people go through self checkout, which they’ll probably use as an excuse to make more self checkouts.
    (talking about the store I work at specifically, which isn’t a Walmart, but I assume Walmart does the same)

    • thermal_shock
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      107 months ago

      I REFUSE to put how many bags I took if I have to self checkout. I also buy less. in many states now there is a bag fee. if I have to scan and bag my own shit, you’re eating that cost and for not paying an extra employee to be there to help. I also don’t frequent you as often.

      • @[email protected]
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        27 months ago

        Why would you need someone to bag your shit, lol?

        That is nonexistent in my country except in the single Costco in the entire country and everyone feels pretty uncomfortable about it.

      • @[email protected]
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        27 months ago

        you’re eating that cost

        Isn’t the bag fee usually a tax though? By not paying it you’re not screwing the store, you’re screwing whoever would get that tax (e.g. infrastructure, aid programs, etc)

        I also don’t frequent you as often.

        This might actually do something, if enough people are committed to it.

    • @[email protected]
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      67 months ago

      “go to self checkout or wait forever.”

      On the unfortunate days I have to stop at the store when myself and everyone else are getting off of work, I’ve seen the lines at self checkout as long or longer than the registers.

      I’m use a self checkout if 1) there are empty checkouts and 2) I only have enough items that I can carry. Sure - then I’m getting in and out. But if I’m pushing a cart, I’m going to a cashier.

  • @[email protected]
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    227 months ago

    I was once mistaken for an employee somewhere and my sleep deprivated response was to say “I am wearing pants so clearly I dont work here.” I have no fucken clue what that means but I think it was a threat.

      • @[email protected]
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        27 months ago

        Pretty sure I was at an Ace hardware or some shit. Like I said I was severely sleep deprived and was looking for something, pretty sure it was duck tape for reinforcing an air conditioner.

        Frankly speaking once I got to my car and realized what I said I started laughing my ass off since it was such a non sequitur.