This afternoon, I stopped at one of the giant grocery stores I don’t frequent and was stumped by some of the checkout lanes.
I’ve gotten used to the lanes that are reserved for the customers who bother to sign up for the super-duper-special loyalty cards. I’ve seen clerks make people put all their groceries back in their cart and change lanes if they try to sneak through without one of those cards. So I try to apply caution before putting my stuff on just any old conveyor belt.
Two of the checkout lanes had no lines… which was suspect. But I didn’t understand what the signs said so I went ahead and got in line. Plus, I was starting to drop the stuff I was carrying (I didn’t have a cart, just an armfull of spaghetti supplies for weekend company.) The cashier gave me a suspect look. Do I have a scanner? A what? Whatever it is, no. So she shooed me out of line. Before I could feel too stupid about it, a man was shooed off right behind me.
After struggling with the self-check out lane, I examined the signs again on my way out. It appears that some people go around the store and scan their items as they put them in their carts. I’ve got to go back and follow someone around with that thing to see how it works.
Sounds intriguing, particularly how they validate that everything in your cart was included on the scan. Or like at Lowe’s (and rumor has it also Home Depot) the self-scan device knows the weight of everything, and validates the weight you put on the tray. Maybe if you show up without a shopping cart, you’d have to weigh yourself in upon entering the store, then weigh yourself at the checkout line. If you made a potty stop while in the store, you’d be very suspect, likewise if you ate any free samples they’d try to charge you upon exiting.
Most of us don’t eat enough free samples to actually alter our weight while still in the store. Plus, I’m not going to eat enough goat cheese or sauteed bunny rabbit to make a difference.