I've been on clerk-attended lines at the supermarkets and have the clerk who runs those banks of four come up and say I can use one of them instead of waiting. I tell 'em I'm not for putting people more out of work and get the "Well, you'll put me out of work" reply - or more often - rolleyes. I tell the first that they put three other people out of work. I'll do that even if I have only one item, just to be cranky, as these self-checkers are an obvious we-dump-our-costs-on-you technique, IMO.
I can see the self-checks for one or two items when there are long lines at the regular checkouts, but when I see people scanning item after item, like 20-30, I have to shake my head. All they are doing is giving management free labor.
The local Albertsons grocery store do not pay workers full time 40/hrs but part time hours. I listened to 2 cashiers discussing their hours and they were happy when they did get 40/hrs (This was during a holiday week.) and were unhappy with the cut back from full time pay.
Thank democrats and obamacare and always asking for higher taxes.
By the time you make it to check-out, you’ve already given the grocery store management “free labor” by walking through the store and pulling your own items. Piggly-Wiggly was the first grocery store to push that task off onto their customers, in the 1930’s. Before that, you’d go to the counter and present the clerk with a list of what you wanted, like Sam Drucker’s store in the old show Petticoat Junction. :)
Self-service grocery stores like Piggly-Wiggly could trim costs over the old model, and by passing those savings on to their customers, became the new standard business model.