by Pa Rock
Concerned Consumer
My local Aldi’s, which isn’t that large of a store, recently installed six automated checkouts. They eat up a lot of floor space, and thus restrict the amount of food and store merchandise which can be displayed on the premises. And they, of course, lessen the need for salaried, human employees.
At first people seemed to be ignoring the new machines, and I thought perhaps American workers might prove victorious in their struggle to remain relevant and to thwart the greed of blood-sucking corporations, but while shopping Wednesday afternoon I noticed that the machines are winning. The store was fairly crowded, and Aldi’s had only one human checker on duty, a situation which forced people who were in a hurry (and who isn’t?) to forgo human contact (and decency) and check out on one of the machines. Four of the six machines were interacting with customers while I waited patiently in line to be checked out by the only human cashier on duty.
You have to be shopping with a credit or debit card in order to use the machine checkouts, and I always use a credit card - so I am expecting some well-meaning store employee to “suggest” to me one day that I would save time and energy by going through the self-checkout. When that happens, I intend to take a deep breath and then speak very politely and clearly on the need for more jobs in our community – instead of more job-stealing machines.
There are plenty of reasons that I no longer shop at Walmart – and self-checkout machines are just one of them. They clearly show the company's disdain for paying wages and helping the American economy grow.
Aldi’s, you are on the highway to hell. Hit the exit ramp while there is still time!
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