Column: Self-checkout isn’t always easy
The self-checkout at the store is supposed to be easy.
Most of the time, it is. You walk up, scan your items, set them down in the bag, pay with a card on the card reader y ya. You’re ready to go back to your car and go on with your life.
But once in a while, there’s a coupon. Sometimes, a clearance item doesn’t ring up at the lower-than-average price. From time to time, you change your mind after you’ve scanned. That’s when you sigh, say “No le entiendo a esta chiva” to yourself and accept the fact that you need help from the store employee that’s been designated the self-checkout helper.
Then again, you might just need a minute to read the instructions. After all, you’re not a professional checker. You certainly aren’t getting a discount for doing the work that someone used to get paid to do. If anything, you get to leave a few seconds earlier — and that’s only if you know what you’re doing, and if the shoppers in front of you know what they’re doing, too.
Last week, all I needed was a minute to read the screen when I went to the store and found myself in the self-checkout. Pizza …beep. Salad … beep. Drinks …beep. Total … wait a minute … two king size candies for $2 and change, with the coupon? Orale, impulse buy! ¡SAS! I grabbed a Payday, a Reese’s, and a coupon and scanned all three, in that order.
“You have to scan the coupon after you hit total,” said a terse voice from behind my left ear. I turned around to find a helpful store employee, con mascarita, hovering 2 inches away from me. She might have been smiling — I couldn’t tell because of the mask — but she sure didn’t sound like it. OK, I thought, and looked at the screen to figure out where to hit the total.
It was right next to the line where the machine told you to scan the coupon after you hit the total.
“Right there,” the woman said impatiently, reaching past me and punching the screen.
I thanked her, then waited for the total. Then I tried to pay.
“The card reader is over there,” she huffed, pointing past my shoulder. ¡Ay! Too close! Too close! I hoped that this woman had already had both shots. I tried to guess her age. I was so distracted that I swiped the card reader instead of using the chip function required for my particular card.
“You need to insert the card,” she said, coming up on the other side in order to get closer to the card reader.
“Here. Right here,” she pointed. “Just insert the card right here.”
Why? If you’re going to hover a few inches away from me, why not just ring me up? I won’t be mad. I promise. Me hago bolas, and I can’t be the only one.
“Have a nice day,” she said impatiently, probably thinking about how she’d much rather be spraying the kale or slicing the reduced-salt turkey.
And though I couldn’t see whether or not she was smiling, I bet she did when she realized I left the store and forgot the Payday.
