Beefing With Robots

    My drugstore got a lot more self checkouts. We still have a cashier at the front and one by our mall side entrance but we also have seven self checkouts. Because we don’t tend to have a never ending flow of customers, us cashiers also work on stock and tidying up the aisles, thus we are not always stationed at the tills. So, what people see is an empty till and a butt ton of self checkouts. However, instead of reading the signs on our counters that say “PLEASE RING FOR SERVICE” with a wee bell beside them, customers will stalk down all the aisles to find a uniformed individual and complain that there’s no cashiers anymore. 
    Have ye any idea how many times I have had a customer rant to me about our nonexistent cashiers whilst my name tag clearly displays that as my position? I had a lady tell me that we were forcing her to use the self checkout now because no one was at the counter anymore. Force her? You’d think we were dragging this lady by the scruff and throwing her in front of the robot version of us and threatening her with death if she refused to pay there. Nay, there’s no forcing going on here, simply a lack of reading. 
    There will also be the people who brave the automated checkouts but instantly get flustered when the screen changes and instead of taking a breath and puzzling it out, they get immediately enraged and stomp off in a huff. Humans have fought in countless wars. We have survived from the stone age to now. We have ancestors who were conquerors, generals, inventors, philosophers. A self checkout can be figured out, it’s not the end of the world. I get that technology is finicky, my till shuts down on a regular basis, but letting one’s irritation of something new consume them so completely in such a short amount of time when reading the screen would save them so much trouble is astounding. 
    I also enjoy when people actually do ring my bell, but because I don’t teleport there in two seconds, they get impatient and use the self serve instead. Or, they’re in line and I’m serving someone, and that someone takes a minute to get out a card and the human behind does that thing where they sigh really loudly to show their exasperation before marching to the self checkout. I find that funny because they are the same people who complain about no cashiers yet haven't the patience to let us do our jobs. 
    It’s a funny little world we live in for sure with these automated machines. I understand people's grievances with them, I have my own. They replace people but people don’t get any higher wage despite there being less of us. They break down, malfunction, don’t always take cash or coupons or sell gift cards. They aren’t human and don’t give that human connection so many of us crave and enjoy. There are benefits though, they’re good if you don’t like talking to people. I use them for that reason as much as I can. They’re an option to avoid a long lineup at times. They feel less rushed because they aren’t a person with an agenda. 
    A balance still needs to be found for sure, but rest assured, there will always be at least one human to serve as well as these mechanical entities. When in doubt, use those squishy seeing orbs in your noggin to locate helpful clues like a sign or instructions. It’s amazing how much reading things can aid us in any confusion.