Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Self Service

Self Service sucks!
Too many places are going self service, they must think this is a luxury to people. Maybe to some people it is, for whatever reason. Maybe they don't like having to talk to another human being. Maybe they have control issues. Maybe they like the shorter lines in the self serve aisles. Maybe they like the challenge of keeping 2 kids out of the paths of oncoming carts while trying to balance all of your already scanned items on the tiny little platform they provide while scanning and rescanning fast enough so the machine doesn't keep beeping at you while rummaging through the already scanned items to try to figure out what your 2 year old just threw in there and not being able to find it hoping that the alarms don't go off and that God or the local police wont hold you accountable for clepting that mysterious item then loading all of the bags into the shopping cart then suddenly realizing neither of the 2 children which were previously in tow are no longer within sight because Ive been so preoccupied with checking myself out that I have now completely lost them. Maybe some people like this.
My fatherinlaw also hates self service. He is almost 80 years old and ever time he goes to Home Depot an employee there reminds him of the self service checkout. One time the line was so long, they asked him to go to the self service checkout, he told them no thank you as politely as an 80 year grumpy Spaniard can. They then practically insisted he go there, they would show him how to use it. I'm not sure exactly what conversation transpired that day, I'm sure it involved some bulging neck veins, maybe some 4 letter words (English or Spanish) and that young man may or may not still have his job (or life).
I cant stand that I have to pump my own gas. I cant tell you the last time I filled up my car completely with gas. Usually I get about 3/4 of the way there and get bored, cold or irritated by how slow its filling and abort the whole process.
Today I stopped by Lakeshore Learning. I heard their laminating runs $0.29 a foot, great price right? I stop by there quickly with the intention of dropping it off. No can do!!! They offer self laminating. I turn right around and get back in my car. I will tomorrow go to Office Max and pay 5 times that amount and I don't have to do anything myself. For me personally my time is way more valuable than that.
I don't want to print my own pictures at Walgreens, I don't want to check myself out at the grocery store or Walmart or Costco or Home Depot, I don't want to wash my own car, I don't want to Laminate things myself, I don't want to pump my own gas, I don't want to check out my own library books (I do this because Cailin loves to do it, but I don't like it), I don't want to print my own postage for my packages or measure my packages or figure out if the label will fit, I don't want to print out my own boarding passes at the airport and I absolutely loathe buffets.
Am I the only out there that is fine paying higher prices for service, that loves just standing there doing nothing while an employee does their job and checks me out, that loves a waiter to bring my food to me instead of wandering around like an idiot while my kids say no to all the waxy looking bacteria ridden community shared vats of slightly consumable items?
I don't know, call me lazy, called me old fashioned, call me a completely reasonable consumer. But whatever I am, fed up with all this bull!*#@ is definitely what I am!!!!!! and AMEN

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is the Jenny we all know and love!

I'm apathetic to all the self service stuff...eh, whatever. I do however, remember really liking the fact that someone else would pump my gas for me on cold oregon winter days.

Anonymous said...

She's BACK!!! Amen sister!

Why do they not give you enough space to take your groceries out of the cart, scan, and then have an actual place to put them. So stupid. I was at Fry's with 5 children in tow. 2 babies in slings, and the lady says I can go to the self check-out. I said, "Are you kidding me?" She sensed the fire shooting from my eyes and left.

H said...

That was great! I especially liked trying to read your lengthy, run on sentences outloud to my husband, without taking a breath, while trying not to laugh or cry in hysterics because everything you said was so stinking hilarious and true to the point that I thought I was right there with you looking for your children and screaming at the checkout people that are supposed to help you but are really just standing there doing who knows what because we really don't know if they can count change or add, but we definately know that they can't sense when someone is in trouble (or they can and don't really care). Breathe. Bill suggested that maybe your kids were in the bag.

melanie said...

Since I work in customer service I appreciate and expect high quality from others who 'serve' me. And yet, I am continually disappointed that I'd almost RATHER do it myself. But I do have those days where I say, no no YOU do it. Afterall, I'm not getting paid to check out my own groceries but someone gets paid to stand there and make sure I don't steal something? Seriously somethings are so wrong. A big AMEN to your post. :)