My thoughts released; a mind set free |
This is an observation I made the other day— not that day, the other one. Any way, I've heard complaints about self-checkouts; I'm sure you have as well. One of the complaints is, we are scanning and bagging our own items, but not getting paid (or a discount) to do the work of paid employees. Another is that by checking our own items, we are removing jobs that other's need. I'm sure there are more as well. The day I mentioned above, we had stopped at Walmart to pick up a couple of things. We had the dogs with us, so I parked at the end of the lot where they wouldn't be bothered as much by other people. The spot I picked was just behind the Pick-Up area. You know, you do your shopping online and an employee gathers your items, bags them, and then when you drive to one of the Pick-Up Spots and an employee brings your items out and puts them in your vehicle. Meanwhile, in the store, you have to fight through crowds of people, find your items, cart them up front and either wait for an infinity for one of the two check-out lanes, or go to the self check-out, scan your items, bag them, and then bring them out yourself. What's my point? It costs the same amount! You do not pay extra for the service of an employee doing all the work for you, and you do not get a discount for doing all of the work yourself. Also consider this, while checking out my wife said there were only two cashiers to check people out, yet there were also two employees working in the self-checkout area. I myself witnessed five different employees working the Pick-Up lines; how many others were wandering the store filling orders. Yet, if you need assistance, there seldom is anyone around? Oh, and one last thing to consider. We have three Walmart stores within an hours drive and depending on where we are doing our shopping will stop at any one of them if we need something only they carry. One of the items is a specif dog treat that our two dogs love, but no other vendor around us carries. This dog treat costs & $16.98 at one store, $15.98 at another, and $17.98 at the third store. Why? This is why I seldom shop at Walmart. Why do I shop there at all? Because after they run a lot of smaller businesses out, it's the only place shy of ordering them, that we can get a few specific items. |