Yesterday, I went to Kroger and used the automated checkout. Do you have this in your city?
Basically, you scan your own items and put them in the bag. Everything goes smoothly unless you remove the bag prematurely and place the bag in your cart.
“Please place the item back in the bag,” says the automated voice.
“Excuse me?” you say back.
The automated voice can’t hear you. Instead, it repeats: “Please place the item back in the bag.”
“But my item is in the bag!” I explain. “And the bag’s in my cart.”
A short Kroger woman came over and told me to put the bag back on the bag hook because it’s weighted.
“But how am I supposed to start the next bag?” I pleaded.
“Please place the item back in the bag,” said the automated voice.
“Argh!”
Then, tonight, at Whole Foods, I used human checkout. Do you have this in your city?
This woman was a little batty. She decided to tell me her life story, even though there was an antsy line waiting behind me. What do you do in that situation? Where the checkout woman is talking your ear off and stalling and you know that if you engage her the whole line will groan but if you don’t she’ll be offended?
Here’s what you do. You say: “Please place the item back in the bag.”
She’ll say: “Excuse me?”
And just keep repeating yourself. She’ll stop talking real fast.
Hhm, we have KroGhetto here and it says, “Please place the item on the scanner and wait.” Which really means, “Turn and glare at the attendant until s/he responds with an eye roll and presses the reset button.”