A Trip to the Grocery Store
The best part about being a senior citizen is clicking things off my bucket list. I clicked one off this past week. I used the self-check out and the grocery store. I didn’t do it alone; Ivy helped me.
It seems foreign to me; the idea of not having someone check out my groceries. Truth be known, I enjoy talking to the cashiers. I like choosing between paper and plastic. I like people having jobs, and some of todays “smart” technology is unnecessary and, well, stupid. (So says the hillbilly from Northern Colorado.)
Alexander Graham Bell invented a device to TALK on. He knew the world already had things to read; they are called books. Seriously, do you think Mr. Bell ever sat down and said to himself, “I am going to invent a device so every 16 year old in the world can transfer money out of a stranger’s bank account, turn on the television from another state, and read Monner’s Mumblings.” Nope Mr. Bell wasn’t planning on that. (OK, now you know why my children are embarrassed and wish I would not speak with people.)
I have successfully (and gladly) resisted entry into the “Smart phone” era. I don’t want to do my banking on my phone. I don’t want my phone locating me when someone thinks I am lost in a forest. I don’t want my phone to take pictures of me in the shower and sell them on the internet. (Hey, that’s happening out there!)
With that in mind, I let my daughter talk me into using the self-checkout at the grocery store. I like putting my groceries on the conveyor belt and have some tell me how much they cost. I like having someone put my groceries in bags and place them in my cart.
I see no advantage in having a touch screen machine take a job from a real live human. However, I used one this week.
It was easier than I thought. Actually, I was pretty good at it. I slid my groceries across the scanner just like I knew what I was doing. I used the touch screen to enter my sooper dooper savings card number so could reap my savings. I weighed and scanned my own produce. It was quite easy. Maybe this technology isn’t so bad after all.
I mentioned I like to talk to the cashiers. (That is really important to this story.) I was talking to Ivy as I was scanning and weighing, I was able to use my debit card to pay for my groceries. (I’m not crazy about that either.) The machine asked me if I wanted cash back; it told me to take my receipt and thanked me.
I grabbed my grocery cart and headed for my truck in the parking lot, telling a story to Ivy the entire time. Arriving at the truck Ivy interrupted me with, “Monner, where are the groceries?’ Never one to panic, I told her, “You need to run, I left them on the carousel.”
Do we really need this technology?
Our crazy lives!
Monner