Have we reached the point where we train our sales cashiers only how to push a button or “scan” an item, and nothing else? I remember days where CostCo cashiers (back when it was still PriceClub around here) had to do things manually - they had two people for every register - one person called out item numbers and the other punched those numbers into the register. It was usually amazing to watch them - they were fast and took pride in their speed, both for number reading/calling and finger-typing speed.

The other day we went to Nob Hill. One item in our basket was a small item from the bakery, and when the cashier tried to scan it, it wouldn’t scan. So she hollered to another worker to go to the bakery and find a different item that had the same price, so she could scan that item instead. The worker came back with the exact same item we had, which also wouldn’t scan, so the cashier tried again to define that she wanted a different item priced the same. The 2nd worker said she couldn’t find one. This all took about 5 minutes. Finally the cashier grumbled and pulled out some little book from under her work station, flipped to some page, and manually typed in something to the register. This action took about 10 seconds.

Now you tell me - if it only takes 10 seconds to punch in numbers vs. trying to get another item to “scan”, why the hell would you flag down an employee to waste time running around the store looking for another item? I’ll tell you why - laziness and an over-dependence on the idea that technology is always faster. It’s ridiculous.