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Posted September 2024Man, y'all, shopping ain't what it used to be. Years ago, when America dominated the world's supply chain, we could walk into a store and pretty much buy whatever we wanted. It's different now, for a lot of reasons. With the exportation of American manufacturing, our ability to buy cheap goods is almost unlimited, but the pandemic taught us that supply lines can be fragile. And the recent pager explosions in Lebanon have me wondering what could be in those $150 Smart TV's. Have you ever gotten on Amazon and tried NOT to buy something made in China?
Global issues aside, there are more immediate problems facing us as consumers. Remember when you looked at a recipe book (that's a collection of lessons on how to prepare food at home when Chick-Fil-A is closed on Sunday), picked out a dish, noted the ingredients, and went to the store to retrieve them? The better plan these days is to go to the store, buy whatever is in stock that remotely resembles something tasty, and then ask your AI search engine to devise a way to cook it. I remember news stories about totalitarian countries, where people lined up in empty grocery stores to buy a loaf of bread, and I thought it couldn't happen here. I believed that our shelves would always be jam-packed with everything we needed, except, of course, before a hurricane. (I confess that, when Francine was on its way here, I ran out for toilet paper and wine.) We're not quite down to one loaf of bread, but now you take what you can get. Ordering groceries can't get you around the problem, either, since you'll be asked for a substitute choice on almost every item.
In a triumph of hope over experience, you're off to the store. Then you fill your basket (if you had the foresight to get a cart, rather than falling victim to the “I'm just running in for one thing” syndrome) and head for the checkout. Hmmm, there's two live checkers and six customers in each line. Self checkout seems to be the best option, unless you're one of those people, like my husband, who refuses to use those machines. First, because he doesn't want to learn how, and, second, because he believes that the price of groceries entitles him to interact with a real person. I can't say that I blame him, but look at that line.
Unfortunately, many others have also decided to avoid the live checkout line, and are at self-check with an overflowing basket, three hyperactive children, and an emotional support dog. (Actually, the dog is a welcome site; typically, they are the only friendly beings over there.) Not to cast aspersions on children, I had two hyperactive candy-grabbers myself, and I avoided taking them shopping as often as I could. But when I had to take them, I did try to monitor their climbing.
As far as I can tell, there is no posted limit on items for the self-check, and, even if there was, no employee would be brave enough to enforce it. Again, can't blame them. People are just not the best versions of themselves at the grocery checkout; the dog is the only one who would willingly move to another line, just to see who else he could meet. (A similar phenomenon always seems to occur to me at clothing stores. I'm usually behind a woman who wants to return a sweater that her sister bought for her in Dallas, and, of course, there's no receipt.) After you return from a grocery excursion, you stare at your kitchen counter, wondering what you're going to make out of egg noodles, salmon, and ladyfingers. Okay, Siri, figure THIS out. Hey, what other takeout places are open?
