Self Check-Out

Quick story...I was at Smith's yesterday and saw something that made me laugh. You know when you go to the store they have those "self check-out" lines that you can go to? The one's that look like this...



No, that is not me in the picture.

Well, after I had finished shopping I made my way over to one of them and started checking out. This old man then walks up to the one next to me and scans the only item he has in his hands, a newspaper. Maybe this was wrong of me, but I had to stop and glance for a bit at how he would handle the seemingly "new" technology. He pushes the pay now button and then says aloud, "Now what do I do?" The cashier attendant comes over and explains very confusingly how to pay for the item, and then walks away without making sure he understands.

By then I had gone back to scanning my own items and as I did so, heard a few mumbles and grumbles from the old man and then watched as he walked out of the store with the newspaper in hand. I glanced over at the screen of the check-out stand that he was at and noticed that he had still not payed for the paper. Two other young guys came over thinking it was their turn to check out, and also noticed that he had not payed. We looked at each other, wondering if we should say something, but noticed that the man had tossed 50 cents into the change collector (where you usually get change back) out of frustration because he didn't know where else to insert the money. We had a good laugh and the cashier took care of the money, and I had to appreciate the moment. I wonder what kind of technologies will be out when I get that old, and how many times a day I will be the source of a good laugh because of the change of times and new technologies available. Maybe by then stores will be teleporting food to your homes...who knows?