Beware! Could You Be Arrested After Using Self Check Out?

I Love the self checkout line

For someone like me with anxiety issues and a job that involves a lot of talking, and NOT a lot of privacy, self checkout was magical.  No more dreading making small talk with the cashier.  No more having my personal care products, medicines and the like being conversation starters when the checker got home.  IE: "Tammie Toren was in the store today.  She sure bought a lot of tampons."

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People LOVE to hate it

I see memes weekly how people claim to be employees of certain stores because they used self checkout, how it's the end of jobs (Sort of like pumping gas in Oregon.  Or a Milk Man.  Or an armorer for medieval knights.), or how they're so put out running their 5 things over the scanner.  Cry me a river.  Don't do it then.  Go to the manned check out line.

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There could be a great reason NOT to use them

Check out these TikToks

@tommywvcacher#duet with @global_freedom_movement Say no to self check out! #selfcheckout#checkout#walmart#walmartselfcheckout#walmartselfcheck♬ original sound - 2freescott

This really took my breath away

I established at the beginning of my article that I love self checkout.  Now, I'm a bit worried.  What if I mess up?  Am I going to prison?

If someone hasn't been trained on your equipment, how can you put them in jail for making a mistake?  I'm with the group that says you put in these self checkout lanes so YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO HIRE PEOPLE TO MAN THEM.

With the labor market like it is, these self checkout lanes ARE a help when shopping, deny it all you want.  Facts are facts.

What should be done?

There has to be a happy medium

Perhaps these businesses could WATCH THE STORE VIDEO and decide how to prosecute those who shoplift.  If someone is spending $200 with you and you discover they didn't ring up their packet of drink flavoring, maybe you take it as a loss.  Prioritize who is prosecuted.  Have enough thought go into it that you prosecute those who need to be prosecuted.  Not the 70 year old lady who tried it for the first time and weighed her grapes as something else because a self checkout stand is beyond their technical understanding.

When they got rid of people in favor of machines, they had to know this would happen

So, the drink flavoring, or weighing grapes as bananas, or whatever strange thing happens at self checkout, has to be weighed with the amount of money saved not having that manned by a person.

If someone is cleary shoplifting, arrest them.  Arrest them hard and fast and AT THE STORE.  Don't wait 2 or 3 months then go after grandpa because he didn't know he missed the beep on his denture cleaner and accidentally put it in his bag without it being rung up.

Businesses, this is on you

Figure out a humane way to 1. Cut the expense of a cashier 2. Find and arrest Shoplifters.  ACTUAL shoplifters, not accidental shoplifters.

If you don't, businesses are going to have to hire ACTUAL people again for an ACTUAL LIVING WAGE.  Workers are done playing around.  They'll want $15 an hour to do that and can find a business that will pay it.

Figure out your self checkout, or there won't be ANY checkout in your store.  Then what?