This past never existed. You had Walmart with 30 lanes but with only fifteen open except during Christmas times. But that is still better than the one maybe two lanes open now. I'd much rather wait for one or two people ahead of me with a cashier that knows how to swipe items and has grocery codes memorized instead of wait for 15 people who all don't know what they are doing.

I feel like I'm going crazy when I read comments online about the people who love self check out. Unless you're going into an unpopular CVS to buy a single soda on a hot day, it nearly always takes the same time with more work or longer to check out.

A grocery store with non barcoded produce in self check out is basically the worst a shopping experience can be. Especially now that stores realize many of the biggest lovers of self check out were people who used it to steal so everything requires a double check if anything is off by more then a gram.

> it nearly always takes the same time with more work or longer to check out.

Completely disagree. Self checkout is much faster 90% of the time in my experience. Even when there is literally zero line for the cashier self checkout tends to be faster for me.

Is this sarcasm? I was at Home Depot the other day and there was a 15 minute wait because they only had one checker. None of the grocery stores here ever have more than two checkers going, even on a paycheck Friday afternoon. And you can forget baggers completely - I think I’ve had my groceries bagged twice in the last four years.

Now mostly are at 0 or 1 cashier. I think that is what you will be getting 1 only manned checkout, and maybe 2 self-out.

Don't forget the people in front of you always paying correct change with pennies or writing out a check

Nothing wrong with that.

Grow some patience and empathy. Someone who is penny pinching deserves your respect. Someone who is unable (or perhaps unwilling) to use technology also does.

If you go into a grocery store and aren't patient for those around you... well maybe you should be paying the premium to purchase your groceries online and have them delivered to you. Then you don't have to worry about the extra five minutes it takes for granny-not-yours to write out a check whose sum total is a significantly large chunk of their social security for the month.

You misunderstand.

It is not penny pinching, it is simply keeping the coinage in their purse light.

It is not from frugality that some people wait until the cashier is giving them the total that they start writing out their check including date, recipient, and purpose.

It is why I prefer the self checkout line, and I do my best not to slow down the people behind me so that they do not have to wait an extra 5 minutes for me.

This is what happens when people continually make excuses for crime and criminals

Nope.

Did you read the article?

Still, rising theft — part of what retailers call "shrink" — is the primary reason self-checkout is being ditched in some stores and restricted in others, according to Saunders.

It was always basic queuing theory to keep on enough people so that the average queue depth if 4. Enough to see the finish line so as to not cause a riot.