4 ms·

Don't you feel a tinge of guilt when you walk in one day and now there's only two tellers instead of three? Maybe I'm just weird but I was at target yesterday a

Don't you feel a tinge of guilt when you walk in one day and now there's only two tellers instead of three? Maybe I'm just weird but I was at target yesterday and there were only three aisles open with lots of people going to self checkout. I said fuck it and waited in line for a person.

maxerickson 9y ago
Do you go down this rabbit hole? How do you pick between buying wheat and taking it to the miller (preserving his job) and buying flour from the grocer? Do you seek out gas stations that still pump gas for you? Do you worry that buying a fuel efficient vehicle or insulated building can have a negative impact on people working for energy producers?
- frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
  >Do you go down this rabbit hole? What requires me to go all the way down the rabbit hole? Everybody has moral beliefs that they don't follow to their extremist conclusions. I see people getting laid off or turnover being allowed to happen - I see that the replacement job for a cashier gig is sometimes even worse - I do my little part to make society a little less bad. I also don't feel that pure individualism is really the way to live so I do sacrifice a bit of a wait in line and hopefully it helps the girl that checked me out keep that gig for a little bit longer.
  - BigJono 9y ago
    Nobody wants to be a cashier for 8 hours a day though. The only reason we see losing your job to automation as a negative is because our welfare and education systems are broken. All you're really doing is creating more pointless work to treat the symptoms.
    - frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
      >All you're really doing is creating more pointless work to treat the symptoms. If pointless work is the best we've got that's fine by me just as long as someone's getting paid on the other end. Besides if you're sick and know you won't be cured for quite a while you might treat the symptoms as well. Treating the symptoms isn't bad as long as we don't forget to also treat the cause.
  - maxerickson 9y ago
    My comment is sassy, but I really was curious about the answer to the question.
    - frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
      My answer is self-evident. I go partway down the rabbit hole. However deep "refusing to use the self-checkout" is.
      - maxerickson 9y ago
        Sure, I thought you answered it in your other comment, I was just explaining that I hadn't posted just for the sake of being antagonistic or whatever.
        frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
        Oh I see. Yeah my initial response was a bit rude, sorry about that.
jdietrich 9y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window
- frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
  http://mattbruenig.com/2012/08/22/the-never-ending-libertarian-quest-to-appear-clever/ http://mattbruenig.com/2012/08/22/the-never-ending-libertari...
meddlepal 9y ago
No I don't feel any guilt in that situation.
sgustard 9y ago
I refuse to feel guilty, but I'm happy to blame the large soulless corporation that created this moral dilemma for me in the first place. I didn't fire those people. I don't eat at McDonald's anymore because I want to stay alive for a while, but I'm not going to feel guilty about their workers either. I'll admit standing in line for my robot checkout while idle cashiers stare at me with forlorn sad eyes makes me uncomfortable. And yet I have no issue taking money from an ATM even though there's a building full of money-counting humans behind it.
- eric_h 9y ago
  > I'll admit standing in line for my robot checkout while idle cashiers stare at me with forlorn sad eyes makes me uncomfortable What? I just assumed that everyone optimized for the minimization of time spent waiting in line. Personally, I'd never wait in line for self checkout if a cashier was idle!

maxerickson 9y ago

Do you go down this rabbit hole? How do you pick between buying wheat and taking it to the miller (preserving his job) and buying flour from the grocer? Do you seek out gas stations that still pump gas for you? Do you worry that buying a fuel efficient vehicle or insulated building can have a negative impact on people working for energy producers?

frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
>Do you go down this rabbit hole? What requires me to go all the way down the rabbit hole? Everybody has moral beliefs that they don't follow to their extremist conclusions. I see people getting laid off or turnover being allowed to happen - I see that the replacement job for a cashier gig is sometimes even worse - I do my little part to make society a little less bad. I also don't feel that pure individualism is really the way to live so I do sacrifice a bit of a wait in line and hopefully it helps the girl that checked me out keep that gig for a little bit longer.
- BigJono 9y ago
  Nobody wants to be a cashier for 8 hours a day though. The only reason we see losing your job to automation as a negative is because our welfare and education systems are broken. All you're really doing is creating more pointless work to treat the symptoms.
  - frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
    >All you're really doing is creating more pointless work to treat the symptoms. If pointless work is the best we've got that's fine by me just as long as someone's getting paid on the other end. Besides if you're sick and know you won't be cured for quite a while you might treat the symptoms as well. Treating the symptoms isn't bad as long as we don't forget to also treat the cause.
- maxerickson 9y ago
  My comment is sassy, but I really was curious about the answer to the question.
  - frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
    My answer is self-evident. I go partway down the rabbit hole. However deep "refusing to use the self-checkout" is.
    - maxerickson 9y ago
      Sure, I thought you answered it in your other comment, I was just explaining that I hadn't posted just for the sake of being antagonistic or whatever.
      - frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
        Oh I see. Yeah my initial response was a bit rude, sorry about that.

jdietrich 9y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window

frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
http://mattbruenig.com/2012/08/22/the-never-ending-libertarian-quest-to-appear-clever/ http://mattbruenig.com/2012/08/22/the-never-ending-libertari...

meddlepal 9y ago

No I don't feel any guilt in that situation.

sgustard 9y ago

I refuse to feel guilty, but I'm happy to blame the large soulless corporation that created this moral dilemma for me in the first place. I didn't fire those people. I don't eat at McDonald's anymore because I want to stay alive for a while, but I'm not going to feel guilty about their workers either. I'll admit standing in line for my robot checkout while idle cashiers stare at me with forlorn sad eyes makes me uncomfortable. And yet I have no issue taking money from an ATM even though there's a building full of money-counting humans behind it.

eric_h 9y ago
> I'll admit standing in line for my robot checkout while idle cashiers stare at me with forlorn sad eyes makes me uncomfortable What? I just assumed that everyone optimized for the minimization of time spent waiting in line. Personally, I'd never wait in line for self checkout if a cashier was idle!