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I go to a 7 11 down the street. There is a guy in there that works the checkout. He always greets everyone with the biggest smile youve ever seen and I find mys

• prawn 9y ago
  At my usual supermarket, there's a checkout operator who is so awkward people actively avoid him and prefer queues over his emptier lane. With a largely automated shop, we lose out on human contact, but then the same applies with online shopping too. On the other hand, I think we'll eventually recall those crazy days where there were checkout operators tallying products. Already when I visit the States, I find it bizarre when there is second person bagging products! The first time I went to China (1991), the department store checkout operators used an abacus to sum sales. Even when they had a cash register, they used it purely for the cash drawer and still favoured the abacus! Eventually, I think the majority of people will actually not actively make purchasing decisions in entire categories. Choosing and shopping yourself will be a premium thing. In the future, I can see a large swathe of people taking cheaper subscriptions whereby they are delivered products decided by algorithm.