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> plus, if you see somebody stealing food, no, you didn't Don't tell me, in your view the cost of shoplifting is begrudgingly covered by those evil rich people
by xenocratus 6mo ago
> plus, if you see somebody stealing food, no, you didn't
Don't tell me, in your view the cost of shoplifting is begrudgingly covered by those evil rich people who own everything, right? It's not passed down to customers, and therefore affects those who obey rules, and especially those who are in a precarious financial situation to begin with, right?
- era-epoch 6mo ago[flagged]
- ryandrake 6mo agoI don't understand why we'd defend a megacorporation. Both the corporation and the shoplifter can be wrong.
- lotsofpulp 6mo agoThe business is not wrong for choosing to use automation. Everyone does it every day, and it is not considered "wrong".
- lamasery 6mo agoSelf-checkouts aren’t automation. They just change who does the work (to someone not being paid for it).
- recursive 6mo agoI've heard this argument, and I just don't get it. I've never heard anyone complain about having to push their own shopping carts. No one pays you to push the cart. Should they? If you want the cart pushed, you push the cart. If you want to check out, you check out. If either one of those is a hardship for you, go elsewhere.
- lamasery 6mo agoThis was an actual thing (complaining about this) when super-markets started to take over from general stores and butcher shops et c. Having to go get your bag of sugar off the warehouse shelf yourself rather than a clerk fetching it for you is unpaid labor on the part of the shopper (and is also not automation).
- recursive 6mo agoOregon recently eliminated their mandatory gas station pump attendants. It seems most people considered that a good thing. For those that prefer the premium experience of having a human cashier, it seems that for now, they're still easy to find. For establishments that regularly expect to have large orders with dozens of items, they'll probably continue. It seems there's less to gain for large complicated orders. Or perhaps it will go the way of smoking in restaurants. Some people definitely preferred it, but in the US anyway, it's pretty hard to find, if it's even legal anywhere.
- lamasery 6mo agoI'd probably be happier about self-checkout if I had previously been expected to tip checkers.
- recursive 6mo agoCustomers are paying their wages either way.
- gustavus 6mo agoI've always felt this is an absurd statement. Yes customers are paying the wages of the people working at the store, that's literally how basic exchange of goods and services has worked forever. Like what is the alternative? Businesses sell things they sell those things for more than they make and then they use that money to pay people to work for them. People agree to work for them expecting they will be paid primarily from the money made by the business saling things to customers. Like what is the alternative businesses pay their employees from some magic pool of money that you get the key too when you file articles of incorporation? At the end of the day the customer is always paying the wages of the employees, that's literally how it worked since ever. Which is honestly an improvement where the local lord would take 30% of whatever you grew and in exchange would give you diddly and squat.
- jrm4 6mo ago"Everyone does it every day" That makes it okay? "It is not considered wrong" By WHOM? I go out of my way to avoid self-checkout when I can, because I consider it 'wrong.'
- lotsofpulp 6mo agoBy everyone who uses any tool invented in human history. You are drawing an arbitrary line at self checkouts for some reason, but I am sure you have no problem with the millions of other ways automation has benefited you, obviously including using a computer to express your ideas on a forum hosted by a business that invests in other businesses that use automation as their springboard to success.
- jrm4 6mo agoReductio ad absurdum big time. But let's see if I can explain it in a capitalism friendly way, I guess. I have a preference for cashiers checking my stuff out for me, so that's how I select. Partly because I like the convenience, partly because I like knowing more people are having jobs. And here's the important part; I personally actually have significant control over this, which makes it different from your silly argument.
- lotsofpulp 6mo agoI have no idea how to interpret your comment. GuinansEyebrows's opinion was that businesses are wrong for implementing self checkouts. Presumably, ryandrake agreed with GuinansEyebrows. I do not think that a business's decision to use self checkouts is wrong, and in fact the business is consistent with all of us, as we all choose to use automation/technology how we see fit. Maybe it is suboptimal for some people, but why would a business be wrong for trying something that reduces their costs? I try to reduce my costs all the time. For example, I like restaurants where you order at the counter or on a device and self bus. I don't like waiting for a waiter. Is that business wrong?
- nilamo 6mo agoDon't tell me, you think the store actually expects to sell all that milk before it goes bad?
- xenocratus 5mo agoYes, I'm sure milk is all people steal. And I'm sure it's better for it to be stolen than given to food banks and charities. F off
- colechristensen 6mo agoThe delusional thing is they think the cost is distributed to the owners. They just cut worker hours and raise prices. The owners don't see a difference. The richest person they're hurting is the store manager earning $200k missing some of their bonus.