Hey America…You’re Fired!

Johnny-on-the-Spot … by John Foster …

Thank you for attending this special staff meeting we’ve called.

I know you’re very busy but something has come up and we have to let you know.

We’re headed in a different direction and, as of today, we no longer need you to be a checkout.

We’re letting everyone go.

Thank you.

Any questions?

Well, that’s right.

The retail world is going to be firing us from our self-checkout responsibilities.

Retail stores across the country are changing course on self-checkout machines.

The businesses are saying they’re a “disaster” for consumers and retailers alike.

The biggest prob;lem?

Theft.

Shoppers are reported to be 21 times more likely to sneak items past machines than human cashiers.

It’s also easy for consumers to steal unintentionally.

A survey from Lending Tree says one in five of us reported we’re “accidently stolen” items during a self-checkout.

One in seven of us say we’ve stolen from self-checkout on purpose.

Target, Walmart and Dollar General are all said to be pulling back from efforts to introduce more self-checkouts.

This idea of self-checkouts has it’s roots in the vending machine business.

Did you know that engineer Heron from Alexandria in ancient Greece is credited with the first vending machine?

His dispensed holy water for a coin.

In 1902, macaroni and cheese plus boiled beans were sold via a vending machine in Philadelphia.

Before we had cigarette vending machines, my Mother would send me with a note, asking the clerks at Johhny’s Foodbasket to sell me two packs of Camel cigarettes. I usually had enough left over to buy a bottle of Mountain Dew and drink it before IO walked back home.

We’ve seen the demise of “service stations” for our modes of transportation.

Remember when you’d go to get gas and that “cord” you drove over rang a bell. Someone would bounce out to your car, pump your gas, clean your windshield and check the oil and tire pressure. If your tired needed air, it was free!

They always had one of those nifty silver “change-makers” on their belt.

You can get a four-barrel money-changer on Amazon for about $35.

Now you drive-in to, more than likely, a “mini-convenience store/gas station” where you scan your card and pump your gas.

If you’re really a risk-taker, get one of those “roller dogs”.

It’s rare to see anyone even thinking about checking the oil or tire pressure and you clean your own windshield IF there’s one of those squeegee/sponge things and a usually dry bucket for windshield cleaning fluid.

Now the idea for ACM’s or “Automated Checkout Machines” started ion the 1980’s.

The first prototype, the “Check Robot” came out in 1984 after 3 years of work and $5 million.

A Kroger’s in Atlanta was the first to use them in 1986.

But as recent as 2018, a survey of shoppers said