If I were a merchant you'd have to write this yourself

I had in mind for several months the raw stuff for an essay about the way retail customers are increasingly being asked to perform the work of store clerks. I hate this self-checkout system mostly because of the in-your-face profiteering that inspires it.

I will never stop waiting in a cashier's line, if only as a matter of defiance to merchants who want me to replace their expensive employees.

It isn't bad enough I have to wade through their unattended warehouses with a shopping cart, attempting to locate my stuff without help. Now these pirates are trying to set up their stores like gasoline stations.

A few days ago I noticed that Meijers had expanded its self-checkout stations to include nearly half the store front (under a sign that says something like: "We're happy to serve you"). That was just before I noticed Giant Eagle's new self-checkout stations.

My essay was about to give birth, but a fine writer from the Boston Globe beat me to it and probably wrote it much better than I would have. Read Ellen Goodman's "Self-serve and slave" at this link. Unless you're a merchant getting fat off your customers' labor, you'll empathize.