Self Checkout

Dara pointed out Jon Carroll's column on using the self-checkout counter. You'd think that for a tech savvy guy like me, it would be right up my alley. No. I have to say these things have the most unintuitive user interface ever devised. When Dara and I were at the grocery store together, we had the exact same experience:

I have two boxes, so I decide to run the same box over twice -- I have seen checkers do this with multiple items. But the self-checkout does not want to do that. So I take the other box out, scan it, and then I bag both items. I put the bag back in my cart.

A voice says, "Item out of bagging area! Item out of bagging area!" I say, "What's the matter with that?" I have promised myself never to talk to machines, but I frequently break my promise. "Item out of bagging area!" I look around guiltily. Has a silent alarm gone off in the security office? Quickly, I put the bags back in the bagging area.

And so it went. With Dara's calm guidance, we managed to make it all the way through.