The Automated Future

Normally I stay away from stores that vend a majority of poisonous substances however, recently, while in a Stop & Shop, I was given a vision of the future. A future were human interaction is the exception. It is something that occurs a couple times a week, something you might look forward to or something you might dread, in any case it is a rarity. Relish the moments you spend waiting for the incredibly slow cashier to change your twenty; the moments you spend chatting with them about the upcoming elections. Those opportunities are quickly disappearing.

The local Stop & Shop installed some (three or four?) self-checkout systems. These MRI-reminiscent devices do exactly what the name connotes. Scan your items, choose your payment method, enter your card info or insert your cash, and walk away.

I consider the honor system a wonderful form of enforcement. However, it is also an unrealistic form of enforcement in the current society of the United States. In the store that I was in the lines which used self-checkout were solely the 12 item or fewer express lines. I don't believe there existed any formal verification that the items you placed in your bag(s) were items that you scanned and payed for. There was an employee who bagged my item (not that my single 1x1x4 in. item needed a bag) but she had no idea whether I paid or not and I doubt she cared given the attitudes of the majority of Stop & Shop employees (that is of course no fault of hers, it may be difficult to care about such a job). What prevents someone from weighing and paying for only an ounce of the carrots out of the 5 ounces of carrots they purchase? If stopped, there would be a reasonable amount of plausible deniability, "Oh, it works that way? I'm so new to these machines!" Or, what prevents someone from swiping a stick of gum and then swiping a (insert something more expensive than a stick of gum) while holding their hand over the bar code? Still, lots of deniability, "Really? That didn't scan? I swiped it and everything?" Not that there would necessarily be anyone to stop you on your way out, although mind the innumerable security cameras.

Maybe that is the future we have to look forward to. After underpaying for a couple of ounces of rice, and not the pound you took, an automated surveillance system uses the fact that the rest of the self-checkout system also acts as an unbeknownst scale and notices a discrepancy between the weight of your rice on the scale and the weight in the bag. As you push against the door to leave the store you realize it's locked so turn around to push against the door behind you and realize your caught in the double door exit. You wait in between the doors for about 15 seconds before seeing a couple Stop & Shop security guards heading your way. It is the first time you've ever seen a human employee of Stop & Shop.