A little quick jump up to the store to get some milk… I was in a real hurry… I saw the self-serve checkout platforms…hmmmmmm…what to do? What to do? I’m running late; cashier with one person in line already vs. one of the quick, newly installed platforms?
Hmmmmmm….then I looked at the little chubby face of the female cashier as she was packing up the bags of a customer. She was actually happily talking to the customer. Then it dawned on me, those machines replaced other cashiers: a student working part-time because he has car insurance to pay; a retiree who got stung by the stock market recently; a grandmother who is trying to help support her husband’s meager pension; a housewife whose husband just had his hours cut… there was no choice. I got in line.
That extra 1 minute and 46 seconds wouldn’t make all that much difference to my day, but it’s someone’s job and that does make a difference. Employment: it all starts locally.
Mary Ellen Orchard
Levittown resident
