Today’s topic – Self check out/scanning

I like the self check out lines. I choose them when I am at stores that have that program. I usually don’t have more than 10-12 items and I know how to scan the bar codes without issue, and I know how to key in the PLU numbers on the produce. It is not rocket science, and it is not saving lives…..but it amazes me how many people do NOT know how and SHOULD not be using self check/scanning.

If you do any of the following scenarios I am about to mention – really, you should NOT be using the self check out/scanning in any store.

– if you have a WHOLE cart load of groceries. It will take you more time to scan each item, and when you have a message that you need to see the attendant, you have to stop what you are doing. Today the couple had a full cart load, and a baby in a stroller. They filled one box and they tried to take it and the case of water that they bought off the check out sensor and it wouldn’t let them continue. Why you may ask? Well, the answer is simple – it is SENSORED, it knows when you take items on and off the shelf. She told them it wouldn’t let them go on until they put the box and the water back on.

– if you plan on PRICE MATCHING 10 items with other stores flyers. Today – the girl in front of me had the flyers for Freshco, Loblaws, and Metro – for her Broccoli, mushrooms, apples, and whatever the hell she put on the scale. EACH AND EVERY item had to be adjusted. Oh, and she received 2 phone calls while she was trying to do this transaction. Lady (and she was younger than me) – get in a REAL line if you want to do that kind of shopping.

– if you are not really familiar with PLU codes on produce and you have to ask for assistance for each and every item in your cart. Get in a real line and have the staff scan it for you.  The staff is there for assistance, but if you need help with almost every item, this line is not for you.

I don’t think I am being unreasonable in my comments here today. Life is busy, and for the most part, the grocery shopping experience is a pain the a** and no body really LOVES to do it, but it does have to get done. Some of us who don’t have to shop for a large family, or go more than once a week to pick up a few fill in items, like the convenience of the self checkout/scanning area of these stores. It is supposed to be a fast, easy and relatively painless experience……not like Chinese water torture which it was today.

How do you feel about it?

February 21, 2009 – the date of my car accident. It seems very far away and it is. I try to give it the memory that it needs but not to draw a lot of thought to it. I mean, it is always there, but it doesn’t inhibit me from driving on highways, in the rain, and sometimes even when it snows. I even drove out to the airport on the 401 a few weeks ago to the international centre. I thought about it after the fact and realized how long it had been since I had been out that far on the 401, well, my mother reminded me.

And then tonight, two shows on tv, one real and one fiction, both shed light on how lucky I really was that night.

The first show that was on was Extreme makeover home addition. This young man was doing a back flip in his backyard, fell wrong and became a parapalegic. Not a car accident, but just that, snap – in a instant, lives changed forever. Really it was hard to watch. I had to keep my tears in check, as my niece Zoe was watching my face as I watched the show. We left their house shortly thereafter, so I didn’t see the end of the show and to see what amazing things ABC did for this young man and his family.

Second show – Private Practice. A young pregnant woman survives a car accident but has a traumatic brain injury. Very much like the movie 50 first dates with Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler if you saw it. She has to live her life without any long term memory. She doesn’t even know she is pregnant. Can you imagine a life like that? The husband says to his therapist – that sometimes he wishes she had died, and what a horrible person he must be. All because of something that happens in a split second.

My car slid off the highway, into the ditch and flipped over. Other than the obvious psychological trauma I have been faced with these last 2 1/2 years, my only problem is my left arm which kind of always has a dull ache. It aches more when the weather is going to change and when it rains, but that is it.

How freaking lucky was I? Pretty freaking lucky I would say.

I have ever told you that I know the tooth fairy? I do, she is a friend of my parents. I know that there is more than one tooth fairy, because how else would she get around and visit all the children who have lost teeth. But I know the tooth fairy of my time, when I was a child. Even though she isn’t the tooth fairy anymore, it is like being the President, once a tooth fairy, you will always be the tooth fairy.

This tooth fairy didn’t only come out at night. She would go into schools and teach children about oral hygene. It is a big job to make sure that children know how to take care of their teeth. I don’t know if the schools still have the tooth fairy come to visit, but they should.

Anyhow, after a while, the tooth fairy had helped a lot of children, she decided to do other things with her life. She has had many different jobs and helped many different people along the way. She is active in the Jewish community, volunteered and raised her two sons who are now grown. She also became a grandmother in recent years and is so proud of her grandson and now baby granddaughter.

This tooth fairy is a very strong women. She fights for what she believes in and isn’t afraid to tell you exactly what she feels about any given topic on any given day. So, as you can imagine, when the tooth fairy was told she had met up with the “C” monster, she wasn’t going to change her fighting spirit, not for the monster or anything else for that matter.

And she has not backed down her fighting spirit the whole way through the continuing battles with the the monster. She asked if she could be on a special trial and the hospital agreed. So she tried, but the monster seemed to be taking over and possibly trying to win the battle.

I went to visit the tooth fairy on Monday night. She still smiled at me and we still had stories to share. She will still tell you what she feels when she feels like it. I think that for some, that is a very good character trait to have. You know what you are getting, and it is up to you to deal with it. 

to be continued……..