*As an added bonus to the inaugural post, this is something I wrote some time ago. Enjoy!*
I think the popularity of "Self-Checkout" machines at grocery/drug stores is fascinating. If you think about it, they're actually more trouble than if you were to just let the human cashiers check and bag your groceries. People think nothing of letting other people do things I'd personally rather do on my own. Park their cars (the valet could SO easily damage your car or just take it altogether), do their laundry (same deal--ruined or lost clothing), etc...I'd rather do these things for myself because if something goes wrong, I know I'M the one who did it. But checking groceries--what supermarket workers are PAID to do, among other things--is fairly foolproof, and you're right there to watch them do it. And yet, some of us insist on the self-checkout--sometimes waiting in a longer line than the regular ones and enduring countless technological errors to do so. I do it too. In fact, generally if something can be done online or without human interaction, I'll choose that way of doing it. Ordering takeout, shopping, whatever. Part of this is because talking on the phone makes me nervous and I'd rather have time to look things over before I commit. But everyone (at my local grocery store, anyway) loves those self-checkouts. Why do we want to use those so much? There’s always some asshole in front of you who doesn’t get that it’s supposedly “faster” than using the regular checkout and is checking things so slowly and carefully that you end up waiting in line for fifteen minutes. They’re usually the same type as the “I have no idea how to work this thing but I thought I’d give it a shot” people--the ones who cannot figure out what the next step is, how to pay the machine, etc. Then you get up there and even if you’re doing it right, the machine insists over and over that you take out, then put back in, then take out your items from the bag. Then something won’t scan. Then something rings up wrong. Blah blah blah. Why do we constantly subject ourselves to this?
I think that, in New York City specifically, we all just want to be left alone sometimes. New Yorkers get SO MUCH human interaction that when we have a chance to avoid it, we take it. Or at least, I do. We’re constantly forced on each other--you have to actively TRY to keep to yourself in this city. It’s true anywhere--you can’t avoid human interaction ALL the time, but the thing about living here is that every time you go to Manhattan, for example, there are just people everywhere. There’s always someone staring at you, some tourist asking you for directions, someone shoving a flier into your face, some homeless person asking for money. The subway is the most obvious and annoying example of this. My train is almost ALWAYS crowded, no matter the time of day or night. It could be 2 AM and there will still be people on the NW. (And when I've had a long night at work, the last thing I want to put up with is a pack of drunken girls dressed like hookers who have stolen all the seats, even though THEY haven't been at work all night and I bet my feet hurt more.) The 6 train in the morning is particularly cutthroat. I’ve been physically shoved out of the way by guys who just HAD to make that train. I once watched a guy jump from the platform to the dangerous, semi-blocked area in between the train cars and use that door to get in. And if you do happen to make it, there is usually no room to move--barely enough room to breathe. Sometimes I’m in such a mood that I don’t mind it--it’s the nature of the beast, after all. You live in New York, you know it’s crowded. Sometimes when something funny happens or the train conductor is being annoying, there’s a sense of camaraderie that I enjoy. There are those times on the train when you could lose your balance completely and still not fall in any direction, being so surrounded by solid walls of people. Sometimes that’s fine. But there are other times, when I’m the victim of what can only be called nonconsensual frottaging, when I can kiss a stranger if I move my head a few inches, I want to throw my head back and scream at the top of my lungs, “AHHHHHH! Get OFF me! GET THE FUCK OFF ME!” Last week this girl got on the train and rested her ass on the armrest--right on my shoulder. If the train’s not crowded, I HATE when people do that. And I had no choice--I couldn’t really move my arm, because of course there was already someone sitting in the middle seat next to me. I wanted to say, “I know you feel one of your cheeks resting on my arm. I KNOW you feel it. You wanna scoot it over, just a tad?!” Eventually I moved around uncomfortably enough to make her remove her behind from my personal space.
Any real New Yorker knows that Times Square is a complete nightmare to avoid whenever possible, and around the holidays, the sheer mass of bodies in the city can drive a person insane. Unless you’re a glutton for punishment, going out on New Year’s Eve has become a search for the least-crowded place to be. Sometimes I get concerned that I don't get out enough--but it's no wonder. Working with the public and then being forced to BE the public whether I like it or not every day--of course the first thing I want to do is run for the quiet of my own apartment. I think sometimes we all just need. a little. SPACE.
I love self-checkout. ;)
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