I don't complain about this very often: after all, everything about the checkout system has gotten more or less automated, and even the wasteful plastic bags are pre-set to be filled. Even Trader Joe's, the last holdout against the UPC system, gave in a couple of years ago. Nonetheless, there's some truth to this complaint about slow checkers. Maybe it's just where I've lived, but year by year checkers just seem to get older and older, hence slower and slower. I frequently wonder if the presence of some 80-year-old working the Walgreens counter has to do with the broken retirement system in this country, as well as the depressing fact that these kinds of service jobs are not just for high-school students anymore. I just feel so bad for these old guys dragging UPC codes across those stupid machines ...

Alright, already! There are people who need to be getting home some time before midnight! Speed it up a little, okay?!

Sucks, but usually I'm aware of this before I even get to him/her. If I notice before I get to the chekout, I'll just find another cashier to ring me out. It's not like there's only one in the store...

this can be annoying. sometimes i avoid a check out line if i see a certain checker there. who goes so slow. if i only have a few items i check myself out. of course that can be maddening because sometimes people in the u scan can be very slow. or have way too many items. I usually bite my tongue and wait.

Especially checkers who seem to think that it is a requirement for them to comment on every other item you buy and to strike up extended coversations with customers and co-workers. Friendly, I understand, nosey and obnoxious I can't stand. What's even worse is the customer ahead of you who delays the checkout by engaging in the extended conversation with the already slow checker. I try to make allowances for trainees or semi-retired people trying to earn a little extra income, but I have no patience for career checkers who are just too slow. Even if you're in a low paying job, you should take some pride in what you do. Where has all the work ethic gone?

I actually did care about my job as a cashier in college and I busted my butt doing other stuff too because it was "all about the customer." However, I don't believe that the customer is always right.

They don't get paid enough to care. . .when I was in HS, I never busted my ass at low-level minimum wage jobs. I didn't really care about my work until college. I lose patience with the shopping-snob mentality that expects minimum-wage earners to drop everything and care about your problems. They understand their companies don't care about them, why should they care about you?

Not only that but if you don't watch them closely they'll throw the canned goods in on top of the bread and the eggs.