Assignment 2 - Joshua Pe

Has technology ever inconvenienced you or hurt you? Maybe technology got in your way, slowed you down or even literally hurt you? Have you seen technology have a negative impact on society?

Several times a week, I go grocery shopping, namely at the Meijer at Hamburg. Grocery shopping usually goes like this:

My mom drops me off at side with the pharmacy, US bank, and home supplies, and with list in hand, I push my cart and through the store, gathering what I need. This process takes somewhere between 10 and 30 minutes. Then I go to the self check lines. Late at night, the wait for other people to check out isn't bad, probably less than 5 minutes. But on a busy day during the peak hours, such as Sunday, I'll have to wait 20 to 30 minutes. So I wait and wait, until my turn is up.

These self check machines have a scanner that lights up green to let a customer know that they can scan and red to let a customer know that they cannot. I grab an item from my basket, perhaps some bread, scan it, the machine beeps and turns from green to red, and I place it on the belt. Then I grab another item, such as eggs, attempt to scan it, but the machine has stalled--it's red. I wait 2 or 3 seconds, it turns green, reads the barcode, turns red again, and I place the eggs on the belt. Then I attempt to scan something like milk, and again, the machine forces me to wait another 2 or 3 seconds before scanning. After the milk has processed, I try scanning something light, like a pen. The machine recognizes it, I place it on the belt, and then I try to scan another item. I hold the item for 2 or 3 seconds in front of the scanner, but it's red and tells me that I have not placed the pen on the belt, even though I have, and it demands that I need an assistant. Now I'm standing in front of the machine, with 4 other customers behind me, waiting for an assistant to come and help. I look around and see an assistant on the phone or helping another customer. I might have to wait for a minute or five minutes. When an assistant comes, they press some buttons and scan their badge and let me proceed. Then I continue on with my scanning, still having to wait 2 or 3 seconds between each item. Some time during the scanning, an assistant will most likely have to come over again. When I finish scanning and pay, I have to wait another 10 seconds for the machine to give me back the change. I bag the groceries, cart them to my mom's car, and put all the groceries into the car. I then get into the front passenger seat, and my mom berates me for taking over an hour to shop.

I try to defend myself, explaining how the incompetent machine stalls without reason, but she attacks me, saying that I am a waste of money and time and that I should stay home and starve rather than go grocery shopping. I quit talking, then she quits talking, and now there is silence filled only by the radio. We arrive home, I carry the groceries home, store them away, and then try to relax after having to deal with the machine.

If the machine was designed better, then there wouldn't be a 20 to 30 minute wait in line, there wouldn't be a 2 or 3 second delay, and there wouldn't be the need for an assistant. I could check out faster and avoid scolding. But the machine has failed. It might reduce the amount of employees needed and lower Meijer's expenses, but it causes anger in customers. Self scanning technology has harmed me, because my life span is shortening from all the stress and anger. In a hundred years, some researchers will find that people who shop at Meijer live shorter lives because of the cumbersome self scan machines.