Life in the 'fast' lane

Unlike most men, I don't mind going to the grocery store. That may change if the trend I keep seeing continues.

I stopped by the grocery store on the way home the other day to get some cat food. I thought, "Just a few cans, less than $5, I'll be in and out."

It didn't work out that way.

When I went back up to the front to "wait" in the express lane, what I saw made me angry. There were two lanes with a real person checking out the items. One was express and the other was a regular lane. The line was three or four deep in the express lane, five or six in the other.

A little aggravated, I looked at some of the other eight-or-so checkout lanes, and there were no lines to speak of. That's when I decided to do what I swore years ago I would never do: I actually used one of those check-out-your-own-groceries lanes.

I swore when those things started popping up a few years ago I would never use one. I prefer to throw my stuff on the belt and watch the person as he or she rings it up. I prefer that because I can remember when people used to actually pump gas into your car, and along came self-serve. The difference then was, if you used the self-service pumps, you saved a little on the price per gallon. That's a little easier to swallow.

My cat food cost the same the other day even though I checked the stuff out myself. Let me see, less service, same price, more work for me. I'm glad I didn't have a buggy full of groceries. I probably still would have been waiting in line in the "real"checkout lane.