Free Lectures at Safeway @ QV

The Safeway supermarket in QV at the city is undergoing renovations. The products are all over the place and this makes it hard to shop ‘systematically’. The aisles also seem narrower than ever and I hope this is only temporary. Narrow aisles won’t do in this particular Safeway because many shoppers like to shop in groups and spread out to take up as much space as possible to chat or to discuss the quality / the use of the products on the shelves.

I was there a few days ago and bought only 4 essential items that came to a measly total of just $10. It was either because I was drop dead tired or that my ageing memory chips were playing up, as I had forgotten all about the newly installed self-checkouts. I even filed past them on the way to be served by a checkout attendant. When the young checkout attendant saw the items I unloaded from the basket, she asked, “Only 3?” I fished out a small pack of lollies under the bread and answered, “No, there are four actually.” Up to that point, I was still my cheerful self despite being very tired and longing to get home ASAP. Then I was given the lecture of my life. I was asked if I had ever used the new self-checkouts. She then went on to explain how to use the self-checkouts and why I should use them. I don’t mind gentle suggestions but this checkout chick was bombarding away very loudly. She asked a few questions but there was no way I was allowed to answer them because there never was any intention for her to allow me to do so. She was too busy bombarding away as she checked out the items that I had bought. If anyone saw me looking very guilty for taking up her time, they should have tried looking at the two customers after me. The woman after me bought only two items and the man after her bought only one! To avoid a similar predicament, the Asian students after them wisely moved to another checkout. Those kids are unusually quick in sniffing out a potential ‘loss of face’ situation. I just put up with her verbal spray and even thanked her before I left. There was no point in complaining. This store is making a roaring trade. People living in the city rely on it.

I recently heard that some supermarkets were trialling the idea of charging customers for plastic bags. In fact, Borders is already charging customers for plastic bags. Now, I am all for greener living and I personally use calico bags for all of my shopping. Even the girls, Bree and Stella are taught to use a little green bag whenever we go shopping. So, I am not totally against the idea of paying for the use of plastic bags, but if they can start charging this to promote greater environmental awareness, I can’t see why they won’t dig up some reasons to start charging for other services that are still free to customers today. For instance, with the installations of these self-checkouts, these shops would probably one day find a reason to charge a small service fee if a customer instead chose to be served by a checkout attendant.

The Safeway supermarket at QV opened its doors around September 2003. The staff members were mostly friendly. Most of the checkout attendants were Australians. They were probably students from universities nearby. Cameron and I used to have our favourites and would prefer to be served by the ones we liked. I can vividly remember one guy that looked like Ian Thorpe but shorter. Then some were gradually replaced by more people from the subcontinent of India who were just as friendly. I think they too were mostly university students and I often wondered why the others were replaced by them. Cameron and I too have our favourites among the ‘foreign workers’. A few of them seemed happy and would make small talk – something of a rarity in the city. With the influx of these machines recently, I think even the friendly and probably cheaper overseas born checkout attendants are finding themselves a no match in this fierce competition. I wonder if any were given the boot or whether some were retained to help stock the shelves. What is obvious is that this is one example of how it is becoming harder for students/unskilled workers to earn a small living and with the global financial crisis looming ever so close, it really looks like there is going to be a tough period ahead.