Did you ever notice how much more slowly the checkout lines move now than they did in 1970? Before electric cash registers?
56-60, F
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cherokeepatti · 61-69, F
Back then the cashiers had to remember a lot of the prices too.
Stopmakingsense · 56-60, F
@cherokeepatti yup. It was when price codes came to NCR that we began to hear "price check on four"!
cherokeepatti · 61-69, F
@Stopmakingsense Cashiers in the 70’s knew how to count out change very quickly and they were less likely to mess up the prices. What holds up a line these days is the wrong price being added when there’s a sign or advertised price that is lower. The customers will speak up and then the cashiers usually have to get an approval to remove the price and put the right one in at many places and that takes time. I think that some stores deliberately put the wrong prices in the computer and know that many who are buying a lot of groceries won’t catch it before they leave the store.
Adstar · 56-60, M
Yep.. I use cash when ever i can and i always beat the people who use cards..
SW-User
I think ours are much quicker now
bijouxbroussard · F
Before 1970 I was rarely the one buying anything, so it’s hard to compare, but it is paradoxical. I worked manual cash registers in my teens, so I do recall they were slow.
ElwoodBlues · M
Grocery stores probably now have 5X the variety or number of distinct items compared to 1970s stores. In my store, the bar code scanner appears faster than typing in a price; the only slowdown is weighing produce. How did produce weighing happen in 1970? Did they do that at every register?