Living in the future

[telophase]

The Albertsons I shop at just got set up with handheld scanners for shopping. You scan your store card at a kiosk and get assigned a scanner. You scan the barcode on everything as you buy it, and it keeps a running total. At the end of the trip, you return the scanner to a small kiosk and your total comes up on one of the U-Scan screens, so you then pay with your debit card or whatever, and you leave. You canb ag as you go or go through a cashier at the end and have them bag.

I'm picking up a little bit of money next week by going to a focus group on grocery stores. I'm going to tell them that the reason I'm shopping at Albertsons instead of the nearby Kroger is that I get to play with the scanner. :D

I can look up books, reserve them, go the the library, pick them up from the Hold shelf and check them out at a machine without talking to a single live person. I went to the movies today and bought a ticket from the machine in the lobby without talking to anyone. Now I can do that at the grocery store, too. My antisocial little self is just loving living in the future.

Speaking of movies, I saw Hellboy, which I enjoyed. But I'm thoroughly enjoying seeing Hellboy and The Passion of the Christ on the same marquee. (Although at heart they really both have the same message, if you think hard about it.)

Comments

Banquet

[ebony14.livejournal.com]

Sounds like fun. Be sure to interject, "on page 12, in panel 3, I liked how you demonstrated the angst inherent in the cliques of teen society" and other such overanalytical statements. It'll drive 'em bugfuck.

Of course, the ones that parse the commentary and manage to play along should immediately be befriended and offered alcohol.

Re: Banquet

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Heh. :) Of course, the banquet is on *Sunday* -- a brunch -- so too much alcohol consumption is contraindicated. Mind you, there's a good chance that the people at our table will therefore still be drunk from Saturday night, which means we can have EVEN MORE fun screwing with their minds.