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Comment by llbeansandrice | Hacker News Reader

Colorado recently started charging for plastic bags (a good thing imo). However the self-checkouts at all of the stores I've been to simply cannot handle a reasonable workflow. I can't add my personal bags to the bagging area before I start scanning and tare the scale or anything. I either have to do the entire operation in two stages: scanning then bagging, or I have to have the lone employee come over and confirm that I'm not stealing stuff every third item.

Not to mention that the bagging area is not designed for personal bag use really at all.

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It’s interesting how different the experience is between Whole Foods and the bigger brand Safeway style stores. At Whole Foods there is no scale in the bagging area and you are free to put whatever you want there. The process is smooth and works well.

At the same time, it’s notorious for people stealing stuff - many folks I know across all income spectrums cheat the system in some way.

The temptation to ring in organic produce as conventional and save a few dollars is pretty damn hard to resist myself.

I don't know if supermarkets etc. have made the self-checkout scale less fussy (or maybe there isn't always one any longer?) but tossing a personal bag or two in the bagging area hasn't been a problem for me in ages. That said, checking out more than a modest quantity of mostly barcoded items is slow and tedious. The workflow is pretty much setup to fill up maybe a bag or two from a hand basket.

Put the personal bag down before you start scanning items so the scale doesn't get surprised when you put your bag down without having scanned anything. If it gets fussy at you when scanning (unexpected item), pick up a side of the bag an inch or two or wiggle it a bit to get the scale to be happy again to continue your checkout.

That's what I attempt to do. But placing something unexpected in the bagging area ever seems to cause problems.

Same at my local grocery. We get punished for trying to do the right thing.

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