I have just finished reading Metro Article ‘Self Service Check Outs Turn Us Into Thieves ‘30/01/2014 which claims we are a nation of petty criminals when it comes to scanning our own shopping, with supermarkets losing an estimated 1.7 billion in profits as a result!
I can honestly say that I have never slipped any items through a self checkout without scanning them first. I can’t say that I am exactly surprised by these claims or figures though. For one, the system is heavily flawed. Why expect a consumer to do a job that someone otherwise would have been trained to do for minimum wage? New staff often make mistakes, so it’s unsurprising that hurried shoppers, perhaps with a pram, and crying kids might be distracted and make mistakes.
So we can assume a lot of that is down to human error. Now moving onto supposed intentional acts of theft. Society is currently on a downward spiral, and the reality for many families and communities is bleak. With the gap between the elite and the poor widening in an alarmingly progressive manner, there is an unsettling feeling of unrest at large, in the underbelly of the serpent that is the poor and under-privileged. It ripples and writhes, picking up pace, as if it has consumed too large a mouthful of an un-digestable toxin…waiting to furiously ejaculate the venom it has been fed by Bureaucracy and government for far too long!
Many journalists have likened the similarities of ‘Cameron’s Britain’ to Dickensian times. See shortlist and spectator for examples of such quotes.
http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/just-how-dickensian-are-we
Many across Britain are forced to visit food banks and soup kitchens to survive. Many cannot afford to heat their homes and many have lost their homes.Britain is in a dysphoric state, for those who have never met with privilege or opportunity. Shockingly, this is the same society that has recently see the hungry prosecuted for taking food from a supermarket trashcan. Food that had been disposed of, deemed no good. So far, I have never had to eat from a dustbin, but one would imagine you would have to be pretty desperate to do so. So now these desperate people, with little other option available to them are being punished for being poor,for being born without a silver spoon in their mouths. It is a national disgrace. The prosecutors should hang their heads in shame. I am so disgusted at Iceland’s utter lack of compassion that I will NEVER spend penny in their stores and line their pockets. See Below:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/10604073/Men-charged-with-stealing-discarded-food-from-supermarket-bin.html
Many are becoming desperate and whilst I do not condone theft, it is easy to envisage how destitute mothers, fathers, those with tiny mouths to feed, might be tempted to use the self-service checkouts to their advantage.
Those who have been hit worst by Blair and Cameron’s Britain, no longer have any respect for authority. There is a bitter resentment brewing amongst the underclasses. As the rich bankers and those in government laugh all the way to the bank and live a lifestyle of financial excess, others less fortunate are struggling hand to mouth. Hypocrisy is paramount with MP’s enjoying lavish subsidised meals and alcohol, whilst struggling families are unable to put vegetables on their childrens plates, forced to pick cheaper, less healthy options.
Time and time again, the poor have been shown nothing but contempt by government and bureaucracy. From the recent welfare cuts, the popular trend of middle class production companies producing television that makes a spectacle of the poor,through to Mayor of London Boris Johnson’s water cannon pilava. See: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/01/08/boris-johnson-water-cannon-plans_n_4561006.html?1389190328
And in a statement, which suggests he may have watched a little bit too much Tarantino….he suggests police get ‘Medieval on rioters’ I am surprised he didn’t add – ‘on their arses’!
See: http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2014/01/30/boris-johnson-tells-police-to-get-medieval-on-rioters
The people have lost hope in those in power. Those who promised the earth, but delivered lies and half-truths. Those who built a stark reality, who failed the people, failed the elderly, failed our children and failed our future generations.
In light of all this, I feel absolutely no sympathy for the supermarket giants who complain and whine about their alleged 1.7billion pound losses. The irony of the situation makes me almost want to weep and laugh at the same time. The greedy fat cats envisaged that cutting staff and replacing them with self-service machines, would bloat their massive profits even further. However in a bittersweet twist, it has cost them a pretty packet. More than human resources would cost. But the real cost is to the unemployed, the jobless, society.
I imagine many of you like myself, have used a self service checkout and found it a hideous experience! They are often problematic and generally more time consuming for the consumer. Instead of any form of customer service, we can expect a series of beeps and blips and tedious questions to ascertain whether we used one of their precious bags, if we want to part with more money for promotional items, …I am sure you are familiar with this. Then when it comes to paying – even that is a nightmare! Notes deemed not quite crisp enough for the machine’s taste are spat back at us. A big slap in the face for the frustrated, disgruntled consumer!
I usually consider myself fairly well spoken (although I certainly have no plum in my mouth) and liked to remain calm in public places. However, these machines have managed to elicit an enraged ‘Well **** you too!’ from me! Sorry fellow shoppers, I couldn’t help myself.
So, back to the crux of the matter. If the outcome of staff cuts and thousands of people losing their jobs, is a £1.7 billion pound DEFICIT. It seems the OBVIOUS solution staring us in the face is to bin these atrocious, defected devices and to GIVE BRITAIN THEIR JOBS BACK!!
Maybe hard times haven’t hit you yet. However there is no room for complacency in modern Britain. It will only get worse, unless we demand fairer treatment. Demand the right to a life free from prolonged hardship and misery.
So now, I implore each and everyone of you to make a stand and write to your local MP. Write to your local supermarket chains, who have callously dispensed of loyal staff in favour of supposed cheaper machines. Ha! Ask them to reinstate HUMAN employees. This would solve the self created problem of shoppers ‘accidentally…or purposely forgetting to scan items’.
This would also create masses of employment opportunities in Britain where many are jobless currently….getting Britain back to work, putting money in gas meters and hot dinners on tables!
If you don’t do it for yourself, do it for your children, nephews, nieces, their children. Do it whilst we still have a voice. If we simply sit back and take it like Cameron’s little gimp (No – not Nick Clegg!!) then we will be treated like bitches!
Lets make a stand.
Land of Hope & Glory goes the patriotic anthem, but where is the hope? Where is the glory?
I guess it’s up to you and I people.
We can only hope in each other. And in each other we will find glory. (That wasn’t a euphemism by the way)!
