Re: Saber Cherry is alive and well
 

Actually, I prefer the self-serve checkout. I do understand that the stores are doing this to cut costs at the expense of the customer. But I find that I am almost as fast as a cashier at scanning my items, and I can scan and bag in one motion (rather than having to do them separately) so that is actually faster.

Invariably when I wait in a regular checkout line, someone in front of me is a moron and holds up the show for ages. This happens even more often with self-serve checkout, but when it happens it only reduces throughput by 25% instead of 100%.

Finally since the self-service checkout is restricted in the number of items you can bring through, and many people are reluctant to use them, and because the line leads to four checkouts instead of one, the lines are much shorter and move faster. Which is important to me, not because my time is exceptionally valuable, but because I really, really hate waiting in line.

On the other hand, I do agree with Arryn that self-serve gasoline is an absolute necessity of life. I am simply glad that New Jersey is a small state that I don't live in. There are many reasons for this, but among them is that when I have to drive through it, I can fill up beforehand and not have to wait in their gas lines. It's like the oil embargo, all over again.

[ July 12, 2004, 17:59: Message edited by: Sheap ]

Re: Saber Cherry is alive and well
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Just curious: where/why are chewing gum, okra, and fruitcake considered shocking?

Re: Saber Cherry is alive and well
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">The self-service checkouts I've seen don't have any maximum item limits. The biggest problem I've had with them is that they've been miserable to use. One had the worst, most confusing credit card interface I've ever seen, and another had a conveyor belt that kept on pushing my packing boxes back at me.

As for gas lines at NJ pumps: if you're waiting on a long gas line in NJ, you're either going to the wrong stations, or your only experience is with the rest area stations on the Garden State Parkway and NJ Turnpike. The local town/city gas stations (which you'd be using if you lived there, rather than the Parkway ones) don't get like that.

Re: Saber Cherry is alive and well
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Like everything that was mentioned if depends on if you (A) know what they are (B) have ever tried them and (C) not worth explaining if you live in the country where they are common, in this case the USA.

I didnt add them to the list, I got it off the net. Gum is flavored pLastic made from a petroleum waste, and a stereotype of dumb cud chewing americans. Okra is a slimey vegetable which is considered hard to even WATCH being eaten. And fruitcake is defined as "building construction material with colored gels added, rarely if ever eaten but is often passed hand to hand as gifts for years"

Re: Saber Cherry is alive and well
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Cud like or not, it's good for the teeth http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

- Kel

Re: Saber Cherry is alive and well
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Now I'm *sure* that Demosthenes was correct in thinking that you're insane. Only certifiable nut-cases, or spec-ops guys (not that there's a difference), eat bugs. Ick. Yuck. Bleh. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Eh - in Korea, you could buy little paper cones full of fried bug larva (not with batter - more like sauteed). Other portions of the world, chocolate covered ants and grasshoppers; other part, deep fried worms. Down near Papua New Guinea, there's tribes for whom grubs are not just a delicacy, but a vital part of the diet, as the sole source of protein (possibly fat as well) in the diet (which otherwise is 90% palm tree based).

The Philippines, they have a dish called "Balut", which is a fertile duck egg, almost hatched, which is then buried underground to ferment.

Myself, I've tried all of these (except for the fried larva and the Balut) when offered them by friends and friendly acquaintances. The larva and the Balut, I never had a local friend offer, so I harbored a suspicion that clever chaps figured out that they could get american servicemen (deliberate gender here) to eat rotten food, and pay to do so. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif Not even peer pressure got me to try these things, not even falling down drunk at 20 and 25 years of age. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Also - basically, all people in the USA who don't have _very_ odd diets eat bugs. Essentially every bag of flour, every loaf of bread, has X parts per million that is ground up insects, and rat droppings. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Saber Cherry is alive and well
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Cud like or not, it's good for the teeth http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

- Kel </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">But bad for the jaw. Most headaches are caused by jaw tension and dehydration.

Re: Saber Cherry is alive and well
 

"Dumb cud chewing Americans," that's a classic!

I've always thought the automatic door was a low point in civilization. Correct me if I'm wrong, but does opening a door really take that much effort?

Re: Saber Cherry is alive and well
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Well it can take a bit of effort if you're carrying a few weeks worth of groceries.

Re: Saber Cherry is alive and well
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Let's not forget my personal favorite (not!), allergy-induced sinus pressure. Ye gods how I hate sinus headaches. Thank same gods for the miracle of over-the-counter Claritan! (generic Version, of course)