Anxiety over on-line shopping

[Wilcom81]

Hi all, my post today will seem strange to many I am sure, but here goes - my wife and I were business owners quite some years ago, we employed 4 staff, paid local rates, and the products we sold were of British manufacture. But for some time time, I have become anxious for the young people. When I make a phone call I find myself trying to speak to a robot. When I try to phone a company to arrange such things as insurance for whatever, I get told why are you phoning us, you need to 'do it on-line'.
Anyway, yesterday my wife and I went shopping, we visited a shop some 45 miles away from us, belonging to a company we have ordered from for many years. At the shop I saw an item of footwear. The young assistant was most helpful, but I decided not to order at that time as they were costing a lot more that I usually pay, even taking on board the recent rise in the cost of living, I said I would consider it and telephone the next day for thjem to be posted to me.
However, when the next day came, I noticed an email from this same company, telling us of special offers.
I ask the shop if they could offer me that special price, but the answer was No, that price was only on-line.
I telephone the company's main office again and ask to confirm that special price, and was told yes, but 'ONLY ON-LINE'. I said, well, I find that quite frightening, what is likely to happen to that young lady's job, if you cut the price in half on-line. (I thought to my self, 'the shop will close'.
I have to say also, my wife and I never, use to 'pay at the machine' at any of our supermarkets. I see families using them, not stopping for one second to think how many jobs are being lots every week at Sainsburys, Tesco, M&S, Mataland etc. etc. Does this mean that the working population will not be required any longer. How can young people buy houses etc. live a life, Oh dear, today I feel very depressed.............

[Scass]

Don’t feel depressed, it’s very much the way the world is going now.
There will be jobs, but perhaps in different areas, and not so much face to face anymore.

I think companies can hold more stock in their warehouse than they can in store, so that’s maybe why you get sent online. But also, I get it, so much life admin is online now and it’s frustrating and very limiting. But I think it’s something we need to learn to live with.

[BlueIris]

I just wanted to chime in as somebody who's been directly affected by this.

I was a librarian - qualified, with two degrees from top five universities - but my profession has been slowly but surely dying out because people think Wikipedia is easier than employing a whole person with loads of specialist knowledge.

Am I bitter? I certainly was, but I'm not any more. The skills I learn have been transferrable, and have led me down whole different avenues. For the past few years I've been working in learning technology, creating learning materials and helping students and teachers adapt to the digital world. Luckily for me, I've always been driven by curiosity and the love of learning new things, and when Covid hit my skills were suddenly in huge demand. It's been fun and exciting, and as I start to upskill in accessible software and tech I feel as though I can make a real difference to people's lives.

The world is always changing and it always belongs to the young - it's up to the older ones among us to adapt. Honestly, I hate self-checkouts at the supermarket but it's just the way things are going now. As for online only deals, I choose whether or not they're for me. If somebody tries to offer me a special deal via phone, I won't accept because my anxiety (and need to please people) means that I don't want to deal with that sort of pressure.

Not sure what I'm saying here, but I think I just want to tell you that nothing much has changed, it'll all be okay and that it's okay to embrace any new opportunities that come along.

[Lencoboy]

I just wanted to chime in as somebody who's been directly affected by this.

I was a librarian - qualified, with two degrees from top five universities - but my profession has been slowly but surely dying out because people think Wikipedia is easier than employing a whole person with loads of specialist knowledge.

Am I bitter? I certainly was, but I'm not any more. The skills I learn have been transferrable, and have led me down whole different avenues. For the past few years I've been working in learning technology, creating learning materials and helping students and teachers adapt to the digital world. Luckily for me, I've always been driven by curiosity and the love of learning new things, and when Covid hit my skills were suddenly in huge demand. It's been fun and exciting, and as I start to upskill in accessible software and tech I feel as though I can make a real difference to people's lives.

The world is always changing and it always belongs to the young - it's up to the older ones among us to adapt. Honestly, I hate self-checkouts at the supermarket but it's just the way things are going now. As for online only deals, I choose whether or not they're for me. If somebody tries to offer me a special deal via phone, I won't accept because my anxiety (and need to please people) means that I don't want to deal with that sort of pressure.

Not sure what I'm saying here, but I think I just want to tell you that nothing much has changed, it'll all be okay and that it's okay to embrace any new opportunities that come along.

Very wise words there BI.

While I don't mean to trivialise the current financial climate, I do think there's have been a lot of unhelpful and OTT commentary in the media recently, e.g, the BoE governor Andrew Bailey warning of a coming 'apocalypse'! The end of the world is nigh, right?

We've had plenty of economic crises before, and whilst they're certainly not pleasant for a lot of us (especially for those who are on the breadline), they're hardly full-on Doomsday events, plus they eventually peter out, just like the last GFC back in 2008-11 (and all previous financial/economic crises before it) did.

You're also correct that the world is constantly changing and shifting, as what might be common practice today is likely to be obsolete tomorrow, plus it's about trying to 'move with the times' and adapt to change, if and where possible/feasible.

As far as conventional till personnel in supermarkets are concerned, the newer unmanned self-service checkouts don't necessarily always spell redundancy for the workers concerned, as I'm sure they might still be employed in other roles elsewhere in the store, or at least within the 'chain'. The LIDL store in Burton that I frequent most Tuesdays and Thursdays, despite installing their first self-service checkouts just over a year ago, still have about 1 or 2 staff members watching and marshalling the passage where said checkouts are, in case of faults, customer confusion, etc.

There are still conventional 'manned' checkouts too, which still by far outnumber the self-service ones, though of course not all of them are always open.

[NoraB]

There are still conventional 'manned' checkouts too, which still by far outnumber the self-service ones, though of course not all of them are always open.

I always use the manned check-outs. People might think this odd me being a socially inept autistic human but it's the case of 'lesser of two evils' here because using the self-checkout means performance anxiety and my brain going blank which means that the red light comes on so often that people think they're in the red light district. Also there's the awareness of the disgruntled queue that's forming behind me. No ta. It's less traumatic for me to chuck my goods onto the conveyor belt, choke out an appropriate greeting and hope the checkout operative isn't in a chatty mood. But even if they are they soon shut up when I mix up my responses (which happens a lot)

Checkout Operative: "Good morning. Are you having a good day today?"

Me: "You too!"



You see the flicker of confusion on their face while they work out if I'm deaf or daft. Either way, no more chat and I can make busy with the packing. Then I wave my card at the machine and bugger off home. Where there are Nora's there will always be the need for manned checkout operators.

I should also add that I do a shit load of shopping online...

I also used to shop in Aldi but once the fibro kicked in I could no longer effectively field my goods coming at me at 100 mph. Where do those guys do their checkout training?

[Lencoboy]

I always use the manned check-outs. People might think this odd me being a socially inept autistic human but it's the case of 'lesser of two evils' here because using the self-checkout means performance anxiety and my brain going blank which means that the red light comes on so often that people think they're in the red light district. Also there's the awareness of the disgruntled queue that's forming behind me. No ta. It's less traumatic for me to chuck my goods onto the conveyor belt, choke out an appropriate greeting and hope the checkout operative isn't in a chatty mood. But even if they are they soon shut up when I mix up my responses (which happens a lot)

Checkout Operative: "Good morning. Are you having a good day today?"

Me: "You too!"



You see the flicker of confusion on their face while they work out if I'm deaf or daft. Either way, no more chat and I can make busy with the packing. Then I wave my card at the machine and bugger off home. Where there are Nora's there will always be the need for manned checkout operators.

I should also add that I do a shit load of shopping online...

I also used to shop in Aldi but once the fibro kicked in I could no longer effectively field my goods coming at me at 100 mph. Where do those guys do their checkout training?

While it obviously varies from person to person, I don't personally have any issue with the self-service checkouts in LIDL, especially once I had fully sussed out how to use them, with a little (or LIDL) help from one of the supervising staff members first time round.

The two at the front accept both cards and cash, which also helps, as I still don't have any cards.

By the way, checkout workers who chat with their customer 'friends' for ages are one of my biggest frustrations, especially when holding up the rest of the queue.

[NoraB]

While it obviously varies from person to person, I don't personally have any issue with the self-service checkouts in LIDL, especially once I had fully sussed out how to use them, with a little (or LIDL) help from one of the supervising staff members first time round.

My autistic son prefers the self-checkouts too but he freaks out when it goes wrong and the red light goes on..

It doesn't matter how well I know how to do something when performance anxiety hits. I can forget how to walk when I know I'm being watched.

At work, I was a picker and I was fast and accurate. Then one day a bloke stood there with a clip board timing us as individuals. I dropped loads of stuff, forgot where things were, and I was significantly slower - which was a problem as the point of the exercise was to time us for speed and accuracy. Fortunately, my supervisor and manager put it down to 'nerves'. Same thing happened when I went for a job interview at another place. I knew how to pick but the set-up was different and, again, we were being timed and I timed out and was the ONLY person to do so. In my other job I'd started as a manual picker and we all transferred to the scanner system at the same time. Granted, I was slow to get it but I asked the trainer for laminated instructions that I could keep referring to and once I did I was fine. Better than fine..

By the way, checkout workers who chat with their customer 'friends' for ages are one of my biggest frustrations, especially when holding up the rest of the queue.

Yes, I hate that too Lenco.

[Lencoboy]

It doesn't matter how well I know how to do something when performance anxiety hits. I can forget how to walk when I know I'm being watched.

At work, I was a picker and I was fast and accurate. Then one day a bloke stood there with a clip board timing us as individuals. I dropped loads of stuff, forgot where things were, and I was significantly slower - which was a problem as the point of the exercise was to time us for speed and accuracy. Fortunately, my supervisor and manager put it down to 'nerves'. Same thing happened when I went for a job interview at another place. I knew how to pick but the set-up was different and, again, we were being timed and I timed out and was the ONLY person to do so. In my other job I'd started as a manual picker and we all transferred to the scanner system at the same time. Granted, I was slow to get it but I asked the trainer for laminated instructions that I could keep referring to and once I did I was fine. Better than fine.

I sense something rather sinister, perverse, and indeed Orwellian about this.

Also reminds me of some school horror stories, involving certain sadist teachers/staff members who blatantly revelled in humiliating and belittling certain pupils, especially the 'weaker' ones.

[Wilcom81]

Wow, thank you all for those very thoughtful and often informative replies, I am glad to think that I am not the only one to whom these thoughts have occurred. I would very much like to think that young people will have a rewarding future ahead of them, although I cannot help feeling that the past 50 years have been the 'best of times'. regards to all - Wilcom (a few years older now than the '81')

[Lencoboy]

Wow, thank you all for those very thoughtful and often informative replies, I am glad to think that I am not the only one to whom these thoughts have occurred. I would very much like to think that young people will have a rewarding future ahead of them, although I cannot help feeling that the past 50 years have been the 'best of times'. regards to all - Wilcom (a few years older now than the '81')

If you're referring to the state of the economy over the past 50 years, it's had more than its fair share of ups and downs from 1972 to present.

Back in the mid 70s there was the Oil Crisis and the 3-Day Working Week, then during much of the 80s and early 90s, unemployment topped the 3 million mark on several occasions, then at the end of the 2000s and into the very early 2010s we had the Global Financial Crisis.

Just to reiterate, I'm not downplaying the current situation in any way, just trying to help you (and others) to find a sense of perspective and context in the sense that there's always been periods of turbulence concerning the economy in some form or another.