TikTok users are divided after a woman says she uses regular checkout for a single pack of gum to “save” jobs. Should she be praised?
TikTok user Becky (@lifeofbecky) is a 28-year-old from Los Angeles who recently witnessed a friend do something noble. Or did she?
In a video posted on April 18, Becky films her friend Grace at the checkout in a grocery store. The text overlay reads, “*buying a single pack of gum* Grace why don’t you do self checkout? Her: Bc that’s a job killer.”
In the caption, Becky rolls her eyes. “Making us all wait & feel bad,” she writes. The video has amassed 837,000 views as of Monday morning.
@lifeofbecky Making us all wait & feel bad 🙄 #jobkiller #fypシ゚viral ♬ original sound – goldenbiscuit.tx
Viewers aren’t so sure she’s being helpful
In the comments section, viewers said Grace might not be helping as much as she thinks she is.
“I did that once for like 3 items and the cashier told me to use self checkout next time,” wrote one user.
“Did this once and the cashier walked my items over to self checkout and checked it out over there for me,” wrote someone else.
A cashier wrote, “As a cashier, please go to the self checkout. The guy behind you with 50+ items is gonna have an even shorter temper with me.”
Another cashier said, “My favorite is when customers do this then proceed to hold up my line bragging about how they saved my job.”
One woman disagreed that self-checkout is a job killer. “My son was hired to work self-checkout. It’s definitely not a job killer,” she wrote. Someone else concurred, “I’s a job changer. not killer. instead of stand in one spot you stand in other spot.”
And another grocery store employee said they are not a fan of the practice. “I work at Walmart and this genuinely gets me so mad … she’s not saving any jobs she’s just wasting the both of our times bc she feels she’s entitled,” they wrote.
Is self-checkout really eliminating jobs?
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that self-checkout is eliminating cashier jobs over time. However, some of those workers can be moved to other positions within the grocery store, including as self-checkout attendants. There are issues, such as theft and customer error, that make it unlikely grocery stores will go completely without human employees any time soon.
The Daily Dot reached out to Becky via TikTok direct message for comment.
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