As a person who is always on the go, I will admit that I have a bit of problem with patience.  I want people with no certain time to make it to a destination to drive outside main commute times. I get frustrated when going through a narrow space, and the person in front of me is moving slowly (unless there's a real physical limitation).  Plain and simple, I always have somewhere to be and usually allot myself time to be punctual.

Of course, this means when I stand in a long checkout line, "I can scan faster than that" usually crosses my mind.  So, when I see a self-checkout, I'm apt to use it.  When McDonald's rolled out their kiosks for customers to place their orders, I thought it was cool technology and cut down on the time standing behind the person who is unsure of his order.

However, in recent weeks, I've noticed a few things. You'd think that the self-checkout lanes would free up more cashiers for unopened lanes, but the same few lanes are open. And with the use of kiosks at McDonald's, it seems that more people are using the drive-thru to avoid going inside.

One of my friends explained that using the self-checkout at the store is stupid to him because not only does it take a job away from someone, but the cost of the goods doesn't decrease. So, he's paying the same price for less service.

Something to think about.

What are your thoughts? Do you prefer doing things yourself, or do you lean towards the employee being paid to do a job?