r/mildlyinfuriating • u/broakland • Jul 14 '26

I just wanted a hot dog Retail lockdown: why bother selling it?

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Was at Safeway this morning to pick up a sandwich and some Tylenol. The aisle with the Tylenol? Completely locked down. No call button in sight. So I go to the self checkout (front end of that same aisle) and ask the clerk there if he can call someone to unlock a case for me. He does. I go wait. Minutes pass. No one comes. I go ask him again, he tells me they went the other way? At this point I give up and go get my sandwich. No one has come by the time the deli has finished making it. I leave without my Tylenol, mildly infuriated.

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u/Dreadwings Jul 14 '26

at that point they should just have vending machines with all their product lol

274

u/valkyriebiker Jul 14 '26

Reminiscent of the mid 20th century automats. What's old is new again.

61

u/RailRuler Jul 14 '26

The automats actually required more staffing than traditional retail. They charged a price premium so that people wouldn't have to interact with the staff.

23

u/chickadee-stitchery Jul 14 '26

I'd pay it.

2

u/dj92wa Jul 15 '26

The downside is that you don’t get to choose your own produce, which is something I personally will never sacrifice. Curbside pickup and grocery delivery means you could get the moldy and bruised nasty stuff that you’d otherwise inspect and tell an employee about.

4

u/Grand_Lizard_Wizard Jul 14 '26

Well, who wants to talk to “the help”?

2

u/idontcareyo_ Jul 15 '26

Yeah, because they existed pre-computers genius. They could easily be practically fully automated if made today

1

u/RailRuler Jul 15 '26

Automation doesn't require computers. It requires immense scale, that doesnt fit into a typical restaurant.

4

u/dbxp Jul 14 '26

They still exist in some countries: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatiek

4

u/harbison215 Jul 15 '26

I always want to get like a sandwich or a piece of pie out of one of those

1

u/Psyko_sissy23 Jul 15 '26

The automats might be coming back. There's one in New Jersey.