“You can always tell an American in Germany by the way they incredulously don’t get that nobody is going to bag their groceries for them—they’re expected to do so (and schnell!) while the seated cashier is ringing them up...
As for the cart: It requires a deposit, and customers must return them to their rightful place—without the help of an employee—if they want their money back...
This is why I am hoping for Aldi’s rousing success in Amiland: so that more of our stores, and our culture in general, will incorporate such Teutonic efficiency. First the cost-savings of bagging our own groceries—then the ubiquitous bicycle lanes; immaculate, punctual public transportation; and, finally, required paid vacation and parental leave.
No thank you.
Yes, interesting socialist ending, isn’t it? Perhaps she had to add that to get it published in Slate.
In Amerika now, you don’t even HAVE a cashier, it’s a machine YOU have to operate (for no pay or cost savings) AND you have to bag your own groceries.
The “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign over the entrance should have been the first clue.