# Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 3)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [January 29, 2026, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157 "2026-01-29T18:21:35Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 57
### Author:  [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2026, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/1121 "2026-04-10T14:45:47Z")
When I was a cashier, if I had multiple items, I could type “12 @ (price).” As an unpaid self-check cashier, I do not have this option, which slows me down considerably.
Fair play, contemporary cashiers either don’t have or don’t use this feature, either.
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### Author:  [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2026, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/1122 "2026-04-10T15:42:32Z")
> [@Thumper668](#):
>
> Planning for my class’ 40 year reunion has begun and the people who plan on attending are almost exclusively Groovies. Shocking.
That was my experience as well, so I didn’t have much in common with them, and left after one day. I found one classmate I got along well with (yes, a Brain, with a side order of Drama Club) living as a professor at Penn State, may look him up later this spring.
> [@Ellecram](#):
>
> I hate self checkouts. I am afraid I will make a mistake and end up in a situation.
The camera always thinks my manuevers indicate diabolical thievery, so always need the supervising clerk to utter the incantations for me to clear it (Coke to **MMM** ). Still gets me out much faster than waiting in a single line, esp. as like **Maus** I was a cashier years ago, the 1st year they rolled out UPC codes/scanners in point of fact. Also echoing **saje** ’s I want to bag it **my** way; more than once with an employee bagging a perishable has ended up in a bag of non-perishables, and welp perished as I didn’t know it was in there.
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### Author:  [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2026, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/1123 "2026-04-10T15:56:49Z")
We are all different.
I go to the checkout cashier so I can lean on my cart as long as possible while they bag and load it up.
I don’t care how it is bagged because I end up needing to carry things in the house one at a time anyways.
If I manage to snag one of the shopping scooters I let them bag and load up the basket.
I will never use a self check out voluntarily 😀
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2026, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/1124 "2026-04-10T16:13:39Z")
> [@Ellecram](#):
>
> We are all different.
That’s the major takeaway from my years at the SDMB.
I don’t mind self checkout, (and sometimes prefer it) but I also don’t care how my groceries are bagged. It’s nice to be able to avoid a human interaction (especially when buying lube or adult diapers). Our store has pretty good self-check attendants who verify my age quickly when I’m buying wine.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2026, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/1125 "2026-04-10T18:46:36Z")
My issue used to be that the sensors went crazy if i put a _bag_ in the _bagging_ section. However, this seems to be fixed in later models.
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### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2026, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/1126 "2026-04-10T19:02:43Z")
Yeah, they’ve given up using weight confirmation for each item at self checkout.
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### Author:  [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2026, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/1127 "2026-04-10T19:06:34Z")
> [@Spiderman](#):
>
> I don’t have a problem with self-checkout per se; I have a big problem with the _implementation_ of self checkout
I forgot about the local Albertsons chain that reads a novel after each item.
- Item
- (full) price
- ¢ savings (if on sale)
I can scan a lot faster than it can get thru it’s sphiel so I have to stop & wait for it to catch up because you can’t hear any scan beeps while it’s talking. Just tell me the net price to save me time, damnit
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2026, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/1128 "2026-04-15T15:21:03Z")
I have no idea what my local library does. I don’t use it. I’ve pretty much never used a library outside of school. During my main buy reading years my mother was a librarian and I would ask her to bring home the books I wanted. Sometimes she would bring me books she thought I would like. I didn’t have to go myself and there was the bonus of no late fees.
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2026, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/1129 "2026-04-15T15:47:37Z")
Our local library is not far from my house. I drive by it very often. In 25 years, I have never been inside. In the old days, I would go to a book store to get something to read. These days, I prefer reading books on my ipad.
(I have nothing against libraries, and think they’re great. My mother was a librarian.)
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### Author:  [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2026, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/1130 "2026-04-15T17:50:05Z")
As a former librarian: In American public libraries, _all_ novels are shelved in the fiction sections, no exception. The “literature” section - the Dewey Decimal 800s - contains history and criticism of literature, compilations, literary nonfiction essays, drama, and _all_ of the poetry. There’s a lot more to literature than just novels.
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### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2026, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/1131 "2026-04-15T17:59:25Z")
My local a library lends a large number of ebooks. I started using it extensively during the pandemic, and still do.
Of course, you don’t need to go inside the library to borrow the ebooks. But sometimes i get partway through a series, and they don’t have the next one electronically, but can get it from a nearby library in hardcopy. So reading ebooks has led to my going into the library, too.
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### Author:  [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2026, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/1132 "2026-04-15T18:02:27Z")
University libraries shelve books according to Library of Congress classification and they have no separate fiction section. All novels are classed with the rest of the literature under class P - Language and Literature.
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### Author:  [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2026, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/1133 "2026-04-15T18:41:55Z")
Regarding fireflies:
When I was a kid I lived in Pennsylvania and they were common. Now I live in California and I never see them.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2026, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/1134 "2026-04-15T19:38:24Z")
> [@Johanna](#):
>
> As a former librarian: In American public libraries, _all_ novels are shelved in the fiction sections, no exception. The “literature” section - the Dewey Decimal 800s - contains history and criticism of literature, compilations, literary nonfiction essays, drama, and _all_ of the poetry. There’s a lot more to literature than just novels.
Yes, this matches my memory of the last public library I was familiar enough with to know how it was organized.
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2026, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/1135 "2026-04-15T21:59:03Z")
I regularly stop at Kwik Trip, a gas station/convenience store chain up in Wisconsin. Their checkout clerks always say “See you next time!” after you finish checking out; I’m pretty sure that it’s a required thing.
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### Author:  [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2026, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/1136 "2026-04-15T22:25:47Z")
My vote for a connections category, ☺
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### Author:  [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2026, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/1137 "2026-04-15T23:14:15Z")
If you see Kay, tell her I love her.
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### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2026, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/1138 "2026-04-16T01:53:53Z")
I don’t get it.
Is it because it’s redundant, and therefore without informational content? Like, “next time” could be tomorrow, or ten years from now…when you’d expect something more like “Hope to see you again soon”?
Or ??
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### Author:  [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2026, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/1139 "2026-04-16T01:57:28Z")
Do you get the joke in the lyrics I posted just above?
Same kind of (rather juvenile) joke.
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### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2026, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/1140 "2026-04-16T01:59:41Z")
Ahh! Yes, I got yours. But this isn’t the same. For the one in the poll, only the first two words sound like letters being spelled out.
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