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1247 points mangoman | 2 comments | 05 Dec 16 14:57 UTC | HN request time: 0.472s | source
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delegate ◴[05 Dec 16 17:27 UTC] No.13107158[source]▶
Look, I know this might not be a popular view here on HN, but I think this is useless. And bad.

I'm not talking about the technology behind it (I think it's an amazing achievement)..

I live in Barcelona and I have at least 5 medium-sized supermarkets within 5 minutes walking distance from my home. Plus there are several smaller shops that sell fruits and vegetables.

I know all the people who work in these supermarkets. The cashier in the supermarket downstairs always sings a quiet song while she scans my products, she knows my daughter and she's always nice and friendly.

The cashier in the other store talks to the customers. She stops scanning and starts talking while the line waits. Some customers might join the conversation. I know she has an old cat that eats an unlimited amount of food if allowed to do so...

There are similar stories about other shops in the neighbourhood - they come to work, they serve the people in the neighbourhood, they go home. They do this until they retire.

These people like their jobs because we respect them for what they do, so they feel useful and they work hard.

I don't mind waiting in line for 3 minutes. Or 5. It's never longer than that, even if the cashier discusses the latest news with the old lady.

The humanity of it has value for us here and that value is greater than the time we'd save by removing the people from the shops.

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1. billconan ◴[05 Dec 16 17:43 UTC] No.13107373[source]▶
I live in silicon valley. And I have a good friend from Spain who ever told me about the culture difference between his home town and the U.S. One example he mentioned to me was what you said. He said they have grocery stores they routinely go. it's like a family tradition to always shop at a specific place. They know the cashier well. One day they went to a different store, the store owner became mad.

he said, here in the U.S., business is business. nobody gets attached to a store.

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2. withdavidli ◴[05 Dec 16 17:54 UTC] No.13107488[source]▶
This resembles more of farmer markets here. You build up more of a one on one relationship/bond. My sister even has a cheese and oils guy in one of San Diego's farmer markets. She got an ingredient taken out of her product cause of allergies, they call her when it's ready. This doesn't happen at big box stores unless there's an issue with a product in general.