Methods of Payment... or Pain?

No likes to spend time in a grocery store less than me, so I've naturally become aware of two methods of payment used for what must be the sole purpose of causing me anguish and wasting valuable minutes of my life.

The first is the personal check. I know the Consumerist has been on a sensationalistic tirade about ATM security of late, but there is really no excuse to go back to the stone age. At least the woman today had the wherewithal to have the carbon copy kind of check, rather than entering the entire details of her transaction into a manual ledger.

The second item is cash in the self scan lane. Some automated, self-service "conveniences" are introduced not to make our lives easier but to reduce the need for manpower. Most people cannot ring up their groceries with the same speed as a trained professional. Moreover no machine can accept crumpled up bills, fed individually into a slot, with any amount of speed whatsoever.

Also I think that there need to be on-site classes offered in the proper use of the pin pad.