27
votes
A supermarket chain in the Netherlands is helping to combat loneliness with so-called “slow” checkouts where chatting is encouraged
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- Title
- Feeling lonely? Too many of us do. Here's what our supermarkets can do to help
- Authors
- Louise Grimmer
- Published
- Sep 4 2023
- Word count
- 925 words
This sounds like a really cute experiment, and I hope it works.
I think it was a previous Tildes post that introduced to me the term 'third places' (also mentioned in this article). This idea feels like it's not only attempting to combat what may constitute a third place (i.e., a modern supermarket; a place I at least would normally associate with being purely utilitarian), but also giving permission for strangers to interact. I'd be curious to know if these chatty checkouts foster chatting not just with the cashier but also between those waiting in line (maybe I've missed part of the point, and this is also part of the goal).
I may be projecting but I get the sense when I'm out-and-about where I live, people often don't feel very comfortable reaching out to strangers, even in traditionally third places (like parks). I think it could break down barriers to have a signal that others are 'open to chat'.
Edit: The deeper issue that is brushed aside in the article is just how busy and rushed people feel. When we're forced to rush/work too hard, or are overly stressed by circumstances, it can completely take away the feeling like we're able to chat. I worked briefly as a supermarket cashier, and most have time quotas for ringing items through. That totally disincentivizes chatting on the worker's end, and any customer that knows this understands that brevity is empathy for the worker.
If you walk a dog or push a stroller, people feel more free to chat. But yes. I also live where a lot of people stay distant unless there is a direct introduction from someone they already know.
Good point! Maybe it's a sense of approachability? Or, maybe just the issue of What can I talk with this stranger about?, which dogs and strollers solve immediately for those so inclined to have :)
I feel like there's a common rhetoric that Small talk sucks, or I hate small talk; maybe this has led some people to have unlearned small talk? But in this context, of how to strike up a convo with someone who you don't know in a shared space, good small talk is perfect!
In Norway a grocery store started with "single baskets". It's a different colour shopping basket that you can grab if you're single and interested in meeting someone while shopping. I have no idea how it worked out or if people used the system at all.
Seems like a great idea. I recall, way back when I had just gone through a divorce, having more than one day when the only person I actually said anything to was the clerk at the supermarket, and that was often just 'Hi' and 'Thanks'. Life can be brutally lonely at that stage.
This is a really neat idea. I've been turning it over in my head a bit, and I think it's a step in the right direction with regard to neoliberalism's treatment of emotional labor. There are a lot of jobs (cashiers among them) where there is an implicit expectation of emotional labor, even when there are no tangible incentives. The "flair" scene from Office Space is a great little parody/summary of this idea. Speaking from personal experience, my reaction to a bad interaction with a clerk or other service worker is usually that it was a bad social interaction. I have to actively remind myself that it's not about me, they might just be having a bad day, and they're not getting paid any extra to be nice.
So I think it's nice that there's a little bit of recognition that there's some emotional labor involved in being a cashier, and that they're leaning into that so the social delineations can be a little clearer. It's nice that there seems to be some training related to the emotional labor, too. Neoliberalism has a bad habit of demanding emotional labor without any real recognition or respect, and I think this is a step in the right direction.