But I think the crux of the matter is complacency. People become easily settled in one place. After working 5-10 years as a cashier and getting a 'steady source of income', they simply can't imagine doing anything else. It's people like those that give Fersht the support and motivation he needs.

I think that seems right. The idea of change is scary, or at least annoying, so people respond to this way of thinking.

But to be honest, some people are probably going to find it hard. Especially those who have a lot of responsibility and can't afford to be with a paycheck for even a month. 'SOME' The proactive ones are probably reading the signs already and plotting their exit plan.

I'm not sure. People will be laid off. Maybe in big chunks if there are general problems with the economy, or more and more online shopping. But it's hard to separate out how much of it is from self-checkout/automation, rather than just the company underperforming or other reasons.

The average lifespan of cashier jobs...

While there are some who stay a while, I bet most who are hired don't end up staying more than a year or two?

So I tend to feel like there's enough turnover where even stores adopting a lot of self-checkout don't actually have to let anyone go (for that reason), they just don't re-hire as often.

So then it's like.. the people who bounce around, will bounce to other jobs besides cashiering. But the people who are comfortable at their job aren't really facing a threat.

Of course, if self-check got way more common really fast, then what I'm saying kind of changes and everyone is threatened.

But there are enough people who just prefer human cashiers where to me they seem rather cushioned, at least relative to the way automation could displace other jobs.

And if it does get kinda cray cray, at least there's this, like you say:

Plus, contrary to what people think, automation actually creates jobs. I mean, there would be need for folks to maintain the equipment and all that. Of course the number would be far less than the number of folks displaced.

And at least the stuff you'll need to buy is cheaper, if you do have to scramble.