Gripe of the Day

I'm getting tired of doing other people's jobs.
   First of all, it takes away a job.  Second, I'm not getting paid to do it, not even a discount for my services.
   You all know what I mean.  
   Example:  I'm old enough to remember when gas stations had a nice young man (who needed the money to buy a new pair of jeans) who would ask "Can I check the oil and water for you, ma'am?"
   Another example:  postage meter machines that give you "stamps" for your letters.  You have to know what kind of postage you need, and that's where people of a certain age sometimes start to get rattled.  Many's the time I've helped someone through the Q&A period.
   And then there's the example of self-serve check-out counters.  But now France has gone you one better, America.  Some supermarkets in France now have scanners that you use to scan all your items as you put them into your shopping cart.  (And yes, you can un-scan them, too, if you run out of money or change your mind.)  The advantage touted is that you don't have to take the groceries out of the cart and put them back in afterwards, as you do at the check-out counter.  But there again, the advantage isn't one, because you have to take them out anyway to pack them up, so...
  

Give me a good old open-air market any day!

(Photos:  Saturday morning market

in Pernes-les-Fontaines)