Maine People Seem Against Item Limits in Self Checkout Lanes

Most consider the self checkout lanes at grocery and retail stores to be a modern convenience they can't live without. The fact that self checkout lanes have only gotten more popular in the past couple years speaks to that notion. But as an open letter in 2022 opined, should there be an item limit on how many items you can pass through a self checkout lane at any given time? You may be surprised at which way Maine leans.

Asked on Reddit by mcmcdonough, the question was posed about potential item limits at grocery stores like Hannaford or retailers like Walmart. The comments flooded in, and were predominantly against any sort of item limits being imposed at stores. But why?

There seem to be several answers that all point back to two major reasons. Self checkout lanes are reliant on the people buying the items. If you feel like you want to scan 50 items, bag 50 items, and load up your cart with 50 items, shouldn't you be able to do just that? Mainers seem to believe so.

The other prevailing reason was people just being able to peacefully avoid other people if they want to. Some simply prefer to be left alone while shopping at big box stores or while doing groceries, and self checkout lanes offer them that comfort and control.

Of course, there were some naysayers as well. One major theme struck the nerve of those wanting item limits: speed. Many self checkout lanes will feature the word "express". The word itself suggests a self-imposed item limit without the store explicitly saying so. So what could be a realistic compromise?

Perhaps sooner rather than later, many larger stores will transition some of their unused cashier lanes into large load self checkouts. Even during a heightened holiday season, big box stores rarely have all of their cashier lanes open. Large load self checkouts could please those that want to be left alone while keeping express lanes fast.