Any danger from checkout scanners?

[greygarious]

New one on me: a guest on the Ellen show mentioned once working the registers at Whole Foods. Some people don't want their food exposed to the rays of the automatic price scanners and demand that the clerk manually input the skews. I hope I'm never in a line behind one of these folks, who would be at risk of a thumping, Have you ever experienced this, or heard of any legitimate concerns re scanner safety?

[al b. darned]

All of you commenting on tinfoil helmets are wrong. What you need is one of these:
http://www.stopabductions.com/

I was skeptical at first, but the testimonials sold me. This really works! Since donning mine I haven't been abducted once. I just hope they don't learn how to unbuckle it while I am sleeping.

[im_nomad]

I haven't experienced it in the supermarket but I have heard of the show mention. I do, however, go through a scanner every single day at work, and there are more than a few people who refuse to let their lunch go through.

[Ruth Lafler]

The scanner at work is probably different from the scanner at the supermarket, which is just an optical scanner (a light) and not some kind of spooky invisible rays, so that is slightly (ever so slightly) more understandable. It's scary, though, how little people actually understand about science in our high-tech age.

[jfood]

so much for my science project of having a great dry aged porterhouse steak being placed under those red scanning rays and having an immediate clone of the steak appear.

Oh well, back to cold fusion

[ZenSojourner]

LOL! C'mon, food replication has got to be project #1!

Will it work on my Kraft Mac 'n Cheese?

[MikeG]

Well sure, doesn't everyone know that wavy red light sucks the life essence right out of your groceries? But what I wanna know is, what about the UV from the fluorescent lighting in the stores?!?! Like, am I going to get skin cancer if I eat food that's been sitting around under fluorescent lights? I mean, like, Oh. My. God. (frantically running around looking for my tinfoil sunhat)

It's amazing the stuff that gets airtime, isn't it?

[greygarious]

Biscuitboy and Mike G - nobody on Ellen was advocating this. The guest relating that experience was a recent Emmy winner for his sitcom starring role. She had asked him about the jobs he had before getting on TV, and while he clearly thought such customers were going overboard, he said he realized that for them, this was a big deal, and he graciously complied with their demands. I guess being able to avoid rolling eyes at their pecadillos was good training in self-restraint.

[BiscuitBoy]

Another good reason not to watch ellen

[piano boy]

Haha... yeah I had a few of those come through my till while working at an organic health food store. They were pretty funny.

The best... the absolute best.... was this couple who wouldn't let you touch the produce. They would put a plastic bag over your till scale, and then put the fruit/vegetable down on it. You would then punch in the code, they would lift it off and repeat until everything had been rung through. A manager had to be present every time they were in the store.

It all came crashing down, one sad day, when a head of celery, propped up on the scale, started to slide off. The cashier reached out to stop it and the customer threatened to break her fingers.

Anyway, it begged a few questions, the most obvious being: Do they not think someone has already touched the produce on the farm, as it was being shipped, when we stocked it, along with all the customers that have picked it up, squeezed and sniffed it?

[greygarious]

I sincerely hope their organic produce was fertilized with manure, and that they don't have children.

[lemons]

If they're that phobic about touch, I seriously doubt if they HAVE children.

[silkenpaw]

Yeah, you have to touch someone to produce children.

[small h]

I hope these people have thrown away their brain cancer-causing cell phones. You can't be too careful.

[monku]

No microwave oven either.

[Veggo]

These are the people afraid of getting hit by a meteorite on their way back to the car and so they wear hats.

[alanbarnes]

Made of tin foil, of course.

[beevod]

I think the danger (read beating) would be to the person demanding that the cashier manually punch in the prices.

[L2k]

You don't want the laser to go in your eye, but it doesn't do any damage to anything that you're buying (nor to your hand, your leg, your ear, the floor, the belt, etc)

[monku]

They must also subject themselves to the physical pat down at the airport.

[iL Divo]

and freehand style no less :(