SELF-SERVICE checkouts aren't that difficult.

You might be forgiven for believing they are, with the amount of time it takes people to swipe through a handful of items.

From my experience in an unnamed supermarket this week, you would think they are rocket science.

I was stood at the front of the queue with my lunch, watching four dolts struggle to get their shopping scanned.

The amount of time they were all taking was painful.

Each one of them was visibly struggling with the machine, with an employee of the store going back and forth between them to help out.

I felt like screaming at them all to hurry up.

You find the barcode on the item, swipe it over the scanner and then put it in a bag.

HONESTLY, IT ISN'T HARD.

I almost marched over to give them some help.

Thankfully, one of the clueless quartet managed to pay and exit the store.

It is hard to stomach watching people wasting time with their incompetence.

If you are going to struggle doing it yourself, then don't do it.

Simple.

That is what the checkout assistants are there for.

I can't deal with people dawdling around and struggling to work what is essentially a very simple machine.

Don't get me wrong, we've all had the odd item that doesn't scan for one reason or another.

Passing the product over the scanner repeatedly without it making the satisfying beep sound is infuriating.

But if it isn't working right then that's fair enough.

It is the inability to actually comprehend the machine that annoys the hell out of me.

People just gawp at it as if it is some amazing, groundbreaking device.

I've got a message for you - self-serve checkouts aren't complicated.

So don't waste my time, or yours, by messing around.

Swipe. Bag. Swipe. Bag. Pay. Leave.

It really should be that easy.