Self-Checkout – A Convienence, Or A Mess?

They have been around for awhile now. The self-checkout at the grocery store. But do they speed things up at all? I consider myself to be very savvy with electronics, but this is one thing that I can't seem to conquer. There is always an issue, and the light ends up blinking every time I use it and I then have to wait for someone to come and clear the system.

The prompts on the screen are baffling sometimes. "Please place item on the belt" "Please take item OFF the belt", then the light comes on, and I can't make another move till someone comes over and types in some secret NASA code, and then I can proceed. Best solution? Go to where there is a human, its much less time consuming, and it keeps someone employed.