Heading in to the nearby big cities these days, you see a problem that we're experiencing here in Sanders County. Businesses here, and there, are short-staffed. Companies large and small are working hard to keep providing services and goods with a limited number of employees. It's hard for everyone to keep up.

When you go to a big-box store, you'll often find very few checkout lines with an actual cashier. Most stores have gone to offering self-checkout services in a majority of the lines, with one employee serving all the self checkouts.

I'm one of the people who tries to avoid the self-checkout lines and go to the real live cashiers. I appreciate that those people are trying to do a job, and I try to be respectful and pleasant when I go through the lines. Everyone has those experiences with a slow cashier or being in line with one item behind someone who is shopping for the entire month.

I appreciate that these stores are trying to find creative ways to keep making sales, keep customers happy, retain employees and stay efficient. Finding a balance is the hard part.

The whole country seems to be short-staffed. However, I'm not sure the answer is replacing humans with machines. We've seen that lead to efficiencies throughout history, but nothing is going to replace a friendly smile and an actual person telling you to have a nice day.

— Annie Wooden