You're standing in line for what feels like an eternity. The lady in front of you needs a price check on bananas and the cashier puts the bread in before the twelve-pack of soda.

You asked for paper, not plastic.

If you'd rather check your groceries out on your own, Weis Markets Inc., located at 110 Rolling Ridge Dr., invites you to the U Check self-checkout.

There are three of the recently installed U Check self-checkout registers at Weis Markets in State College. The recent service has elicited curiosity among some students while others peer at the register apprehensively, opting to go to the regular checkouts instead.

"I guess I'm just old fashioned and just used to having someone else do it," said Tara Villa, (graduate-orchestral conduction). "I'm afraid something will beep at me."

Made primarily for the convenience of the customer, the U Check service is not for every customer, every time.

Because a customer must first scan all the items, bag them and then pay at the cashier, some find it just as time consuming as having a cashier do all the work. Customers must set produce on the scanning scale and press a produce directory button in order to register how much produce they are purchasing.

"It's (U Check) geared more toward express items and for people who prefer to bag their own groceries," said store manager Dave Nilles.

But bagging their own groceries is probably not the main attraction of the U Checks for most customers. "College students like them and use them, and people with children use them because the kids like to play cashier," said Erin Brady, the office cashier.

Curiosity rather than convenience seems to propel some college students to make use of the self-checkout. Many older people however, follow a more conservative approach to food shopping and stick with the cashiers scanning the items and bagging.

"Older people tend to shy away from it (U Check) . . . it's harder for them to accept new technology," said Nilles.

Weis Markets Inc., still has big plans however to install the U Checks throughout all of their stores.

Nilles said the closest self-checkout service from State College is Lewistown, but that will undoubtedly change. Out of the entire United States, Weis Markets Inc. are only located in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia and will soon come to Delaware. The service will be active and available in 50 more Weis stores by next year, the closest to State College being in Altoona, which should be set-up with self-checkouts by October.

"We get 22 percent of business through the self-checkout," said Nilles, which is significant for an operation that was only instituted a month ago.

But with the grocery business's new use of technology, cashiers can be assured they will not lose their jobs to computers. In fact, Nilles said that it takes more people to work because store employees are needed at paying stations after customers scan their items. Cashiers are also needed to help first time users through the self-checkout process and with computer malfunctions.

"People will always want cashiers, but it's a step in a new direction . . . just something new to try," said Karen Krouse, (graduate-economics).