Steven Seagal, the iconic actor and martial artist, has led a dynamic life filled with diverse roles and experiences. Born on April 10, 1952, in Lansing, Michigan, Seagal was deeply influenced by music and martial arts from a young age. At 17, he moved to Japan and immersed himself in martial arts training for 15 years, mastering disciplines like karate, judo, kendo, and aikido.
Returning to the US in 1984, Seagal pursued a career in Hollywood. Known for his aikido skills, he gained attention with Warner Bros. and debuted in “Above the Law” (1988), marking the start of his action film stardom. He starred in hits like “Under Siege” (1992), solidifying his status as an international star. Despite successes, ventures like directing “On Deadly Ground” (1993) faced commercial challenges.
Beyond his film career, Seagal’s personal life has been tumultuous. He married several times, including actress Kelly LeBrock, with whom he had three children. His move to Russia in 2016, where he received citizenship and a humanitarian role, marked a significant shift.
Today, Seagal remains active, though his public presence has waned. His net worth is estimated at $16 million. Despite controversies and legal issues, he continues to engage with his passions and international ties. Through his varied career and personal life, Steven Seagal has left an indelible mark on both Hollywood and martial arts culture.
Walmart alters course: Drops self-checkout expansion amidst customer concerns
The advance of technology helps facilitate our lives a great deal, but do we pay a high price when it comes to relying on the machines way more than we should?
In order to speed up the process of running errands and shopping for groceries, Walmart introduced self-checkouts. What they didn’t expect, however, is to face backlash because of this decision that many of the customers consider controversial.
The self-service machines aren’t something new. In fact, they were first introduced in the 1980s to lower labor expenses.
But this service faced plenty of obstacles and customers complain to the added responsibilities.
For example, certain items may have multiple barcodes, whereas the produce, including the meat, fruit, and vegetable, typically needs to be weighed and manually entered into the system using a code, which might be time consuming for the ordinary shoppers. Other times shoppers won’t hear the “beep” confirming an item has been scanned properly.
Another issue is the increase of theft. Walmart announced that thefts at its stores has reached an all-time high.
The machines not only fall short at their purpose of making shopping easier at times, but they also make it harder for the employees they were meant to help.
Christopher Andrews, a sociologist and author of The Overworked Consumer: Self-Checkouts, Supermarkets, and the Do-It-Yourself Economy, says the system “doesn’t work well for anyone.”
He continued: “Everyone feels like they have to have it. Companies are thinking: ‘If we can just get more people on this, maybe we can start reducing some overheads.’”
What’s most, most of the customers have reported that they miss the human interaction while shopping.
Randy Parraz from Making Change at Walmart perfectly summed up customer sentiments by saying, “You can’t convince customers to do the job of a cashier just because you don’t want to pay for the work.”
Walmart decided to listen to what their customers had to say and instead of further expanding automation, the retail giant will hire additional cashiers to provide their customers with a pleasant shopping experience and service.
What Walmart and the rest of the retailers, among which Costco and Wegmans, learned is that efficiency is important but maintaining a balance with positive experiences remains crucial.
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