Pumping your own gas has been the norm for years, and self-checkout lines at grocery stores are often busier than the regular checkouts, but now self-service is hitting the Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

The Halifax airport is the first in North America to offer self-serve baggage drop. It is intended to speed up the check-in process, and avoid long lineups at counters.

Some travelers like it, but others find it confusing, and say they would prefer to wait for an attendant to help.

“I thought it was really quick and easy,” said one traveler on Wednesday.

“It was a little bit frustrating,” said another.

Financial institutions are also leaning towards self-service. Many people are opting to do their banking online, by phone, or even at a drive-thru, rather than waiting in line to speak to a representative.

“I think service is a really important thing to have,” says Kelly Major, who still has milk delivered to her home. “There’s a lot of competition out there and it seems to be we’re getting less and less and people don’t seem to mind.”

Dean Perry has been a milkman since 1977 and has seen many changes in the business over the years.

“I used to go down a street and you’d do pretty near every house on the street,” says Perry.

Now, Perry only visits about 350 homes a week.

“People pretty soon won’t be getting any service anywhere and that’s what most businesses were built on, was service,” says Perry.

“I love my milkman,” says Major. “He comes and goes as he pleases. He knows what I need. He knows where the money is for him and he just looks after me.”

Some say good service is a rare find in today’s society of impersonal technology and self-service.

“When I come across very friendly service…you get that particularly nice interaction,” says one Halifax resident. “In a restaurant, you know, I notice it more because you don’t run into that often.”

With files from CTV Atlantic's Marie Adsett