Jurassic Park Actor Sam Neill’s Rant About Grocery Self-Checkout Is About So Much More— Managing Emotions and Aging

“Every time I check out something for myself, I’m doing someone out of a job. I want a human being to assist me. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”

“And if robots and self-serving is going to do all the work everywhere, who’s going to be buying the groceries at the checkout? It’s an old-fashioned question, but it’s a legitimate one, I think.”

Many of the actor’s 745,000 Instagram followers agreed with him about automated checkouts making customer service feel less personal, with one saying it’s “lovely” to have someone to chat with at checkout.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by SamNeillTheProp (@samneilltheprop)

“How lovely it is to have someone say hello, thanks and have a nice day when one is at the store,” the person commented.

“Agree 100% and would like to add we need more human interactions to regain some of the empathy, kindness, compassion and politeness that seem to be evaporating the last few years,” wrote another.

Neill’s pointed commentary struck a chord, especially given how much he missed being around people while undergoing treatment for blood cancer. In March 2023, the movie star revealed he had been diagnosed with stage-three angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. After undergoing treatment for nearly two years, he announced he was in remission and shared his gratitude for life and modern medicine.

Since then, Neill has been vocal about savoring life’s moments and speaking his mind. His latest rant isn’t just about grocery store tech, it’s about connection, dignity, and the value of being seen. Surviving cancer didn’t just change his health—it reshaped how he sees the world.

Life After Cancer: Aging With Grace

Neill is “feeling great” as he enters his golden years and is two years into remission.

“Listen, I have been in remission for two years now, and I feel great,” Neill told Entertainment Tonight last year.

The actor pointed out the contrast between when his cancer journey began and where it is today.

“What was slightly annoying was that the story was sort of ‘cancer, cancer, cancer,’ and the other half of the story is ‘remission, remission, and remission,’ and I’m absolutely fine,” he told SkyNews.

Now, Neill is cancer-free and continues to take the chemotherapy drug monthly.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by SamNeillTheProp (@samneilltheprop)

“I can’t pretend that the last year hasn’t had its dark moments. But those dark moments throw the light into sharp relief, you know, and have made me grateful for every day and immensely grateful for all my friends. Just pleased to be alive,” Neill told The Guardian.

He also admits his sickness forms a “spiral thread” throughout the narrative of his memoir, “Did I Ever Tell You This?”

“I found myself with nothing to do,” he told The Guardian. “And I’m used to working. I love working. I love going to work. I love being with people every day and enjoying human company and friendship and all these things. And suddenly I was deprived of that. And I thought, ‘what am I going to do?’”

Managing Emotions

A cancer diagnosis can be derailing and send you into a downward spiral of emotions. And an important way to pick yourself back up is to feel those emotions and let them out.

Getting a handle on your mental health is important and processing your emotions is one of the first steps. Cancer survivors say that first you must let the emotions out, find your support system, and live your life.

“People that are strong cry, it’s the weak ones who try to hold it in,” says Evelyn Reyes-Beato, a colon cancer survivor.

SurvivorNet has other great mental health resources for you, including films that will inspire you.

WATCH: Mental Health: Coping With Feelings of Anger

What Is Angioimmunoblastic T-cell Lymphoma?

According to the National Organization for Rare Diseases, Angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) is a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is a “group of related malignancies (cancers) that affect the lymphatic system (lymphomas)” and lymphomas “are cancer of white blood cells (lymphocytes) and can be divided depending on the type of cells, B-lymphocytes (B-cells) or T-lymphocytes (T-cells).”

Angioimmunoblastic T-cell Lymphoma is classified as a Peripheral T-cell lymphoma and makes up 4% of all lymphomas.

“It is more common in older adults. It tends to involve the lymph nodes and bone marrow as well as the spleen or liver, which can become enlarged,” the American Cancer Society explains. “People with this lymphoma usually have fever, weight loss, and skin rashes and often develop infections.”

This type of lymphoma also has a quick progression. And although treatment is usually effective at the start, the lymphoma often is recurrent.

WATCH: Do You Know Your B Cells From Your T Cells?

Treatment Options

In general, lymphoma treatment largely depends on the nature of your specific diagnosis. For non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients, their cancer is more likely to spread in a random way and be discovered in different groups of lymph nodes in the body. Hodgkin lymphoma cancers, on the other hand, are more likely to grow in a consistent way from one group of lymph nodes directly to another.

And even if you receive a lymphoma diagnosis at a later stage, Dr. Elise Chong, medical oncologist at Penn Medicine, assured SurvivorNet that “unlike other cancers, where advanced stage is a death sentence, that’s certainly not the case for lymphoma.”

“We have many treatments with which people can either be cured with advanced stage lymphoma or have very good remissions,” Dr. Chong said. “So it doesn’t change how treatable someone is, even when they do have advanced stage lymphoma.”

WATCH: Learning about Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.