I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve begun to talk back to the wretched self-checkout machines. Today, when such a device thanked me for shopping at Lidl and threatened to see me again soon, I said out loud “Oh, it was a blast”. Sad, isn’t it?
Mr. Gage, I must admit my lovely wife broke me of the self check out. How? you ask. Why can you believe she refused to use it. That's right refused. I said, "But dear, it's faster." Nope she was unwilling to compromise. She was adamant, she paid for the check out lady to be there. She wasn't doing it for free!
Well, I must admit, she was right again.
As for the screen demon, I havent yet broken the habit of reading great writing. I beg for forgiveness.
Down here in OZ, self-checkouts were just the start! Now you also have to key in your food orders at eateries, either on a supersized iPad or via a QR code and your phone. It's amazing how technology can suck the joy and human connection out of so many activities!
Rumor has it that Costco is a la Booths in this regard... though I've yet to be faced anywhere with the idiot box as the only option... but the larger issue of cutting humans out of humanity? You bet. Only took me into my 70s to wake up to small talk. It's not so small, after all.
It is a drizzly, chilly day, the kind I love. But Satan's Self-Service Cash Register at my grocery store tried to get away with charging me $105 for one cucumber. Then I had to wait while its minder helped two other people before he could deal with this attempted swindle. Then the machine asked me how my shopping experience had been, but did not accept my crude response. By the time I got home I NEEDED that hot chocolate.
I'm lucky enough to live in Booths country. The hideous machines arrived in my local branch, Ripon, a couple of years ago, and vanished again mere months later never to return. They even employ a gentleman to clean the handles of trolleys and baskets, and greet you as you enter the store 😂 Needless to say, I can't afford to do all my shopping there, but get bits and pieces. Their emphasis is on northern produce, so all the fresh meat, seasonal veg and much of the dairy, bread etc is from Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire. I pity anyone who hasn't had the chance to visit. Its a fabulous supermarket and the staff are genuinely lovely. As all us northern folk are, of course!
I agree social media has become a curse of our modern age. We are very careful with our two boys, to ensure they are firmly rooted in the physical world and maintain real world contact with their friends, not just virtual.
There’s only one thing worse than a proud Northerner and that’s a proud Northerner who no longer lives ‘Oop North’.
We are not “born on a particular patch of this floating rock” we are HEWN from it.
I don’t mind a self checkout, I can go at my own speed without having my shopping thrown down the checkout belt at me by a sullen bored, underpaid teenager.
I’m also a big fan of small talk since it often (although sadly not often enough) leads to big, much more interesting talk.
I've done masses of both. And I much prefer cold-calling resistant prospects to dealing with fractious software or my over-engineered car. The latter, human wannabees, turn me into a furious lunatic within a half hour. The former make me creative. Sometimes, I've even gotten the phone responder to laugh. So I say to the techies, potato bag the lot of them!
I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve begun to talk back to the wretched self-checkout machines. Today, when such a device thanked me for shopping at Lidl and threatened to see me again soon, I said out loud “Oh, it was a blast”. Sad, isn’t it?
Mr. Gage, I must admit my lovely wife broke me of the self check out. How? you ask. Why can you believe she refused to use it. That's right refused. I said, "But dear, it's faster." Nope she was unwilling to compromise. She was adamant, she paid for the check out lady to be there. She wasn't doing it for free!
Well, I must admit, she was right again.
As for the screen demon, I havent yet broken the habit of reading great writing. I beg for forgiveness.
Down here in OZ, self-checkouts were just the start! Now you also have to key in your food orders at eateries, either on a supersized iPad or via a QR code and your phone. It's amazing how technology can suck the joy and human connection out of so many activities!
Rumor has it that Costco is a la Booths in this regard... though I've yet to be faced anywhere with the idiot box as the only option... but the larger issue of cutting humans out of humanity? You bet. Only took me into my 70s to wake up to small talk. It's not so small, after all.
It is a drizzly, chilly day, the kind I love. But Satan's Self-Service Cash Register at my grocery store tried to get away with charging me $105 for one cucumber. Then I had to wait while its minder helped two other people before he could deal with this attempted swindle. Then the machine asked me how my shopping experience had been, but did not accept my crude response. By the time I got home I NEEDED that hot chocolate.
I'm lucky enough to live in Booths country. The hideous machines arrived in my local branch, Ripon, a couple of years ago, and vanished again mere months later never to return. They even employ a gentleman to clean the handles of trolleys and baskets, and greet you as you enter the store 😂 Needless to say, I can't afford to do all my shopping there, but get bits and pieces. Their emphasis is on northern produce, so all the fresh meat, seasonal veg and much of the dairy, bread etc is from Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire. I pity anyone who hasn't had the chance to visit. Its a fabulous supermarket and the staff are genuinely lovely. As all us northern folk are, of course!
I agree social media has become a curse of our modern age. We are very careful with our two boys, to ensure they are firmly rooted in the physical world and maintain real world contact with their friends, not just virtual.
There’s only one thing worse than a proud Northerner and that’s a proud Northerner who no longer lives ‘Oop North’.
We are not “born on a particular patch of this floating rock” we are HEWN from it.
I don’t mind a self checkout, I can go at my own speed without having my shopping thrown down the checkout belt at me by a sullen bored, underpaid teenager.
I’m also a big fan of small talk since it often (although sadly not often enough) leads to big, much more interesting talk.
I've done masses of both. And I much prefer cold-calling resistant prospects to dealing with fractious software or my over-engineered car. The latter, human wannabees, turn me into a furious lunatic within a half hour. The former make me creative. Sometimes, I've even gotten the phone responder to laugh. So I say to the techies, potato bag the lot of them!
"Small talk—it pains me to admit such heresy past my fingertips—is a social glue that binds people together. ‘
The Church of the Moment
I stop and wave to the driver
Before I cross the street.
To pick up some provisions,
And chat a while with the clerks.
Susan comes to assist me
to find an item I'm missing
As I thank her she laughs
and flashes a smile.
The small things we share
In an instant of time
A smile and a handshake
my, you're sure looking fine
Could the patterns we trace
In a single day's run
Embroider a cloth of a
Righteous congregation
Could a matter of seconds
In life's endless movement
Open the door
To a church of the moment.
These casual encounters
can light daily candles.
Close up the distances
warm up our souls.
A stranger offers help,
a gesture of kindness.
So direct and sincere
flashes of grace
The small things we share
In an instant of time
Won't you please have this seat
The pleasure's all mine
These connections we form
While we go on our ways
Greeting folks old and new as we
Pass through our days
Just a matter of seconds
In life's endless movement
Can open the door
To a church of the moment.
Malcolm McKinney 2022