The Virtual American Workforce

Earlier today, while preparing to pay for my goods at a local grocery store, I found it troubling that there was only one "manned" checkout line. All of the others were those self-checkout lines. Not wanting to wait behind the ten people in the real line, I opted to give the store a few minutes of my free labor. So, I jump into the shortest line. The lone guy in front of me seemed to be having an issue while scanning some type of coupon. After several unsuccessful attempts, a flashing police light finally goes off and a store employee comes over to intervene. She hits a few buttons and then tells the guy that "it should work" now and walks away. The guy tries a few more times but ultimately sets off the flashing light again. The employee, who seems a bit annoyed, comes back over. This time she waves some type of special card over the scanner like she's preforming a magic trick. Whatever she did finally works and the guy is able to complete his transaction. Luckily, I scanned my stuff without an issue. But it still annoyed me that the store was too cheap to pay a real cashier....

The grocery stores aren't the only places that have tossed the "real workers" to the side. Police departments now rely on cameras to catch speeders and red-light runners. We're told that these cameras are "for safety" but we all know that's a bunch of bullshit. Those cameras are strictly for revenue. Hey, I never want a ticket, but if I do get one, I'd like it to be from a real cop!

A month or so ago, the local utility company informed me that they wanted to put a "smart" meter on my house. The meter would allow them to monitor and control things remotely. I wonder how many people will be given pink slips as a result of this crap. In an act of defiance, I opted to not have one installed. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but shortly afterward, BGE sent me a couple of nastygrams telling me that I had to "provide access" to my "obstructed" meter. Funny. the meter's been in the same place since the house was built over twenty years ago. But now, all of a sudden, it's "obstructed".

And remember the good ol' days when you could pick up the phone and talk to a live person. Now, you have to go through 30 minutes of pushing different numbers just to get to a virtual customer service rep. I had problem with one of my cable TV boxes recently. I called in for support and wound up talking to a virtual technical. After a while, I got frustrated and started to curse. This only prompted the cyber tech to respond, "I'm sorry, sir. I do not understand 'This is f*cking bullshit'. Can you please repeat that?"

I Stopped by an Arby's in Colorado last year. All I wanted was a simple roast beef sandwich. Well, as I walk up to the counter and begin to place my order, the young lady behind the counter informs my that I have to order it from the touch screen in front of the counter. Like an idiot, I ask, "Why can't I just tell you what I want? It's a pretty good system. They've been using it forever in the fast food business." But she would have no parts of it. So, I attempted to place my order via the touch screen but I made an error. This caused the girl behind the counter to reset the screen. With a confused look, I ask her, "Hey, if you can reset the screen, can you place orders too?"

Surprisingly, she tells me that she can.

So I say, "I've got an idea. How about I tell you want I want and you can punch it up on your touchscreen. No one will ever know."

She tells me that she's not supposed to do this. So, I break out the heavy artillery and ask, "Come on, do you really want to stand between a man and his Big Montana?" She starts to laugh and I immediately start to wonder if I said something inappropriate. (By the way, a Big Montana is a gigantic roast beef sandwich that used to be on the Arby's menu.). Nonetheless, she finally puts my order in and I'm out the door....

As technology progresses, it hard to say how far this will go. I hear they now have a "driver-less" car. That sounds a bit scary to me. But I guess it would make getting home from Happy Hour a little easier...

kw