to tech or not to tech
Those wonderful modern inventions; the television, the computer, the cell phone, the gps, the itty bitty ipod (or mp3 player of choice), miniature movie players, lojack, identification microchips in our pets' ears...
Yesterday, I was in a store. I had sent my son off in the direction of finding 'something' to store his LEGO pieces, as I shopped for the other items on my list. I'm rather tired of those painful hard plastic moments in the middle of the night that jeopardize my feet.
He must have found what he was looking for because I heard my name called over the PA system. Mr. Impatience was looking for me. I finished getting the one item I had left on my list and proceeded to the checkout. When I got there, keeping in mind that my son is 11 and more than mature enough to have been sent off in a store, I figured I'd go ahead and checkout. I asked the cashier if she could let the customer service area know that I was checking out since my son was there waiting for me.
I got the blankest look I've gotten in a while. She simply did not understand what I meant. I tried to clarify. She said she didn't have the "number' to call them. Please keep in mind, the customer service area was less than 100 yards from the cashier's lane.
The supervisory cashier got into this. She explained that she was the only one with a radio (walkie-talkie) to call over to customer service (again keep in mind... this is less than 100 yards away). I looked at her. I said, how difficult would it be, in this age of technology, to have a little call button thing to customer service and to a manager... is it too high tech?
The response was that yes, it was too high tech.
Forgive me, my life must be bordering on myth because I distinctly recall having such devices 25 years ago. They were called intercoms.
So, you tell me, where has technology really gotten us?
Yesterday, I was in a store. I had sent my son off in the direction of finding 'something' to store his LEGO pieces, as I shopped for the other items on my list. I'm rather tired of those painful hard plastic moments in the middle of the night that jeopardize my feet.
He must have found what he was looking for because I heard my name called over the PA system. Mr. Impatience was looking for me. I finished getting the one item I had left on my list and proceeded to the checkout. When I got there, keeping in mind that my son is 11 and more than mature enough to have been sent off in a store, I figured I'd go ahead and checkout. I asked the cashier if she could let the customer service area know that I was checking out since my son was there waiting for me.
I got the blankest look I've gotten in a while. She simply did not understand what I meant. I tried to clarify. She said she didn't have the "number' to call them. Please keep in mind, the customer service area was less than 100 yards from the cashier's lane.
The supervisory cashier got into this. She explained that she was the only one with a radio (walkie-talkie) to call over to customer service (again keep in mind... this is less than 100 yards away). I looked at her. I said, how difficult would it be, in this age of technology, to have a little call button thing to customer service and to a manager... is it too high tech?
The response was that yes, it was too high tech.
Forgive me, my life must be bordering on myth because I distinctly recall having such devices 25 years ago. They were called intercoms.
So, you tell me, where has technology really gotten us?