By Shannon Williams
Well, I took another trip around the sun a few days ago, as I marked another birthday! This is always a time for me to reflect and to look back, but this year, it seems like I kept getting reminded that I was old and thus out of touch with so much. I have always tried to keep up, but I gave that up a few years ago and if I don’t know about it, I don’t try and figure it out. It started with magazines, I used to read People Magazine on the plane when I travel. I stopped a few years ago, as it got to costly, the shops in the airport only carried a few magazines and most of all, it was filled with news about people I had never heard of and did not care to hear about. You can imagine how old I felt when I got my monthly AARP magazine and it had news about people I had never heard of! Talk about being out of touch. Then I tried to watch the Grammys, even though I did not listen or know about hardly any of the songs or artists that were up for the awards, I just could not keep watching when a performer (I have since figured it out that it was Justin Bieber) performed in his boxer shorts! Each to their own, but that does not mean I have to take part.
The next day we were babysitting the “Ukes “(Luke 4 and Duke 2), we had picked up our newspaper to read while they napped. They had no clue what a newspaper was and thought it was funny that we just did not read it on our phones! Later that day, I needed to go and make a hotel reservation as we need to spend the night near our doctor. I usually do it by the internet (I am good at that) but there were several that were in the same area and I wanted to make sure that I got the one that is right next to the hospital. I picked up the phone to call and confirm that the one I was about to book was the one right next door to the hospital. I got no answer and there was no way to leave a message, so I just stopped by while we were in the area. Well they have no front desk! They have a person in an ATM looking machine who is either behind the curtain or miles and miles away. I just did not want to talk to a machine in person, so I found a card that had the address on it and left. I have since gotten an email which encouraged me to check in ahead for full Self Service! This is a mid-range chain hotel! and no front desk staff.
I know this is the time of self service and QR codes, but I don’t like it, not to mention, those were jobs for people, which are now no longer. I went to a new restaurant to eat and was very excited about the bakery goods they had, but it was all self-serve, the pasties were a delight, but it is all done with little or no personal contact.
When I am asked I am always glad to give a reference for someone who worked for me, well now those are self-serve too. I got a weird text message and finally figured out it was a reference check for a former employee. I had to follow the link and then rate the person on the tasks they asked about, none of which he would be doing or had done while he worked for me. There was no place to let them know how good his skills were with the elderly or how he always came in when called after hours and with a good attitude!
When you get a real live person, they often don’t make eye contact and seem to care less if you are there and need anything, but then you get that person who greets you and makes eye contact and seems to enjoy what they are doing and it makes such a difference, but those times are few and far between and I fear they will be gone for good very soon.
I don’t want to be old and not change and be grumpy and out of touch, but it is happening. I think the grumpy comes from trying to manage all of the apps on my phone. Yes, they are very helpful, and I depend on several of them a great deal, but I miss people, real people who say the magic words, “what can I help you with?” I know it is all a part of aging, and I work hard at trying to keep up, but it all changes so fast and just as I somewhat master one new app or QR code, it changes and I have to learn a new one. I have notes upon notes that give me all of my directions on how to do a task that used to be done by the company I am doing business with, but now they want you to do as much of that as you can. I also don’t understand how any doctor or medical office will never answer their phone, but call and text you all day long! But when I have a need, I am told to email them or use the app and they all have different apps and then they get a new program or app and here we go again!
With all that being said, I do enjoy shopping without someone bugging me, OK, OK, I cannot be happy with either way. Amazon makes life easy, almost too easy. If I think of something I might want or think I need, I just open up my app and order it. It used to be you put it on a list and thought about it and often talked yourself out of it, as you did not want to go to the mall or the store, but not these days!
I am going to try and keep up and do better as it appears self-service is the service of these days.
I had another passing this week, which hit home. My son, Evan caught a tarantula on our front porch in 2008, he was a junior in high school. He called him BUG and was very attached to him. Evan and Bug moved into the dorm at Texas Tech and all was well until he was discovered and had to leave Tech, I guess they don’t like pet spiders. I drove up to Lubbock and got Bug and brought him home. I was never too fond of bug, but when you love someone, you love who and what they love, so it was Bug and I for about a year. I had to get little spiders for him every couple of weeks, and I hate every part of that, but I did it. Evan moved to Florida and bug made that trip and then made the trip from Florida to California. I would ask about bug and what phase he was in and all was well. We all knew it was kind of amazing that he lived in his cage (but as the years went on, he had nicer and nicer homes.) He thrived and followed the seasons of his life. I got a call this weekend, that bug had died. They had 18 years together, so we were all sad, but he had a good life and I know he and Evan traveled though life together and he was a friend to him, as much as any tarantula could be. Since both Evan and his wife are science nerds, I am sure someone or something will soon join the household, I will just hold my breath to see what it turns out to be.
