Apparently it is time I left society!

I never thought I would grow old. I still remember, when I was in sixth grade (12) the teacher tasked us to “calculate” how old we would be in the year 2000.
It turned out that I would be 28 Years old then. I was stunned! I thought “Ha I will NEVER get that old! NO one is THAT old… I mean that’s OOOOOOOOLLLLLLLDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now here I am 43 years of age and another birthday racing at me like a speeding semi.

Recently I went into a local “convenience” store. I wanted to buy something in particular. I was sent to a self help area. BUT when I arrived at the self help point I ended up just staring at the kiosk for 10 minutes unable to figure out how to get what I wanted, before I just gave up and left.

See the problem here is twofold.
1. I am, apparently, “old”, actually to my 12 year old self I am ancient, and thus set in my ways and unable to adapt to this new environment. And/or
2. The model businesses are using are foreign to me, AND
3. Because of the time of day, there was a volume of traffic that made it difficult to get what I wanted because other customers occupied what few employees remained on site.

I am sure that these are effective cost cutting measures. For all them young’uns out there. I bet it also helps people to get things that might embarrass them. (Hey need some condoms/cigarettes/whatever but don’t want to feel the judgmental glare of a clerk? Use this machine and you need not be embarrassed!)

The thing is that I walked out of that convenience store because it was NOT convenient! It was, in fact, most IN-convenient!
So their “cost cutting” measure COST them a sale, possibly more than one even since I decided that if I couldn’t get the thing I wanted I sure wasn’t going to hang around to try to get anything else.
As for the “embarrassment issue, frankly, If you are embarrassed to buy something then maybe that is something you should not be buying.
But it is not the same to be embarrassed by the fact that stores are adding machines and automation that are confusing to work. That is a different story entirely.


I mean come on;
If you are embarrassed to buy alcohol maybe you ought not be drinking!
If you are embarrassed to buy cigarettes maybe you should not smoke.
If you are embarrassed to buy lottery tickets maybe you shouldn’t be gambling.
And If you are embarrassed to buy condoms maybe you shouldn’t be having sex.
If these kinds of things are embarrassing to you than you should not be participating in them.