It is almost Mother’s Day in America. Like you, I’m thinking about gift shopping. By the way, here are a few of our suggestions from the past https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/mothers-day-gifts/ . However, I’m here to tell you that shopping has changed quite a bit over the last few years. Beware.
I’m definitely keeping that thought in back of my mind as I surf Facebook and browse for any great new ideas. Of course, they give me the usual distractions. My old memories pop up and I can’t resist getting distracted by my older posts. I’m smiling at one post from the days when my granddaughter was two. Then, I see an older post where I was shopping for gifts in 2015. What a memory!
That was when I was struck with how much shopping has changed in the last ten years, not to mention about a million other things about daily life. I never noticed it was so drastic though. It all sort of snuck up on me; until today. Here is the little shopping story I posted way back then. Maybe like me, you can identify with the sad changes:
CUSTOMER SERVICE IN 2015
I’m telling you; I MUST be prophetic. This is a Facebook post I wrote in 2015. How did I know that the world was going to be taken over by robots way back then? There were a few hints along the way:
2015 – While trying to buy a baby shower gift:
So, there I am at my local retailer, and I need a gift wrapped. There is a sign saying “free gift-wrap,” That is nice. So, I ask, “Where do I go for gift wrap?”
“Yes, I’ll show you, but you must make your purchase first.” So, I pay and ask where to go next. “The station is right behind you,” she instructs. I look behind me in the check-out and see a table with two ribbon rolls and some pretty banged up scissors. No blue ribbon, just pink and yellow and green. Hmmmmm…..I wanted blue.
So, I stand there patiently waiting on the employee to return to wrap my gift. And I wait. And I wait. Finally, I ask “Where is the attendant?”
This girl has seen me standing there all the time and not said a word. For a moment she gets this puzzled look. “Oh! Didn’t you know it is self-service?”
“What?” Irritated I start looking for a way to wrap my present myself with two rolls of ribbon and some scissors that only cuts jagged edges. There are several people pushing shopping carts on both sides of the wrapping table.
I look over to the girl who directed me to gift wrap. “There is no paper, and there is no tape for me to do-it-myself” I say.
“Oh! The boxes are over there.” She points to a place half-way across the store where some boxes are painted pastel colors. I guess that the painted boxes are substitutes for wrapping paper. Silently but biting my tongue, I take the hike and go get a box that will work.
I forget about the check-out girl’s help from this point forward. Impatiently I begin to look around all the cash register booths until I find some tissue and some tape. Then I proceed to put my gift into their “instantly wrapped” boxes. I tie some ribbons and search around till I find something to use for a name tag.
Finally, I pick up my package, all done. At that point I leave to try to salvage the rest of my lunch hour. I think to myself as I exit the store that I’ve now lost the last luxury of life before everything became self-service.
My grandchildren will never have anyone to pump their gas, serve their table, or wrap their gifts in the store. America…..this is a sign!
I shuffle through the trunk of my car and make sure I brought my own bags for the grocery shopping I’ll do later. I’m thinking “this is the stuff they will be writing down in the history books in years to come.”
Then I have this vision in my head of the same young girl staring at me with that blank stare and saying “history? books?” I shake my head and mutter to myself “employees????”
Probably not.
I go home hoping my husband hasn’t turned into a robot.